The Return to Pinehurst

Ok, so everyone thinks we're in a rut. Really we're not. Once again we're in Pinehurst and will be for almost a week. Our son-in-law, Ken, is in Scotland for a week. Yes, you're right. He's there, with his dad and friends, playing golf. He'll return on Saturday. In the meantime we are here to help Dawn with the girls. We arrived on Thursday and have been going strong ever since. Audrey has had appointments with a cardiologist and endocrinologist to have medical check-ups she should have had years ago. She has been on thyroid (thyroid removed) and cardiac (tachycardia) medication for many years, but has not had a check-up for far too long. She had the first round of tests on Friday and all was fine. There is one more test coming up on Tuesday - the usual stress test.

While here we celebrated Audrey's cousin's (John) 65th birthday. John and his wife, Linda, live here in Pinehurst and last evening (Saturday) Linda had a surprise party for John. Audrey, Bailey and I went to the party while Dawn and the other two girls stayed at home to video chat with Ken from Scotland. Technology is wonderful.

For those of you who know anything about Pinehurst and golf know that one of the nicest golf clubs in the east is the Country Club of North Carolina (CCNC). Well that is where the party was held and what is really special is that John and Linda's son, Paul, is the head chef at CCNC. You know we received special attention at the party and certainly ate well. I have attached a few pictures of the event to the post. If any one is interested, more pictures can be found at the below link.

http://tinyurl.com/55nxsd

Today has been a day of rest and relaxation. Audrey went for an early bike ride with the girls while I rode alone on a 12 mile ride before the temperature rose to the mid-90s. Right now the gang of gals are at the local fitness center swimming.

Here is news for all the geeks who read this post. Yesterday was a day from hell as I tried to up date my iPhone to the latest software from Apple - for the second time. In the end the effort was a success but to reach that point, I was on the telephone with tech support from Apple for almost 3 hours. Was the time well spent? Was the effort frustrating? You bet! The new software makes the iPhone unique in the world of smartphones. Right now I am listening to a radio broadcast of music from the 60s -- the song "Wild Thing" by the Troggs (you remember that song, right?). Now "Who Wrote the Book of Love" is playing by the Monotones. It doesn't get any better!

That's it from here in Pinehurst. Stay tuned for future updates from who knows where.

Washington Report

We are back at the homestead in Washington after the past weekend trip to Pinehurst. We came home on Monday and have been working around the house ever since - mowing grass, edging beds and trimming shrubs -- all fun stuff. In between the outdoor work, we have been able to get in some biking and golf. Audrey has been riding her new road bike early in the morning before it gets too hot. I've been riding mine to Washington and back. Most times I meet Audrey for coffee and then ride home. Last weekend I purchase a cyclometer for Audrey's bike from Craigslist. Great deal. The unit arrived and has been installed and now Audrey knows how fast and far she's riding.

The big news to report is Dawn, Bailey, Sophia and Olivia are here for the weekend. Yep, they came from Pinehurst Friday and will be here until Sunday. There is never a dull moment with this gang. Dawn ordered two road bikes bikes for the girls from Amazon and had them shipped here to the house. Get this. She ordered them Thursday before noon and the bikes were delivered yesterday (Friday) at 2:00 p.m. Believe it or not, the cost of shipping was $7.00 and the bikes cost less than $150.00 each. After they arrived there was some assembly necessary but nothing major.

The pictures show the girls and their bikes, kayaking and chowing down.

Yesterday morning Dawn and I joined a small group of cyclists for a ride in the area. There were 10 cyclists who posted for the ride and the group quickly broke into two groups - one faster than the other. Dawn and I rode with the faster group and rode the 22 mile ride averaging 17.2 mph. Not a bad speed for a training ride.

About 11:00 we all headed to Greenville to visit the AT&T store to check on the availability of the new iPhone and visit the Trek bike shop. Regarding the iPhone, the AT&T store sold out of the iPhone yesterday but expect to have a new supply early next week. At the bike shop we found little of interest. The shop leaves a little to be desired. As a consequence Dawn bought a bike rack for her auto from a small shop in Washington -- good customer service unlike the G-ville shop.


