White Christmas

And some thought we weren't going to get any snow before Christmas... ha, were they wrong!

The storm started Christmas Eve making travel to Lynn's house for the Luhring Christmas a little more adventurous. When we called to tell them we were going to be a little late we were told that all but 4 of the pickle roll-ups were gone. Since those were specifically requested by Julia and Stephi, they were pretty upset. Of course, that was just my family's warped sense of humor... We got there and there was a whole tray of them. We enjoyed time with Michelle's brothers and sister and their families, which is a rare occurrence, and ate way too much. By the time we left, the roads were pretty quiet, but we were thankful we had the Durango and 4 wheel drive to get us home safely.

By Christmas morning we had over 14 back-breaking inches. In good spirits John and our neighbor shoveled everyone's ,which made for a very late start to the day.

Regardless of the weather, all of the family made it safely to our house. We were even fortunate to have Grandma Molkenbur join us this year. The ham was in the slow cooker and the potatoes in the oven. John and Jeff took their usual spots in the garage minding the turkey in the deep fryer and enjoying a cold beer, while MaryAnn and Michelle enjoyed some warm Christmas wine inside. As usual George, Sarah and Tony made it just in time for dinner.

After we all sufficiently stuffed ourselves and enjoyed the gift opening we sent the kids outside to make a snowman. Stephi took control and started rolling, while the rest of them broke out into a big snowball fight. As John was out snapping pictures Tony thought he was going to be funny and chuck a big snow ball at him. John knew he had nowhere to run so he put down the camera, kicked off his slip-on shoes and ran after Tony (in stocking feet) to tackle him in the snowbank! Wish we could have gotten that on video!

It was an enjoyable Christmas, and as we reflect on the past year we are very thankful for the wonderful friends and family that we have.

Another Year of Saber Soccer Gone By

Another year of Varsity soccer has passed. Its almost painful to think that they will only have one more year left. As we look back on the season there were a couple of noteable moments. Of course, there's the 1-0 win over Holy Angels in overtime(the first win over Holy Angels in Saber history!). Then there's Julia's helicopter spin move after being demolished on the field by a Northfield attacker (its amazing she came out of that unscathed).


Overall, the season was a success over the previous year with a record of 8-8-2. Both Julia and Steph were forced to move into new defense positions due to injury and the coach's lack of confidence in some of the other players. Thanks to Julia playing right defense and Stephi playing left defense, the number of shots on goal was cut in half from the previous year and our goalie was ranked in state for having one of the highest number of shutouts and lowest number of goals allowed.


Their hard work payed off. At the annual banquet Julia received the Riggs Award for her toughness and was named one of the Team Captains for the 2010 season, and Stephi received the All Conference Award.

Hoping for a succesful 2010 season...Go Sabers!

Pumpkin Pie Anyone?

Ok... so we've had the pumpkins for a couple of weeks now. We we were lucky to have actually gotten them carved before Halloween arrived. After a nice family dinner Dad, not wanting anything to do with the festivities, disappeared in the basement to watch tv while mom, Julia and Steph carefully picked out our patterns and began the disgustingly fun task of gutting, tracing and carving our pumpkins.

Stephi picked the easiest pattern (hers is pictured in the middle) and was done in no time... Mom (right pumpkin) and Julia (left pumpkin), on the other hand, decided to be a little more daring and go for the patterns labeled "challenging". Mom was next to be done and Julia, who nearly quit because she was so frustrated, finished last. Regardless of the time and effort it took to complete, it was fun to see the finished product. Those carving kits make for some pretty cool end results.

Ahhhhh The North Shore

With a weekend finally open from soccer, we were able to squeeze in a trip to Minnesota's North Shore. What was forecast to be a cold and overcast weekend, turned out to a beautifully warm and sunny one. The girls asked Dawg (Rachel Tanner) to join us.





We started the weekend out at the Split Rock Lighthouse by taking a tour of the lighthouse and grounds. We then spent the next several hours hiking the area.

