Oklahoma

Earlier this year, a golfing buddy of mine attended a charity auction where ... after a glass of wine or two ... he bought a weekend gambling and golfing package at the Indigo Sky Casino located in NE Oklahoma. Not wanting to stick him with the entire bill, late last month several of us decided to pitch in and help. Gambling isn't my deal but WOW, the golfing experience was fantastic. The Shangri-La Golf Course alone was worth the trip.

(A hole with a fire hydrant next to the green. Really?)

(A finishing hole with a double waterfall and double greens. Very cool.)

The weather was perfect, the camaraderie was great and the trip was a blast. 

Interestingly, the trip home included a strange and unexpected adventure. Our GPS took us through Picher, Oklahoma, an abandoned mining town that is contaminated due (in part) to the toxic metal tailings (chat) that are heaped all over town. Chat is the byproduct of zinc and lead mining.

There are also giant sink holes caused by the mining.

It all makes for a very eerie panorama.

Click here for a short (albeit overly dramatized) video about the Most Toxic Town in America. 

From rolling green fairways to mountains of toxic chat, my trip to Oklahoma was one of amazing extremes.

Alaska

Late last month we joined Samantha, Jake and George in Vancouver to embark on a 7-day Alaskan Cruise. Jake reserved the Penthouse of the Celebrity Millennium.

It was pretty fancy.


From Vancouver we went through the Inside Passage to Ketchikan, then to Hoonah (Icy Strait Point), then to Juneau (with a side trip to the Mendenhall Glacier), then to Skagway, then to a boat-side viewing of the Hubbard Glacier and then to Seward. From Seward we took a magnificent 4 hour train ride to Anchorage to catch our flight home.

As always, George ran the show. He cheerfully dressed for dinner

but insisted on checking his messages during appetizers.

He soaked up the hot tub

and loved his family time in the pool.

He rode the swing in Skagway

but skipped riding the World's Largest Ziprider in Icy Strait Point.

George was bored by the massive and thunderous Hubbard Glacier ... 

carefully explored the wonders of the The Alaskan Sea Life Center in Seward ...

but chose to sleep through most of the scenic train ride from Seward to Anchorage.

A giant Alaska-sized "thank you" to Samantha, Jake and George for allowing us to join them on this amazing northwest adventure.

Cool shoes, George.

George turns 1

A couple of days ago George turned one year old. Unfortunately, we were not able to be with him. Fortunately, we received some fun George action photos.

While George apparently gets this birthday present thing, I'm not sure he gets this birthday cake thing.

Happy Birthday to sweet George.

Tony and Jamie visit

While in college, Samantha made friends with Tony

when they worked together on FLiCKS ... the Sunday night movie shown at Stanford's Memorial Auditorium. They have been good buds ever since. In fact, Tony has become a de facto member of our family. We get together with Tony whenever we can. Raft trip in Colorado. Golf & baseball trip in Omaha. Basketball game in Boulder. Multiple 4th of July celebrations in Topeka. And oh yes ... Samantha's and Jake's wedding.

I can't even count all the times we've gotten together with Tony. Whatever the number ... it is not enough. So, this weekend was special when Tony came from Denver to visit and brought Jamie, who carries the official title of "girlfriend." 

Jamie is so cool. Besides being beautiful and charming, she is fun and interesting. Besides that, she is an engineer ... just like Tony. Beside that ... she loves to play golf. Score!

It was great fun to hang out with Jamie and Tony.

Good job, Tony. You just hit the perfect Trifecta.

Dan goes to Scotland

I recently returned from Scotland where I joined some friends for a 6 day golfing vacation. Generally regarded as the home of golf, Scotland is rich in links-style golf courses. We stayed in a cottage overlooking the Firth of Forth on the North Sea

in the small village of Pittenweem in the Kingdom of Fife.

From there, we traveled to several (7 total) scenic golf courses ... like the Castle Course in the lowlands 

and Pitlochry in the Scottish Highlands.

We also went to the Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.  Best of all, we were able to play the historic and world famous courses of Carnoustie

and The Old Course at St Andrews ... the Home of Golf.


I spent a fair amount of time doing this ...

and this ...

but felt lucky to be able to do it. 

Mega thanks to my friends for being such good travel companions and to the wonderful people of Scotland for being such gracious hosts. 

Cheers.

4th of July weekend

The 4th of July is always a big deal around here. This year it was especially huge. After spending several weeks touring Canada, Claus, Steffi and Samuel came to spend the 4th with us.

Samantha, Jake and sleepy George joined us as well.

Andy, Donna and Hope came from Springfield

as did brother Sam, who hung with the Gs. 

With Claus' and Mark's help, we blew up balloons.

Lots of balloons.

Heidi and Aunt Nancy handed them out at the parade.

Friends stopped by.

There was swimming ... of sorts 

and golf ... of sorts.

There was also an awful lot of walking around, and around, and around, and around.

Family events were remembered ...

and recreated by grandchildren a mere 60 years later.

Good friendships were confirmed.

(1998)

(2014)

And bedtime stories were read.

Thanks to all who joined us in making this Independence Day weekend a very special one.

Happy 4th of July.

Mother - Eisenhower - Dad

SAC II and Cheryl came to town Friday to help celebrate Mother's 89th birthday. We gathered Nancy and invaded TCC for a fun birthday party.

We ate cake.

The next day was June 14th ... Flag Day ... and the perfect day to drive to Abilene to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

We saw Ike's boyhood home

and burial site and stuff.

After all ... WE LIKE IKE. 

Hanging out with the Gs is an adventure. You start with leftover birthday cake for breakfast ...

eat peanuts and popcorn on the way to Abilene, then eat lunch in Abilene, then snarf down some Skittles and a Hershey's bar for an afternoon snack and then stop for an ice cream cone before heading home for dinner.

Today is Father's Day. A Father's Day lunch brought us together again.

Oh yes ... there was pie.

Thanks to my wonderful family for an extra fun weekend full of love, adventure and ... multiple desserts. 

And, Happy Father's Day to the best Father ever.