Scottish Style Golf in Oregon

Bandon Dunes has three major courses that resemble Scottish links courses.  And they are lined with gorse, just like Scotland. The resort is lovely. 

The gorse. 

And the golfers. We are golfing each of the three courses. The weather has improved with increasing sunshine and only passing showers. 

Escape from Milwaukee

04-15-18

We were lucky to get out of Milwaukee today!  Below is what the city looked like from our dining room at 3:30am. It’s April 15th, and we had to wait for the runway to be plowed and the plane de-iced before we could take off!!  

Arrived Portland before noon (where it unfortunately was raining) and headed south. Stopped off in Eugene to take a look at the campus of the University of Oregon. Then drove west through a rainforest like area to the coast. 

It’s such a wet environment that all the trees have a thick coating of moss. 

Spring has arrived here and everything is very green with trees in bloom. 

Then south along the coast and the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area—the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America. 

There are 11 lighthouses along

The Oregon coast, this one being the Umpqua River L.H. 

Grand Finish to a Grand Adventure

Arrived back in Milwaukee to find snow on the ground—not what we hoped for! We finished off our winter escape with three lovely days in Oklahoma City with Erich, Ashlee and our new grand-puppy, Momo. What a cutie! And fun!  So here’s the family portrait. 

Lots of good memories from our southwestern odyssey. Spent time with old friends, made some new ones, golfed and hiked a lot, and explored new parts of the country. Loved it all. 

Friends Everywhere

Had breakfast with Anne and Gary on our way to Oklahoma City. They are wintering in Georgetown, Texas (which is north of Austin) getting away from the snow and cold of Door County. 

Golf Texas Style

Golfed Black Jack’s Crossing at Lajitas Resort in West Texas—so named for Black Jack Pershing who drove Pancho Villa back into Mexico. It is quite the course, sometimes called the best course in Texas. The views were spectacular. 

Sunrise on the Rio Grande

Got up before 5am so we could get to Santa Elena canyon by sunrise. Beautiful, awe-inspiring. 

The light playing off the rocks was terrific. 

‘Round the Bend

So here we are in Terlingua, (where is that?) in southwestern Texas, just across the Rio Grande river from Mexico. And just outside the western entrance to Big Bend National Park. And it is BIG!  Over 800,000 acres—100 miles east to west and north to south. Bigger than Rhode Island. Friends Barbara and Ray from Houston have joined us here. We are staying in cute, tin-roofed casitas. 

We took a Jeep tour into the park and stopped at Santa Elena Canyon. One side of the canyon is Mexico and the other USA. 

Rick has known Barbara since his college days. Good friends, good times. 

Gotta say, there is a lot of wide open space in west Texas. But I guess everything is big in Texas.