Monday -- still in California -- found us at the Innova plant at Rancho Cucamonga. We sat in the offices and chatted for awhile when the new issue of DGWN showed up in the mail. Al and I got some good press this quarter.

They let us loose in the warehouse and we snagged a bunch of new plastic, shirts, bags, and even a sweeeeeet winter jacket. Innova is really treating us well. Gotta love it. Grabbed some new whippet "X" discs too, they're rumored to be very overstable.

On Sunday, Harold Hampton kept going on about how we should go visit Yosemite. Tuesday we decided to head up there. Nobody told us what a rough drive through the mountains we would have.

The Winnie doesn't have too much trouble going up the mountains -- going down is another story. The roads are steep and you have to ride the brakes a lot. They were actually smoking a bit when we stopped at a scenic point to check things out. We learned to keep the transmission in a lower gear and brake less.

Spent Wednesday hiking up the mountain with the dogs. It was gorgeous!!!! I couldn't believe it. If anybody reading this ever gets the chance... you have to visit Yosemite park. Next year we're going to visit the Sierra Nevada mountains again but spend more time there. We didn't get to see a lot this time.

After Yosemite we headed for Las Vegas. We had to cross a couple more mountain ranges on strange little roads. It was an adventure. Even steeper downhill drives on curvy roads. Many corners couldn't be taken at more than 20 mph. There were some nervous times. Also, the towns were few and far between. Many towns that were on the map didn't even have gas stations. We crept into one such town while running on fumes. There were two gas stations... both had signs in the window that said 'No gas'. We coasted into a store and a fellow sold us two gallons of "emergency gas" for $6. This got us to the next town where they stuck us for $1.69 per gallon.

We rolled into Vegas late Thursday night. It’s only about 320 miles from Yosemite to Vegas, but the journey took about 12 hours. Mountains are tough but the Winnie held on. We set up camp at an RV park right off the main strip. Al and Sue gambled into the night at the five cent slots.

Got up this morning and headed for the course. As usual (lately), the course hadn't been set up yet. We hung out until noon when the baskets and tee pads showed up. They were using rubber mats for tee pads, which has been happening more often these days.

We shot a round in 40+ mph winds. The whippet 'X' really lived up to the hype!!! It was just as overstable as my banshee but held up to the rocky terrain much better. My banshee was all gouged up at the end of the day but the new whippets still looks almost new. Way to go Innova! Right now I'm at Tom Murdick's (pal from St. Louis) room at the Santa Fe casino. We used his room to take showers and went downstairs to eat dinner and do a bit of gambling. I lost $25 in about an hour. Al and Sue didn't win anything either. Ah well, hopefully I'll have a little more luck this weekend.

-Todd

November 2 1999, Grand Canyon

Saturday morning we got up and headed for the park. The Las Vegas Halloween Classic was being held at a lovely little state park in the middle of the desert. There was grass and a lake... in the desert. About half the holes played in the park and the other half were set up in the surrounding desert. TD Mike Cloyes got us started at about 10am. We were to play three rounds of 27 holes with no finals.

There was a field of 67 Open players for Al and I to compete with. Sue had nine other Open Women to shoot with. After the first round Al and I were sitting in a big tie for 16th at -5. We didn't have a great start. The leaders (Russell, and Lissaman) shot -16 and -14. The first round took four hours to complete with tons of lengthy backups. We broke for lunch which was BBQ ribs and baked potatoes provided by the tournament. After a long lunch it was apparent that we wouldn't be able to complete the second round before the park closed...oops. We shot 15 holes and turned in our cards.

Sunday morning we finished off the other 12 holes and took about a 30 minute break before the starting the 3rd and final round. The second round moved Al and I up a bit. I managed a -15 and Al shot -10. This moved me onto the second card and Al up to the third card.

Al and I both managed double digits in the 3rd round also. I was -14, and Al shot -11. After the third round everyone gathered their stuff and got out of the park before closing time. We headed for a bar up the street where the "awards ceremony" was held. No names were called, no speeches were presented. You just walked up to the TD's table, stated your name and collected a check and a handshake.

Here's some numbers:

• 1st Lissaman $1,000
• 2nd (tie) Russell and Martin (about) $580 each
• 4th (tie) Branch and Sinclair $362.50 each
• 13th Schack $180

Sue was 5th and got her entry fee back. Juliana notched another SuperTour victory. I wonder if she is eligible for player of the year? It's been an impressive season for Mrs. Bower.

Tom Murdick, who flew to Vegas from St. Louis, will ride with us to the VPO and then we'll drop him back off in St. Louis on our way to Virginia.

After the player's party we drove to the Grand Canyon. We spent an hour or so looking at it and camped out for two nights. We also checked out the Hoover Dam on the way. The canyon and dam were cool, buy didn't hold a candle to Yosemite.

The Winnebago is doing fine. It's a bit crowded now. 4 people is about the max that can travel comfortably. It's Tuesday morning, and we're getting ready to do laundry and take showers, then head for Arlington, TX. Hopefully I'll be able to send/receive my emails there. It's been a week since I've checked my account at AOL. VPO starts Friday morning and we hope to practice the course all day Wednesday and Thursday.

-Todd