Our next stop was Gooseberry Falls where we spent a LONG TIME hiking according to Steph. The girls spent sometime checking out partial caves and attempting to find areas to cross the river around the falls(Rachel found a crossing, just not a dry one).

We then took a hike down to Lake Superior, where we found a nice little beach and the girls laid out for an afternoon nap in the sun.

On our way back to our hotel we decided to stop in Duluth at Canal Park and eat dinner at the World Famous Grandma's. I am surprised that everyone was able to make it through dinner with their eyes open.

The girls decided that while they were in the beautiful North Shore Area with all of its wonderful natural attractions, that the best way to spend their last day would be to go shopping at the mall for Homecoming Dresses.

The ride home may have been the quietest ever. It was an exhausting weekend.

Soccer In The News

It was a tough week for soccer, playing very good teams. But the team fought hard.




You can click on the picture to zoom in and read.

Steph in the zone

The Girls Head Back to State

After a somewhat frustrating regular season and getting the fourth seed in the District Tournament, the girls pulled it together when it mattered. They went into game one of Districts and took Valley United into two overtimes with a score of 2-2 with Stephanie scoring the first goal and Julia scoring the second. The game then went into the teams first shootout of the season. We are not sure who was more nervous in the shootout, the coaches or the girls. It came down to Shakopee's final shot with Lauren making it and winning the first game. The next day, the girls went on to upset a very strong number one seeded Lakeville team 2-1 to win the District Title. Stephanie scored both goals for Shakopee. The weekend was the best the girls have looked all season.

The girls then moved onto the Regional Tournament where they took on Minneapolis' top team. Again, the girls played into two overtimes with a score of 0-0 and a shootout followed. Our goalie, Dani Drier, was able to stop 2 of the 4 shots that Minneapolis took. Our girls went a perfect 4 of 4 in the shootout and with the assistance of an extremely vocal and excited hometown crowd they won the Regional Championship sending the team to the State Tournament for the fourth year in a row.

Fun at the Zoo!

We have done so many things since the last update.... Maya went golfing with Stephanie and Matt last Saturday. Sunday we all went tubing down the Cannon River. Wednesday John, Maya, Julia and Stephi went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and today they went to the Como Zoo and Conservatory.

So much to do, so little time! This weekend will be spent on the fields as the girls fight for a place in the state soccer tournament. Their game on Saturday will be against their arch rivals, Valley United. Each of the past 3 years the team seems to be up against Valley to the very last game. Last year, that very last game happened to be the state championship....

In the next coming weeks look for updates on soccer, a trip to Valley Fair and a weekend in Duluth. Never a dull moment in our household! Until then... au revoir!

A Taste of Minnesota

Taste of Minnesota with no Minnesota vendors??? We ate bbq and cheese curds from Wisconsin... I guess St. Paul is close to Wisconsin, but we were expecting something a little more. Poor Jarrod left some of his food in the bottom of the porta-potty after the other boys kept him spinning on the Tornado. This was after they all rode the Gravitron, which spins so fast that you are literally lifted off of the ground. Frankly we're surprised that he was the only one that was sick!

Maya got to experience her first 80's band when we stopped to watch Hairball, dubbed the world's ultimate 80's Rock impersonation act. Obviously not the kids' choice of music. So, John and Michelle stayed to enjoy the music and sent the kids off to explore the rest of the festival.

Later, we all watched Bret Michael's (former lead singer of Poison) Rock of Love Bus Tour sing and then enjoy some fireworks over the Mississippi river. On the way home Maya was so tired she fell asleep in the car... still suffering from some jet lag.

Independence Day 2009

After a morning of relaxing and getting to know Maya a little better we went to the home of our friends, Mark and Darla Teslow for a typical 4th of July barbeque. We spent the afternoon playing some volleyball, eating some great food, jumping on the trampoline and of course, playing in the pool. There were alot of kids there for Maya to get to know and they did their best to make her feel at home. We are so impressed with her ability to communicate and fit it. She had no fear and jumped right in quickly learning the game "Jump or Dive". As usual, Michelle took plenty of pictures to honor the event.

