From the Rockies to the Smokies

Baby Ace took an unprecedented three hour nap earlier today which contributed to me writing this post.  I had a connecting flight in Denver on my way to Tennessee.  I wish I had a bit more time between flights to go see the city for the first time.  Who knows, maybe I would have ran into NBA's new MVP.

I did have a local beer at the airport and stepped outside for 20 minutes to glance at the Rocky Mountains.

It was a short two hour and fifteen-minute flight.  Couple photos from the air.

Kansas probably

Mississippi River

The following day, my brother and I had a golf match.  We were up early and on the tee by 8 a.m. to take on our friend and his dad.  We have had this battle going on for several years now.  Up to that point, we had lost three times and tied twice.  Only one loss was by more than a single hole.  This round ended up being the least competitive as we were up 5 holes after nine.  A beer pit-stop did not help them turn it around on the back nine.  The match was over on the 13th green as we went up by 6 with 5 holes to go.  Victory at last!

 

 

Since my trip was kind of last minute, I chose to fly out from Asheville, NC at 6 p.m. on Monday.  This gave us a chance to play Maggie Valley golf club near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited US national park yearly.  The drive was not bad and we were on the first tee at noon.

It was quiet busy for a (non holiday) Monday afternoon.  We were paired up with a 70 year old man named Ronnie.  Ronnie told us that he and many other golfers there have a timeshare and that's why it was so busy.  The course was in very good shape but it was tough.  Plenty of elevation changes but expected for a mountain course.

Since the pace of play was so slow, we had plenty of time to chat with Ronnie and snap some photos.

We were having a great time even if our scores weren't that good.  I did have one birdie on the par 3 15th.  The biggest challenge we had was trying to finish the round on time and make it to the airport.  The airport was located 40 minutes from the golf course.  A normal golf round takes 4 hours.  We were on the 17th tee box at 4:00 p.m. but the problem was that the group in front of us was also on the 17th tee box waiting to tee-off.  We finished the 17th hole at 4:25 p.m. and threw in the towel.  The 18th was a par 5 and with all the groups in front of us, time was not on our side.  We said goodbye to Ronnie and made a dash for the parking lot.  Luckily, the interstate didn't have a lot of traffic and I walked into the airport ten minutes past five o'clock.