Keisha's Grooming and Golf at Aberdeen

30 January 2011

We played 18 holes at Aberdeen Country Golf Course in North Myrtle Beach. It was a beautiful sunny day with a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius.
Aberdeen is a really nice course. See pictures below. You had to hit the fairways and the pin placement was really tough. I loved the course – Denis hated it. The front nine had me smiling and Denis was cursing. If you didn’t hit the fairway it made for an impossible par. I made par on a par 4 and the very next par 3 hole! Two in a row. Don’t ask about the back 9. I have maintained this thinking for years that the game of golf should only be 14 holes and there are two reasons why:

1.A 14th hole course you can finish in less than 3 hrs. ( one half day instead of 4.5 )
2.I wouldn’t be so tired to the point where I start missing fairways and 3 putts on or around the 15th hole.

The weather was so nice and I am starting to work on my suntan.

Yesterday, Keisha visited Petsmart for a grooming. Since it would take four hours before she would be done, we went for a stroll at the Broadway on the Beach mall and wandered around the specialty stores (see pictures below of Broadway at the Beach).

Petsmart provides a report card on how the grooming went and they reported that Keisha was really good during her hair cut and trimming her nails and brushing her teeth! They wrote that she was a sweetheart. When Denis read the report card he said they made a mistake. “They got the wrong dog”. For those of you who know our Keisha you will understand the comment. For those of you who don’t well.... you don’t want to meet her on a bad day. (See Keisha’s before and after)

Tomorrow we are taking the day to prepare to leave on Tuesday morning for Daytona Beach. We have been here for 8 days and I love Myrtle Beach. It has everything. Great golf the best white sandy beaches and wonderful shopping. It is really not expensive to golf. Today we paid $86.00 for 2 and cart. We will definitely consider Myrtle Beach as our future winter getaway.

Golfing at Myrtle Beach National

Friday January 28, 2011

Last night we visited with Nora Ann and Wayne McKibbon at the condo they are renting in North Myrtle Beach. North Myrtle Beach is approximately 21 miles from the town of Myrtle Beach.It was a very nice evening and it was nice to meet Wayne and their little dog. I’m a bit jealous that Wayne got a OnPar golf GPS at Martin Golf Store for only $150.

Today was a typical South Carolina winter day; sunny and the temperature in the low 60’s. We had a round of golf scheduled at the Myrtle Beach National (West course). See below a few pictures of the golf course. The course was in great condition and the greens were very fast which challenged Dee. From tee to green her game was good, she has a great straight drive but the one year layoff showed up in the short game. This will certainly improve as we play more rounds. Being in the fresh air and near the ocean is a good tonic for insomnia! We have no problem sleeping at night!

Tomorrow’s plan is to take Keisha to the groomer. Long hair is fine in the cold weather but we have noticed that she is a bit uncomfortable so let’s see what the new look will do for her. During Kiesha’s visit at the groomer, Dee and I will take the opportunity to visit some sites and stores around Myrtle Beach.

It has been one week since we left Gatineau and it has gone by quickly. My how time goes fast when having fun! Thanks for following us.

Tupelo Golf

Thursday January 27, 2011

Today was our first golf outing of the trip. Since Dee’s serious thumb injury last spring she had not played so we decided to play the Executive Golf course at Tupelo Bay. Tupelo Bay loves Canadians so much that they even fly the Canadian flag. Winter golf gloves and tuques were the required dress code for this morning as the temperature was 40 degrees Fahrenheit the sun was shining and by mid afternoon we were playing in just our golf shirts. For an executive course (3,200 yards) it was a good test for the short game and they had a few holes at more than 300 yards. The scores for both of us improved as the day progress.
On one hole there was a fence with PVC posts. The fence is in front of a water hazard (lake) . Dee was about 10 yards from the fence when she hit the ball and nailed the post cover which exploded in a few pieces. We found her ball logged inside the post! See the pictures below if you are sceptical!

In the parking lot of the golf course were Canadian Snowbirds. We are a real economic factor down here. There were 3 plates from Quebec and 1 from Ontario. Speaking of birds, I recognised 3 Canadian Geese from Renfrew on the golf course this afternoon and if they could drive there would have been more Ontario Plates in the parking lot.

Tonight we are going to see Nora Ann and Wayne from Ottawa. Dee and Nora Ann worked together at PWGSC before Nora Ann retired last January.

Shopping Day

Yesterday was shopping day at the Tanger outlet mall in Myrtle Beach! The weather was ideal (raining) for spending the day going from store to store to store! For some reason I kept hearing in my head the Shania Twain song “ka-ching” as I carried the many store bags to the truck. The question Dee asks is how come we don’t have this great shopping back home? After today, maybe that’s a good thing. We did manage to visit a must see store; the Martin’s Golf store. Unfortunately we only got to spend 15 minutes because a certain person was tired from all the shopping at the mall.

Last night we shall start watching the first season of “Lost” that Tyra gave us as a Christmas gift. We postponed our visit to the pool until today but we did explore the fun centre at the Resort and there is no lack of games, machines and for those into fitness, an exercise room. I finally booked three rounds of golf for the next few days and I will let you know how it went.

Folks, that’s all for today!

Denis

Exploring our surroundings

Monday was the first opportunity to explore our surroundings at Ocean Lakes. Denis took a few pictures taken with his Palm from the beach. I have posted them at the bottom of this post. At this time of the year the resort is very quiet, but come summer there are approximatly 800 RV sites and vacation properties available to Snowbirds. A Reservations are a good idea if you plan on being here in mid March and April.

