Pebble Beach

A group of friends and I are turning 40 this year.  On our bucket list was a chance to play Pebble Beach.  We made that a reality in late January as we drove down to Monterey and played Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach.

From the clubhouse, first hole at Spanish Bay.

Putting area at Spanish Bay

Shawn's tee shot at Spanish Bay

My tee shot on #1 at Spanish Bay

More from #1

A par 3, just before the fog rolled in.  The next couple holes got really bad with fog and we lost about 4 holes we couldn't see where we were hitting.

Short little par 3 after the fog cleared.

and a little too much club for me as I wound up on the far side of the hole.

First Tee box at Pebble Beach.  Jason Beaton, Shawn Barker, me and Jason Smith.

4th hole

Shawn's tee shot on the 4th hole.

My tee shot on the 4th hole

From the fairway on the 4th, with the lone cypress in the background.

More from the 4th.

The 6th hole, hard to visualize how much rise there is on your second shot.

Avoid the bunkers on the left and the water on the right and you'll be fine.

My tee shot, my hook showed up on the first shot.

Shawn chipping out of the sand on the 6th. 

My putt on the 6th.

The famed 7th hole.

My tee shot on 7, went into the bunker long and had a really hard time recovering.  This hole is VERY short.

Ball flight looked great, but result wasn't good.

A couple of us all teeing off on 7.

Jason, Shawn, me and Jason on the 7th tee.

Tee shot on 14th, tee box of 9 and the cavern of #8 then the lone cypress in the very background.

Tee shot on 16 for me.

Shawn's 16th tee shot

Jason trying to get bonus points for hitting the truck.

I went long and a little right on the 17th, so I was able to play from the sand.

A nice little swing sequence from the sand for Jason.

Nice finish.

Not quite the same swing from Beaton.

From the 17th green, looking at the Cypress on 7.

Shawn makes his putt on 17

making up for the sand shot.

From the 18th tee box.

A few final swings from the 18th hole.

Great finish to a great weekend.

While we had planned to go in Sept or Oct, I got a chance for us to book and play for about half the cost of a normal round with some $50 gift cards for souvenirs.  We moved up the date and enjoy some of the best weather on the course we could have ever wished for.  The only drawback was some thick fog at Spanish Bay.  Our time at Pebble was unbelievable.  The greens were amazingly difficult to read.  Luckily we had a caddie named Billy Bodensteiner who was incredible at telling us where to putt.  He was fun, told some great stories and knew the greens, all the tricky spots and helped Smith with several long putts.
Can't wait to play it again, with a bit more practice and preparation.  Cross another item off the bucket list.

Hawaii 2011

We had the great fortune to spend the end of 2011 and early 2012 in Hawaii.  Our friends joined us and we celebrated Christmas and New Years in the Aloha sun.

We should have called this our Hono trip.  As we saw lots and lot's of Hono or turtles this time.  We even saw them in the waters right off of Waikiki beach.

To accommodate school, airline miles and timing, we all came and left at slightly different times.   Brad arrived first, then I arrived a few days later then Maria and Nate came to join us.  Shortly thereafter Lilia and the kids arrived, then Brad left, then Mike Arrived, then the Cottles left and finally we left.

Here's Brad enjoying the view at Hanauma Bay.  Can you believe he actually went in the water?

Nate's an old pro at Hanuama Bay now.  We've got lots of photos like this one.  Although this year we got to hear him get REALLY excited and scream as he saw fish with his mask and snorkel.  He really took to the snorkeling.

In addition to the turtles we saw lot's of rainbows this time.  In this case a double rainbow from our dining room window.

There were some pretty spectacular sunsets too.

Nate got a tattoo, of a Hono of course.

Nate, Lilia and Shayne at the Dole plantation

Group shot.  Couldn't do the maze because it was too wet and they kept it closed.  But we did go on the train ride this time.

For a small portion of the trip we had Lilia's underwater camera and got some good photos.  That is until it stopped working.

Nate, Shayne and Chloe all took to paddle boarding.

Nate in his Santa hat on the beach of Hanauma Bay

Here I am at the Blowhole with Nate, Shayne and Chloe.  Behind us is the beach where From  Here to Eternity was filmed.

Chloe's attempt at a sand/snowman.  

Girls do what girls do.  And on vacation, or pretty much anytime they get together, that usually involves a drink and lots of talking.

We did take time to bury the kids in the sand.  Here's Shayne with his sand boobies.

The kids taking another turn on the paddle board.

We tried our best to have a traditional Christmas.  See our tree behind the Cottles?  Small, but it fit just right.

An excited Christmas morning.

Nate's favorite gift was his Heelly's.  He's gotten really good with them, loves to ride them everywhere.

Christmas day we walked to the beach in front of the Hale Koa and kicked it on the sand with our Santa hats.

They had this sleigh setup for photo taking, so we hopped in.

We played a little football on the beach.  Nate through his first  real pass.

Of course we made it to Hanauma bay several times.  This time we hiked  and got a different view of the crater.

Mike at the top, enjoying the view.

Proof I made it as well.

Shayne and Nate analyzing the swells, trying to find the right set.  We didn't see any big waves, but enough to get some surfing in.

For the first time since I was here with HP entertaining the Japanese we hiked Diamond Head.

Mike and Lilia joined me while Maria stayed back with the kids.

The view from atop Diamond Head.

Not satisfied with a hike, Mike had to hang out and get an upper body workout.

We took a boat ride out of Kaneohe Bay and they took us to a sand bar, where they setup a volleyball net and we played for awhile.

On the boat in the bay.

Nate had a few more surfing lessons.  He really enjoys it.  Although they made him paddle out this time.

He's getting really good.  Actually had him flipping back and forth on the board.

We were all feeling a little Hawai 5-0 ish, so we rented the outrigget.

Surfed some waves.

Had a great time

With some spectacular views.

Maria rented a paddle board, Nate likes to use it as a diving board and goes running off it.

For Christmas dinner we went to the Luau across the street.

Brad and I woke up one morning and the Hawaii Marathon ran right by our building.  I might have to try that one year.

Nate loved to be buried in the sand.

But when he couldn't get himself out, he needed help from me.

Overall it was a fantastic time.  Can't wait to do it again, although it may be awhile before we get another chance.  Loved spending the holidays with our friends.  Thanks for coming and sharing it with us.
Aloha.