After the sun went down we all settled around the bonfire. Josh and Aaron set up all of the fireworks to put on a small show for all to enjoy. Maya got to taste her very first s'more. And our friend Doyle proceeded to make the most AMAZING mini doughnuts over the fire.

By the end of the night we were all exhausted and ready to for good night's sleep so we could be ready to spend the next evening at the Taste of Minnesota.

Welcome to Minnesota!

In preparation for the arrival of our foreign exhange student, Maya, we spent the day completing the final clean sweep of the house. Most of the time was spent on emptying and cleaning Stephanie's room for Maya to stay in. I don't think that room has been that clean since the day we moved in almost 4 years ago!

At 3:30 p.m. we headed to the airport with nervous excitement to greet our new houseguest at the baggage claim area. We got there and met several other families that were just as eager to meet their students as we were. One family from Eden Prairie had just become a host family 1 1/2 weeks ago and was feeling a little anxiety because they had so little time to prepare. For another family, this was 'old hat' because they have been hosting foreign exchange students for several years. I enjoyed talking with them because they gave me some insight on what to expect the first few days Maya would be here.

Shortly after 4:30 p.m. some of the students walked down the hall and met their families... but no Maya yet... After about 10 more minutes of waiting Stephanie spotted her. Maya immediately recognized the girls (Facebook can be an amazing thing) and waived. Julia held up the sign we had made for her and when we finally met she gave us all big hugs.

While waiting for her luggage at the carousel several of the other French students that were waiting made comments about Julia and Steph. When asked to translate what they were saying, Maya stated that the kids all thought they were 'superb'. I think Julia and Steph were likely the oldest of the children that were part of the host families.

On the way home we talked alot in the car. We bombarded her with questions, which she happily answered. Upon arriving home, we gave her a quick tour of the home and the girls helped her settle into her room. John ordered pizza and we ran to the grocery store to get a few things and then to pick up the pizza. When we got home all of the girls were sitting in the living room. Maya was on the computer checking her Facebook page... she already looked like a part of the family. We all sat and ate pizza, watched television and talked. Shortly after dinner it was apparent that Maya was extremely tired. Poor girl could barely hold her eyes open. John finally told her she could go to bed anytime she wanted. She gladly took him up on the offer and went downstairs to shower and go to sleep. After a long day on an airplane and the 7 hour difference from France it was approximately 2:30 a.m. for her... I was impressed she made it that long.

San Juan Island

We rose early to drive up the coast to Anacortes where we hopped a ferry for an hour long ride to San Juan Island. We were somewhat expecting to see a kiosk selling espresso floating somewhere along the way to the island as there seems to be one every half block on the mainland. It was much colder than we had hoped and we weren't sure that our golf pullovers were going to cut the sting of the wind coming off the Pacific. We disembarked in Friday Harbor and mosied around the town for another hour before we got on the Sea Lion, a 55 foot cruiser to head out on a whale watching adventure. It wasn't long before we approached a pod of 22 or more Orca whales. Laws prohibited us from getting closer than 100 yard away so we were kicking ourselves for not bringing our paparazzi camera. The pictures in the album do not do the experience justice. We followed along side the whales for around an hour and a half and marveled at their leisurely behavior and their size. Ruffles, the largest male, had a dorsal fin that was estimated to be up to 6 feet high and was 18 tons. He was very easy to spot. Granny, the oldest whale in the pod, is estimated to be 98 years old, an age almost unheard of in the whale community.

On our return we passed a private island, originally owned by 2 wealthy taxidermists, that had been stocked with some exotic animals for hunting safaris. We saw a few bald eagles, some harbor seals, deer and mooflawn sheep (those were the exotic ones).