Today the girls wanted to kayak before heading back to Pinehurst. About 9:30 Audrey, Dawn and the girls all went kayaking leaving me on shore. With 3 kayaks in the household, one girl joined Audrey in a yak and another joined Dawn. The oldest girl had her own kayak. All kayaked in Board Creek and the Pamlico River for almost 2 hours. Everyone had a great time. As for me, I jumped on the bike and rode a quick 10 miles. After kayaking it was off to the buffet at the Washington Yacht & Country Club before packing the car, loading the bikes and sending the gang on the road. Speaking of loading the bikes. The bike rack that Dawn purchased just did not work well. She returned it for a refund. Get this, we were able to load 4 bikes into the interior of her Honda Pilot. Yes, the front wheels of each bike had to be removed. I wish I had taken a picture of the auto as they left. Three kids, clothing and 4 bikes stuffed into the Pilot. About 6:00 pm we got word that they were home, glad to see their dad and had the bikes ready to ride.

On to the next adventure. Stay tuned.

Washington & Pinehurst Adventures

We've been back in NC a week and are still not fully settled in. After parking the coach in the driveway all we could see was yard work and the coach needing to be polished. So at it we went. We got the lawn back in decent shape and tackled polishing the coach. First the coach needed to be washed. The roof was particularly dirty. It also needed the 303 treatment which it got before polishing the rest of the bugger. Now I am happy to report the coach is polished, parked in its place, covered and waiting for its next trip. Who knows when that will be with fuel prices going crazy.

Thursday was travel day from Washington to Pinehurst (3 hours) to spend the July 4 weekend with the kids. We traveled with the golf sticks and bikes as one cannot go to Pinehurst and not play golf. The bikes were to be ridden on the roads of Pinehurst with the kids and our daughter, Dawn. Dawn is training to ride in a triathlon in September in Williamsburg, VA. Poor old dad had to go on a training ride with her -- 16 miles over rolling terrain. She made me work on the flats but I pushed her on the hills. It was great fun. I must let you know that the temperature registered on Dawn's and my computer during the ride was 100 degrees - nasty heat.

Friday, July 4, was a fun day. Ken and I (Dawn's husband) went off to the links (Country Club of North Carolina) for an 8:00 am tee time. What a great time was had playing with 2 of Ken's doctor friends. What made it really nice was the fact that no money came out of my pocket.

Audrey and the rest of the gang spent the morning at the horse stable where Dawn and the girls gave their horse, Godiva, a workout. Bailey showed off her equestrian skills in the indoor ring where it was much cooler. Later, off they went to the fitness center to swim some laps and then off to the mall to do some shopping.

After dinner and as darkness came on it was time for fireworks to celebrate July 4.

On Saturday it was back to the links - Forest Creek. Ken was anxious to try a set of irons he's demoing. He's off to Scotland (golfing) for a week on July 20 with his dad and other friends, and he has designs on a new set of irons before leaving. The verdict is still out on the clubs. Nothing worthy of note took place at Forest Creek. No money exchanged hands.

After golf it was off to a bike shop in Sanford looking for multi-speed bikes for the older girls. The middle of the three, Sophia, is showing signs of real interest in biking. I rode with her the other evening and she rode like a pro. Her little legs were going a mile a minute on her single speed bike. Neat sight. The bike shop's stock of road bikes for kids was non existent. Bottom line - no new bikes. More bike shops to visit over the next weeks.

After a meal of Swiss steak prepared by Audrey and Dawn and before the rains came, it was off on a bike ride with the girls. Ken stayed at the house and worked with the youngest, Olivia, on riding her bike. She is just learning to ride without training wheels. The pictures show the whole gang of bikers taking a break and Livie with Fourth of July art work on her face.

Not sure when we'll be making the trip back to Washington. The kids want us to stay until Monday.

Stay tuned for the next report. It may not be for sometime as we plan to hang around the house as the summer temperatures rise.