On Monday my uncle took me for a ride in his golf cart around the retirement community. There are a bunch of different clubhouses with a variety of different activities for the residents. We stopped for hot dogs at the golf course clubhouse, which had this amazing view of the area:
Thanks to the fees the residents pay, they get incredibly cheap greens fees at the course. A round of golf (with cart) is $8. (It’s $25 for a guest, which looks like a good deal for a course that seemed to be in very nice shape.) We didn’t play any golf, but he did take me to the driving range to hit a few balls. It was nice to get some practice in, as I’m unlikely to be playing much during this odyssey. I borrowed a few beat-up old clubs from the shop and hit the ball pretty well (by my standards, at least).
After that we played bocce and shuffleboard. In both cases, my point of reference was having watched a lot of curling in the Olympics. Both games operate on similar principles. Bocce wasn’t too hard to get a hang of, and it’s a bit more forgiving; roll the ball too far and it’ll bounce off the back end. I managed to beat my uncle with a nice draw (at least that’s what you’d call it in curling) on the last ball of the match; I’d taken an early lead, but he tied it up in the 2nd to last inning (or end or whatever) with three points (I guess they’re called points). Shuffleboard was tougher; it seemed like every disk I slid either stopped well short of the scoring area or slid off the back. I lost, although I did pull off a neat-looking angled takeout at one point.
He also showed me the horse stables; the community owns a number of horses, and others are owned by individual residents. After that we went to a store that sells golf carts; the owner is a friend of his, and he helps promote them. Both the showroom and the building/repair room in back were filled with golf carts, most of them designed and accessorized well beyond the standard you’d see at your average country club. Some had seating for six people. Some were made up to look like hot rods. One even had a blender on the back.
That night I went out to eat with my aunts and uncle. We went to the Olive Garden. You might scoff, but what else is there in the suburbia of Orange County? It was right down the street, after all.
It was great to see my relatives, especially since I hadn’t been to Southern California since 2006. The next day I had to turn in the rental car before my flight. I made sure to make another trek to In-N-Out, this time for two double hamburgers. Yum. Then it was time to gas up the rental car and head to the airport for the next leg of my adventure: Seattle.
Places Kevin Flies 