We got back just in time to get on the early ferry and head back to the mainland where we proceeded to sit in 2 hour bumper to bumper traffic all the way to Seattle. Mind you, this was at 8 p.m.!!!!!!! While this is decidedly one of the most beautiful states we have visited, we simply cannot understand how anyone could live here and deal with this kind of traffic on a daily basis. We heard that the metro area has added suicide hotline phones on the bridges due to the traffic. Have not verified that fact as of yet.

Sleepless In Seattle

No... Seriously, we really are sleepless! Between the rock hard bed, the arguments outside our bedroom window and the door to the stairway right next to our room slamming every 5 minutes in the morning we managed maybe 4 hours of sleep. As a Platinum Member with Holiday Inn we were told we had the best room in the hotel. No doubt it is very spacious with a separate bedroom, living room and kitchen. Its just a little louder than we expected. We arrived to a very cold, rainy evening Wednesday. It was so cold we could see our breath as we walked out of the airport to get to the rental car. What were we thinking? Didn't we leave Minnesota to escape this kind of weather? We made the best of it and tried to enjoy the 2 hour, bumber to bumper commute 35 miles north to our hotel where we got checked in and asked for a recommendation of a good seafood restaurant... We are, after all, right next to Puget Sound, so you'd think they'd be a dime a dozen here. We ended up going to a place called Arnie's.... not exactly a name you would associate with great seafood. However, we got there and had a great view of Puget Sound. And, regardless of the name, the food and the service was exceptional.

Today we rose to a fabulous breakfast of biscuits and gravy and set off on a drive on the Cascade Mountain Loop. We were flying by the seat of our pants and didn't have much of a travel plan. We spent the day hiking around the Cascade Mountains, which included several waterfalls, more snow than we would have ever imagined still on the mountains in the month of May, and a stop at a quaint town called Leavenworth. Its a Bavarian town about 3 blocks long lined with small specialty shops, wine rooms and bistros.

Considering we have an early morning ahead of us and the fact that we had an exhausting day, we decided to buy a bottle of wine, some cheese and San Francisco sour dough and spent a relaxing evening in our hotel room watching the Wedding Singer (one of Michelle's favorites).

From Futbol to Fabulous!

What a whirlwind weekend it was for the girls. They played in the Dakota Rev soccer tournament and had games Friday night, Saturday morning and Sunday morning. On Saturday after the 10 a.m. game we rushed home so the girls could shower and get ready for their big night at prom. All I can say is Thank God for Molly. She came to the house and did both of the girls hair in a very short amount of time. They looked absolutely stunning! After their dates arrived we proceeded to take a plethora of pictures (slide show to be posted soon). We started with pictures at our house and followed that with a trip to Memorial Park where all of their friends were. With 20 or more kids, it was extremely difficult to get any pictures where they were all looking at the camera. After the last photo we rushed to the High School to watch the Grand March. Every girl was dazzling and the boys were all very handsome. They all seemed to be beaming with grins from ear to ear as they took a "Walk through Paradise", which was the theme of the dance. As we left there were limousines lining the parking lot. We had a minor emergency because Stephi couldn't find her school id so she could get into the dance. Luckily John knew exactly where it was, so we drove home and brought it back to the school before their limo-bus picked the group up. As we left them at the school mom got a little teary eyed to see how beautiful and grown up the girls looked. We were comforted by the fact that they were together and both of their dates are very respectable and responsible and knew they'd be home by their curfew (which was extended to 1 a.m. for the big day). Suprisingly, Julia was home long before the curfew because she was battling a terrible cold and was exhausted. Stephanie arrived home at 1 a.m. on the nose. After some chatting about their evening we all went to bed so we could get up early and be back at the soccer field by 9:15 a.m. for our final game in the tournament. Needless to say, after the game we all went home and took a well deserved nap.

An Artist in the Dovolos Family? Who'd have thought....

