I had a little down time between jobs after leaving the state department of transportation to do some part-time work for a law firm in Dickinson. The work involves administrative hearings like those I've conducted for the last several years and I can do the work at home. Sweet. So I bought a cheap ticket on Allegiant and flew to Mesa earlier this month. Good friend Nick Kjos and his fiance' Vicky graciously put me up for a couple of days.
The duo recently purchased this house in Goodyear, on the west side of Phoenix. It is in a nice, newly-developed area with limited through traffic and only 15 minutes from I-10 [also known as Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway--quite ominous sounding to me]. Nick's sister, Sandy and her husband Les live about 35 minutes away.
While Vicky drove downtown for an interview, Nick and I did what we do best, hack around a golf course. This was Estrella Mountain GC, a great track if you can hit it straight. We did, sometimes.
Here, Nick's shot went too far, through the fairway, and into a dangerous area. Reminds me of Marlin Perkins on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom: "While Jim is wresting the alligator, I made sure there was enough film to capture the moment." If memory serves, I found this same waste area the next day and took a snowman on the hole.
Nick and Vicky headed back to the tundra in Nick's pickup. I reserved two nights lodging at a villa in a Del Webb community, Sun City Festival, northwest of Nick's home. It is one of their newest communities and features a great golf course, Copper Canyon [above]. When driving toward Phoenix, I could see the smog downtown but it was clear as a bell in Sun City Festival. I enjoyed a couple of days golfing with the locals. The rental villa came equipped with a golf cart. One of the guys working in the cart area of the golf shop was a retiree from Grand Forks. Small world.
My vagabond days were not over. Bill and Elaine rented this place in a mobile home village in Gold Canyon, way out on the east end of the valley. GPS on my smart phone led me there but not until I punched in the correct address [not the one in Mesa where I found a shopping mall instead of the residence above]. I stayed a couple of days with them. I enjoyed the food, arguing politics with my brother, quaffing a few beers, watching football playoff games, and a round of golf.
Big brother is all smiles after smacking a drive down the center of the fairway at Sidewinder Golf Course.
Elaine was the most consistent of the three of us that day. In the upper left, you can make out the humps which form part of Dinosaur Golf Course, where Dale Hoerauf and I played with Jim Potter a couple of years ago. The temperatures were in the 70s every day and the wind--what wind?--did not affect my golf game. Retirement beckons.