Lghts, Camera, Action!

Friday 8/1

What an action packed weekend!    We started out with Davis County.  Bloomfield Golf Course appears to be the only one in Davis County.   With construction and not being familiar with the area, it made the course very difficult to find .   The road was closed just before we got to the entrance of the course, and after taking the detour we ended up on the other side of the golf course within 100 yards of the entrance from the other direction.  

Yep, this is as far as we got, then course entrance is just behind the tree on the right.

 After a phone call to the clubhouse and backtracking, we finally made it there.

 I won't say that we were disappointed after we finally got there, the greens were great and the people were very nice.   The biggest downside was the fareways,  lots of weeds and rough areas.

After golf, Shirley and I headed on to Missouri for a girls weekend and golf tournament in the town where she grew up.  We met up with Shirley's sister Lena and Barb Squire for a practice round to get me familiar with the course. 

We had just finished that green when the sprinklers came on.

Do I look Arabian?   What????

Lena being Lena, enough said.

Love the little fisher dude in the pond.   I here they change it up now and then too.

Off to LaVernes (another sister)  to unpack and clean up a bit, then we were off running again.   We met up with some friends and had a great dinner at a very uncommon place, Ozark Steakhouse located at Heartland Ministries in Bethel, Missouri.    We had good company and good conversation topped off with good food.

Front (L-R):  LaVerne, Clarie, Marie, Sherri
Back (L-R)  Bev, Lena, Shirley

They wanted to show me the 'carousel' that was on the properties of Heartland, so we headed out and the next thing I know we are on a goat farm.   Carousel????   I'm confused, but we got out and we proceeded to talk to a man that was full of knowledge about these hundreds of goats and toured the area a bit, (I'm still looking for a carousel???)  

BUTT SHOT!!!

Lena talked to the goats

I think Dr Doolittle is still safe, the goat didn't respond.  

I held a goat

and we watched a baby goat move in the womb of the mama that was probably getting ready to go into labor.   Very interesting place and I loved it.    LaVerne even went back the next day with her granddaughters.

Come to find out we turned off the highway too early so we left and headed for the... yep, the carousel!   If you're thinking what I was thinking, you thought a ride like at the fair or a park.   And you would be wrong too!    Its a COW CAROUSEL used for milking many cows at the same time.

Its hard to see but this is the line the cows are in to get milked, it goes back as far as we could see.

Amazing how the cows know to get in line to be milked and do this 2-3 times a day.   This is a 24 hour/7 day operation and it was so clean.   We met a young man there going through the program that was nearing his graduation and he was very inspirational.  I have more hope now than ever that people can be rehabilitated and put on the right path given the tools they need.    What an uplifting trip this has turned out to be, and we haven't even golfed in the tournament yet.

If you are interested in knowing more about the work they do at Heartland Ministries, here are a couple links

http://heartlandmissouri.com/tours/

http://heartland-ministries.org/about-us/

Enough for one day, had to rest for tournament.

Saturday 8/2
IT'S TOURNY TIME!!!

Barb, Sherri
Shirley, Lena

We had a great time and Lena became very good friends with Mike.   He watched her on 9/18 and followed her to the car as we left to find out how she did.  
Barb caught up with a old "friend" that I'm sure she will get teased about quite often.   The most important thing was that we came in 3rd place in our flight at 2 under par.  YIPPEE!!    We got a little of our entry fee back and had a blast!  




 Lena got a dozen balls for closest to the pin on hole 7.

Island green on 9/18.   Good thing I went a day early to practice this one!

  

After golf we met up with yet another sister Corrine and we all went to the casino and had a birthday dinner for Lena and LaVerne.  We didn't stay late, we were all tired!

The evening didn't end though, as we pulled in at LaVerne's, her husband had built us a fire and their sons came over to visit.   They showed me how they make a colored fire and it was awesome.   I have already passed the info along for others to try.

A HUGE thank you to Shirley's family for inviting me and to her sister LaVerne and husband Keith for the hospitality!!!

Back to Iowa!

On the way home from Missouri, Shirley and I met up with Jim in Ottumwa and crossed off Wapello County.

This is a very nice course.   Shirley headed back after 9 and Jim and I kept going the 18.   So much landscaping and pretty bushes and ornamental grasses.    First time I had seen a water fountain in the middle of the course.  






This was definitely a lot to fit into one weekend but we has so much fun, we will try to do it again next year.  




Instead of a quote, I'll include this joke is for Jim, not that he misses the ball but he definately has a 'waggle'.



Tough Course
Mac invited his friend Jimmy to play at his new club.

Since Jimmy had never played the course before, Mac pointed out the trouble spots and where to aim on the first hole.

Jimmy teed up, addressed the ball, took a couple of waggles and took a vicious swing. He hit a foot behind the ball, tore up the teebox and totally missed the ball. Unphased he stepped back, took a couple practice swings and again addressed his ball.

This time his swing missed everything.

He stepped back from his ball again, looked at Mac and said,
"Boy, this is really a tough course!"