Julia enrolled in a 2D-Art class in 2nd semester of school. She only took it because in order to take photography Shakopee High School requires 2D-Art as a pre-requisite. Low and behold, we found out she's done pretty well. So well, that her art was entered into the school's art show. We're not sure where she got her talent from.... it must be from the Grandparents or extended family because it sure isn't from her mom or dad. While mom and dad were visiting the art show today we were fortunate enough that Julia showed up after track practice because she had forgotten her history book. Since she was there we were able to snap a couple of photos of our blooming artist with her work. She is pictured below with her still life, which was her very first project, and her acrylic painting, which she just recently completed.

Back at It

After a little time off due to an injury and a rain out, the girls were back at it this week. With a lot more success than the last time I might add. Again, the girls ran a 4 X 200 M Relay together finishing first for the meet. Stephanie really helped out with her burst of speed passing a couple of girls to put the team in a solid lead.

Stephanie then ran the 300 M Hurdles. She really looks good running the hurdles, pictures can not do it justice. She finished first in her heat, and finished third for the entire meet. Her speed would improve if she tried going over with her left foot first every once in a while.



Julia's running style continues to improve. She ran the 200 dash and finished second behind her nemisis Emily Stoks(See previous story "Kidnapping at Sage House") by .036 of a second. Still very impressive, Emily is quite fast.

The Long Jump is still in the mix for Jules. She is working very hard at it.

The meet finished with Julia running in the 4 X 400 M Relay. Not such a good ending to the meet. I think the 400 M was a little intimidating for Julia. It was a good learning experience.

We are still learning to take action photos with the new camera, you can see our attempts at the track meet in the photo albums to the left.

Kidnapping At Sage House

On Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at approximately 6:30 p.m. Julia Dovolos was taking the garbage out (only because her mom asked her to). Little did she know she was about to be nabbed by a couple of thugs, who we affectionately call Dumb and Klutz (aka. Stephanie Dovolos & Emily Stoks). They quietly snuck out from behind the garage, threw a sheet over her head,forced her into the back seat of Klutz's car and sped away. Julia was dumped at Tahpah park with nothing but an envelope containing a clue to guide her to the next destination where there was another envelope with yet another clue. She spent the next hour and a half following candy trails, running around in circles, guessing song lyrics, digging through Emily's car, driving to the football field and finding the diamond. Her final clue was to follow the chalk lines which led to the nearest Porta-Potty. When she cautiously opened the door, there stood Corbin Walters holding up a sign stating "PROM?". What's a girl to say after all of that except the word 'Yes'?

Sisters Together Again

A new year of track began again this weekend in River Falls, Wisconsin. Julia returned for her second season while Steph began her first. Steph did not join the team last year because she could not understand why anyone in the world would run just to run.

Steph has been training for the hurdles, while Julia has been continuing her work outs on the shorter individual sprints and the long jump. Coach Kathy changed things up the day before the meet by having Julia and Steph run together on the same squad in the 4 X 200 relay. For you non track speaking people, this means 4 people will each run 200 yards and hand off a baton to the next runner when they finish. One problem, neither of them have trained for a relay.

For the first race of the year, the first race ever for Steph, and their first relay we thought it seemed to go pretty well. Needless to say, no records were broken, and they did not take first but they ran well and did not drop the baton which was a big concern. Both girls were pretty disappointed with their performance, though Steph seem to take it a little worse than Jules. We reassured them it would get better with more practice as the year goes on.

Julia was also added to a squad for a longer 4 X 400 relay. Julia looked the best she has in all of the races I have seen her in. Good strides and pace. The team took first in their heat, and Julia was clocked at 62 seconds by her coach for her 400 yards. This time would beat her 80 seconds she was timed at in the practice one day before the meet, and one of the fastest on the entire team. Julia is questioning the coaches ability to time a race.