The trailer is very comfortable as always, Ocean Lakes make it even more so by having cable and phone hook-ups. We have our own phone number for local calls and being new to the area we have used it frequently to set up tee times for the upcoming golf rounds. Today is all about shopping. Rain is falling and it reminds me very much of home. (Victoria) I guess because I am so close to the ocean (Atlantic). No matter how comfortable you can get in life there still is "No place like home".

The objective of the day is "shop and shop and shop some more" then its off to the indoor pool for a swim. I really like this retirement idea. I could get very used to it.
thanks for following us.
Dee

The Eagle has landed

The Eagle landed on pad number 3087, Ocean Lakes Resorts, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at 6:50 pm on Sunday. We left Carlisle at 5:30 am Sunday morning with the temperature at minus 8. The sun came up around 7:00 am and it was clear sailing for the whole drive. The further south we drove the higher the temperature got. We reached a high of plus 10! 

During our day long drive we stopped for breakfast at IHOP, a few times for gas, a few toilet moments and Keisha needed her walks!   Dee was stunned to see so many billboards along the I-95; especially those for South of the Border (a community located at the border of North Carolina and South Carolina). In fact we had to stop there to get the trailer and the truck washed.  They were so filthy from the road salt we drove through on the first day that it was embarrassing to the point that I could not see us arriving at the resort with the truck and the Eagle in that condition.  The wash took about half an hour and in that time I got sprayed a few times by my trusted navigator Dee! (Dee says it was an accident twice ) one must always look before pointing the nozzle of a spay gun! I also took the opportunity to gas up in South of the Border. A poor soul driving an old and banged up car begged for charity. He claimed he needed a few dollars worth of gas so that he and his family can get home! Yes I did a charitable act of paying for some gas. I hope this person pays it forward someday.

Our site is a pull through which made it easy to set up the trailer.  We made a quick trip to the “The Food Lion” store so that we can finally make our own breakfast. Tomorrow we will explore our surroundings and do a little shopping.

Hi, this is Dee writing the next part – it was an accident about the nozzle!! LOL( its funny....when you know your spraying someone and they are complaining its takes sooooo long to take your finger off the trigger...why is that)

  I am so glad to be out of the freezing cold. I am so proud of Denis, he drove both days and he was awesome.  Along the way we met a couple from Ottawa on the first day and on the second day while washing the Eagle I met a couple from Montreal!! They had a filthy vehicle as well. It is a very small world. 

The rest stops along the highways are wonderful. CLEAN bathrooms with marble floors (yes I said marble)  and glistening toilets. Warm and lots of parking. We see them every 40 miles. Something that Canada needs to re-think for sure. It makes travel much less stressful.

Well I am exhausted and taking a day off tomorrow. Golfing on Tuesday and just resting. I am here and its wonderful!! 

Thanks  for following us!!

Day one completed

We made it as far as Carlisle Pennsylvania on our first day on the road. We left home at 6:30 am on Saturday with the temperature of minus 24 (a beautiful Ottawa Valley sunrise) and ended the day at minus 6 in a gorgeous Pennsylvania sunset. 

We encountered a bit of snow fall around Syracuse New York which made the road a bit slushy. It lasted for about 30 minutes, and for the rest of the drive we had a clear road. I was surprised how light the traffic has been so far. Dee was in awe with the driving through the Poconos and the Appalachians range which we had to climb a number of times!

Today we plan on being on the road by 5:30 am; destination Myrtle Beach and hopefully warmer weather. We stayed at the Quality Inn Carlisle, just off the I-81.  Kiesha was a good traveler. She had to spend most of time in her crate, but she was happy to stop for the night and get a chance to run around.  The Quality Inn allows pets (for an additional fee!) to stay in selected rooms.

To those who plan on hauling their RV in the middle of the winter, there are a few things you should know.  Installing the towing equipment is cold on the hands!  Leaving the 30 amps power cord extended and outside its storage compartment for half the winter makes it stiff has a piece of iron! Not easy to push it back into its compartment when it is not flexible. Make certain you have your windshield washer fluid topped off and a second four litre with you. Finally,   And this is very important, have good wipers! I made the mistake of getting new wipers at Crappy Tires (for the uninitiated that’s Canadian Tire) and they kept falling off! I had to replace them with the spare wipers I had in the truck.  Dee keeps reminding me that I got what I paid for! Doh!

Please stayed tuned for more updates.  Thanks for following!!!

Final week - ready to roll out!

I am back from my Myrtle Beach golf trip with the boys and I hope that Dee and I get warmer temperatures than I had to endure for seven days on a golf course! The RV is almost packed and the arrangements have been completed for our departure on Saturday morning. The truck was in for a check-up and it got a clean bill of health! The driver (me) and the navigator (Dee) with the assistance of Kiesha are completing the final checklist and will report back after our first day on the road.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year and good health to you all in 2011.  Last night we celebrated the arrival of the New Year at Claire and John's place with about 25 family members and friends. It was an awesome party with Marc and Gary on their guitars entertaining the gang with a fine selection of songs even if sometimes we forgot a lyric or two! Claire and her friends put out a spread to feed 100 revellers and the booze were flowing freely. Go thing Dee had a designate driver! 

We are in the final stretch before leaving on the Florida trip, but I am leaving for my annual golf trip to Myrtle Beach with the boys.  On my return I will only have one week to get the Eagle ready for takeoff!