we both wake up a few minutes before the alarm goes off; it is set for 4am.
by 5am we are out the door. we’ve showered and otherwise prepared for the day, including lathering on the the sunscreen (I can get a bit persnickety if Soren tries to venture forth without properly protecting his delicate skin ;)). we’ve packed up the computers, gathered up the camera and both of its batteries (now fully charged) and chargers, both trip binders (which contain our course, lodging and other trip info), Mully and his map, our cell phones and their chargers, the laundry from the previous day, and our toiletries bag. Soren carries the laptop bags, toiletries bag and his duffel bag (he’s a brute!) and I grab everything else (as a mom I know how to juggle 17 items at once). we load up the car, GPS the golf course and head out.
today we have a long drive to the course (typically we spend the night close to where we will be playing, but we were so wiped out last night that we rescheduled our lodging and stayed two hours away). this means I drive in complete silence, fearful that even one little peep will disturb Soren as he writes … oh wait, that is what happens when Soren is driving and I am trying to write. even chewing somehow disrupts my creative process and is thus a big no no! all jesting aside, these two hours will not go to waste — I drive, which is a Super Important(tm) part of the trip, even though it feels Super Boring(tm) and Not Very Useful(tm), especially since Soren loses his mind if I dare take in even a glimpse of the scenery. sorry, I was supposed to stop jesting, wasn’t I?! Soren does one of any number of writing duties — social media is a demanding mistress, and of course there are blog posts, course reviews, charity write ups, and, well … a book that needs to be written. =)
we arrive at the course at 7. our round today is at a private club, and the gatekeeper doesn’t have authorization to let us in. after a 15 minute wait, we are allowed to proceed. after parking near the the bag drop (I’ll explain why we don’t ‘just drop our bag’ in a minute), we check in at the proshop. today the process is fairly quick, as our tee time is swiftly approaching. after a couple minutes of chatter with the golf pro about the trip, we head back to the car and unpack the clubs (which also means unpacking quite a bit more, but most of it is now in a large bin on top of the club case, so it is a fairly quick process. we streamlined this in St. George, UT (state #4) after realizing what a disaster the existing process was — everything had been in small boxes / bags and it took several minutes to remove it all, remove the clubs, put the club case back in, then put everything else back in so the course parking lot didn’t look like someone was having a yard sale). in any case, we get the clubs unpacked, switch into golf shoes, grab Mully, the camera, camera bag (which has two additional lenses), our wet weather emergency gear bag, and some snacks/water, and head to the first tee; there is no time today to hit a few balls before our tee time. I trust that at this point you understand why we don’t ‘just drop our bag’…
golf happens for 2 hours and 45 minutes — a pretty fast round for us (we are typically done in 3 to 3 and a half hours… the longest has been 4 hours and 45 minutes, but that was due to congestion on the course). by ‘golf happens’, what I mean is: Soren golfs, and all that that entails (including updating GolfPad GPS after every stroke). he also tries to be active in social media, sending out half a dozen or more updates during the round. I take pictures, drives the cart (if we are using one), act as caddie (except when I am so immersed in taking photos that I fail to recognize that it is time to get Soren a new club). acting as caddie, in this case, means paying attention to Soren, who is way over there, as he signals which club he needs, then typically running him the club so more pictures can happen before it is time to run back to the cart, speed to the next location and start all over… except when there is a super important picture to take in the midst of two shots, which means stopping the cart in the Prime Picture Taking Zone(tm), leaping out, positioning the camera just right, taking the snap, then running back to the cart in time to make it to the next stop, where caddie duties take over again… unless Soren has chosen to ride along for a short stretch, in which case he grabs his own club. sometimes MJ the caddie fails to see Soren’s signal for a club (because she is busy being MJ the photographer) and this delays the round and that is NO GOOD! but Soren is usually super chill about it. and of course there are notes to be taken as well, by both of us, interspersed amongst all of this other stuff.
after departing the 18th hole at 1015, we head to the car with the cart and get everything put back away. yup, that means removing that big bin of stuff, the toiletries duffel, my computer bag, and several other small items so we can access the club case, put the clubs away, and put everything else back in. golf shoes need to be removed as well. the snacks, Mully, the camera and emergency gear also all need to be stowed properly. we then pop back into the proshop to grab some swag and thank everyone for participating in our project. then it is back to the car to prepare for our drive to our next lodging — skinny binder to the rescue (it contains all the addresses). but first social media needs to be engaged (for some Mysterious Reason(tm) this cannot happen while the car is moving), and (if I have signal) I like to update the kids … so about 30 minutes later — by 11 — we are ready to crank up the GPS and depart (hopefully Soren hasn’t left his wallet in the golf bag again!).
at 1130 we decide we need lunch (some days we wait several hours, but not today). we make a quick stop at Subway and are on our way again by 1210.
we remember that we need a postcard for this state, as we will be leaving it shortly, so at 120 we stop to find one. we get lucky and find one on our first stop — in some states we have spent (way too much time) looking and have finally given up — we’ve decided they are illegal in those states. 😉 we also need a local paper, but those can be hard to find, as well. we get back on the road by 140.
at 3 we decide we need gas (probably should have filled up when looking for postcards, but hey … we are sleep deprived, ok?! ;)) we are back on the road by 320 (well, cuz, road rations and rest room breaks and such, too).
oh dang we forgot to handle a special memorial we are doing in each state. we pull over again for that … just ten minutes for that, this time, though, so off the road at 330 but back on by 340.
oh boy, we had a complication with Waze (yes, it was user error) that cost us just 10 minutes this time … but 350 to 400 will forever be lost, from a forward momentum perspective, at least.
yay, we’re at the hotel and it is just after 5! cheers all around, as this is fresh and new and unlike most of our arrival times. we’re in the room by 515 (check in takes time, folks!). it’s laundry day so we prep for that (we have a laundry bin that we toss dirty clothes into every morning, but we’ve had to grab a few necessities on the road and they must be found in the dumpster fire that is the back of the car, then de-tagged, and sorting has to happen, etc). we then decide dinner has to happen first. we leave the hotel at 545 and head out for a quick bite, as we hope to take advantage of this early arrival and get some work done tonight (ie writing, intro or thank you postcards to courses, route/lodging/course confirmations, write ups or research, downloading photos from the camera to not one but three places (backups are super important!) etc). as such, a buffet it is — hello, Golden Corral. we are back to the hotel by 7, where we are faced with a choice: Soren has a media call at 8, so do we wait until after the call and go to the laundromat together, or do I go alone for the sake of expediency? the laundromat decides for us — it closes at 9 so it’s got to happen asap. sadly, I depart. Soren works on some writing (Mully stays to assist), then does the interview, then works more — I complete the laundry and am back just after 9.
despite mounds of work to do, exhaustion is a thing, especially when you are awake before 4am and it is after 9pm. it is time for bed… so much for good intentions of getting the backlog slimmed down. but that’s what tomorrow is for, right?