St. Louis Science Center

Another sunny day and we decided to go to the Science Center in Forest Park. It was pretty interesting. It was a lot like the Science Museum in Minnesota but it had a fiew different things. It was more of a kids museum if anything but it was still a lot of fun. Steph and I got to run in a hamster wheel and we had the chance to be pilots in a plane. Stephanie took a couple nosedives into the ground but over all she did pretty good. ha thankfully it was computer-generated.

After the Science Center, we walked around the park. It was really cool to see all the people that used the park for exercize and relaxing and just enjoying the outdoors. The fountains were beautiful and there were a lot of dogs! It was a relaxing day and a good start to the four hour drive that we had ahead of us towards williamsburg, Iowa. We arrived at the hotel around 7:30 P.M and had just enough time to go to the Water Park for a little while. It was a great day. That picture is of Steph and I on the bridge that crosses the fountain area.

Julia :)

St. Louis Zoo

Today, we went to the St. Louis Zoo but before we went there we enjoyed an amazing breakfast with biscuits and gravy! It was free admittance but we each paid 10 dollars for an all access pass to the Children Zoo, Three 3-D movies, and a Sea Lion show. The Sea Lion show was closed until May but we did go to all three of the 3-D movies. The first movie was called an Animal Adventure and it was kind of disappointing. The movement was blurry and hard to watch. The second movie was the Extreme log ride and it was a "shaky chair ride" as we would say, but the seats moved and we couldn't tell if the kids in front of us were screaming because they were scared or if they were having fun. The next movie, Planet Earth, was very interesting for me, but for Stephanie and my dad not so much. At the end of the movie, I looked at my dad and he was just waking up, Stephanie was still a sleep! My dad said, " Did it get any better?" I said," Which part did you fall asleep in?"

"The part where the mom whale was with the little whale...." (a.k.a the very beginning )...

We did go to the children zoo, which was my favorite part, where we went to the petting zoo :) There was the Wild, The River, The Red Rocks, and the Children Zoo and all of them had some amazing animals. There were elephants, lions, tigers, and my personal favorite... the Kangaroo !! The Zoo closed at 5, so we went back to the hotel and relaxed and watch TV until we got hungry, where we went to the Chinese Express across the street from our hotel. It was good despite the looks of the place. I had 4 plates ! We came back and me and Steph went to the pool and the hot tub. mmmmm :) Then we went back up to the room and just sit and relaxed. It was a pretty great day and we all enjoyed it.

If you would like to see our pictures, go to the Photo Album on the left, click on St. Louis Pictures and check out what we've been doing!

Julia

Eventful Day In St. Louis 3/24/09

To start off our day, we went to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site ( a.k.a. the 16th President) or as Park Ranger Mike would have said, " The home of the man who represents freedom and democracy." The home is being preserved from 1860. As we were walking through the home, Stephanie (as curious as she is) proceeds to open a door in the home, that was claimed to be already "open" and sets of an alarm and lights start going off everywhere in the house. It was hilarious!

After the Lincoln home, we walked around the 4 blocks that are blocked off in Springfield, Illinois around the home. We spent about an hour there. We then drove for another hour and a half in a Pontiac Grand Prix (which my dad does not enjoy, by the way) to downtown St. Louis to see the amazing Gateway Arch! Its 630 feet up and was built in 1933 to 1935. Before we walked into the exhibits and to purchase tickets, we had to go through security where Stephanie, again, set off of an alarm going through the metal detector! She had a metal heart necklace on. We took "The Journey to the Top." It was a 4 minute ride up and a 3 minute ride down. Ha! The view was miraculous. On one side was the Mississippi River, which appears dirtier than it should be. On the other side was Downtown and Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play. They werent lying when they said that there would be slight swaying at the top of the arch. Stephanie went white in the face when the swaying started, but I don't blame her because the swaying was freaky. It moved at least half of a foot and I don't think my dad enjoyed that much considering he was already afraid of heights. To end our night, we will be going to dinner and then to a St. Louis Blues hockey game! When we were about to go get tickets, a scalper tries to sell us tickets. We went inside of the arena and purchase better tickets and Stephanie was getting worried that the scalpers were going to get mad. She almost ran back to the car!

Over all, it was a pretty eventful day and we all enjoyed each other. There are a lot of pictures of the Lincoln Home but unfortunately my dads computer doesnt take my memory card :P

Written by,

Julia!

Heavenly

After a short five minute rain(the only rain of the trip), this beautiful rainbow appeared over hole 11 at the Jubilee Course in St. Andrews. Unfortunately it was not a sign from above for my golf game, I took a Double Bogey on the hole. Must have been distracted by the rainbow, I am sure it had nothing to do with the bunkers surrounding the hole.

St Andrews

We started our trip in St. Andrews. Our first day was exhausting with the flight to Newark and then to Edinburgh, taxi rides and the time difference. Quiet day once we were finally in St. Andrews, several naps and some walking round.

We stayed in a cute little B&B a block from the old course called The Bell Craig House and we were treated like kings by our lovely hostess Hazel. Every morning eating Bangers and Beans for breakfast along with fried eggs and Canadian Bacon. During the stay in St. Andrews I tried haggis, pigeon, deer, pheasant and anchovies.

We started our golf experience at Crail on Tuesday, beautiful course. On Wednesday we we able to golf the Old Course, it was pretty incredible. It was an amazing feeling coming over the bridge on number 18, and having an audience applaud as you approach the green and again once you sank your putt(mine happen to be a birdie). On Thursday we golfed The Jubilee, one of the other seven city courses in St. Andrews, and the only windy day we saw the entire trip. I heard the winds were in the 40's, and we had a 5 minute down pour. After golf, we visited St. Andrews castle, Cathedral and Abbey. And on Friday we golfed Scots Craig.

St. Andrews was a fun college town. We seem meet someone new every night, and always from a different part of Europe.

You can see more of my pictures in the Photo Album section on the left by clicking the "Scotland Pictures"link or read more about the trip by clicking on "Stan's Scotland Blog" and see how a real writer can write .

Leaving for Scotland

SCOTLAND GROUP: Leaving in two days with this group for almost two weeks of golf and tourist crap. Everything is set, extra shoes and socks, lots of clothing, credit card companies contacted to make sure they don't get suspicious and cut off the funds, pounds vs dollars, passport and guide to what is good to eat and what is not(Meals made in a Pig Stomach tops that listof whatnot to eat). Starting in St. Andrews golfing at Crail, then THE OLD COURSE and Jubilee. Then heading out and we will also be playing Peterhead, Scots Crail, Cruden Bay and Carnoustie. We will be there during St. Patricks day, and will assume being next to Ireland, that it should be fun. So far temps do not look good, mainly in the upper 40's. Good news though, only 1 day showing rain. In addition to golf, we will be taking a 2 day Whiskey/Castle tour visiting many of the Scotch Distilleries and Castles dotting the Northern coast. During the trip we have been invited to be the special guests at a friend of Danny's for dinner, note to self, bring guide of foods not to eat.

The Unluckiest Golfers

Rick and John flew to Arizona from Minnesota for a big adventure in Tucson, sunny days golfing with Stan in preparation for St. Andrews in Scotland. Today they're understandably confused as to just exactly where they are.
This morning a special event surprised them, and it wasn't Kathleen's waffles: a rare snowstorm hit Tucson and closed all the area links. It looked just like Minnesota everywhere, in fact, the temperature, humidity and dew points were identical to Minnesota's this morning.
Not to worry. Today the forty-something, footloose pair are visiting Tombstone, the Pima Air and Space Museum and the Boneyard. They eschewed the Gem show. Maybe shoot some pool at Pockets near the ballpark. Dinner tonight with Kathleen and Stan at Bub's Grub. Tomorrow the sun returns to make all the snow go. They have noonish tee times near the Phoenix airport and, if their luck turns, they will get in 18 before flying back to Minnesota.