Weirdos, Cows, and Trees (the Bay Area, North California, South Oregon)

Bandon, Oregon, Thursday June 26, 11:30am

Well, I guess it's been a few days since my last post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. The last few days have been spent exploring Monterey, then a couple of days in the Bay Area visiting with friends, finally onward to the northern California and southern Oregon coast.

Last Sunday (has it really been that long ago?) I spent the day exploring the Monterey Peninsula, home to Pebble Beach. I spent the morning hiking around Point Lobos State Preserve, a rugged area that features many birds, seals, deer, rare cypress trees, and fantastic views of the rocky coast. I had read on the internet that entrance was free, but when I got to the front gate there was a $10 entrance fee. After chatting with the Ranger on duty, he told me that if I turned around and parked outside the gate, I could hike in for free, so I promptly turned around and parked with about 5 other cars in a little parking lot just outside the main gate.

After about a 30 minute hike through heavy forest, I finally got to the southern end of Point Lobos, from where I started by exploration northward. One highlight was Cypress Cove, where I found a grove of cypress trees (apparently there are only 2 wild stands of cypress in the USA, other being at Pebble Beach) overlooking the rocky cove. Another highlight was Whalers Cabin, which was built by Chinese fishermen in the 1850's, and still houses a collection of whaling paraphernalia as well as the bones of 3 whales.

Photo 1 – Blue Oyster catcher nesting at Bird Island

Photo 2 – Cypress trees fighting the wind and crags

Photo 3 – Whalers Cabin with whale bones in the background

After Point Lobos I tried to sneak onto Pebble Beach Golf Links, not to play, but to snap a few photos. Apparently the rich folk that live there decided to make the entire village private, putting in gates at all of the intersections and charging people $10 to enter. A lot of reviews said that 17 Mile Drive was not worth it, since all you saw were fences and gates, and little else. However, that's the only legit way to go to Pebble Beach, unless of course you know of another way.

During the US Open I met a couple of fellows from the area, and one of them told me of another way to walk onto the course. After parking my van near one of the entrances, I walked through the Carmel gate (peds enter free) and proceeded about 4 blocks, where I found a maintenance road that led right onto the 12^th fairway. As I walked up the path, however, I noticed that all of the caddies were staring at me (Pebble Beach is a caddy mandatory course), so I didn't really have a chance to take any pictures. Oh well, I guess I should have grabbed a handful of grass on my way out, but I wanted to get outta there before the thugs arrived.

On Sunday night I arrived in San Jose to visit with extended family, Sophie and Ken (Sophie is Helen's cousin, if anyone is interested). Ken's an avid photographer, and he was nice enough to capture our wedding rehearsal and dinner for us a couple of years ago. They are budding gardeners, with tomato plants and a large apricot tree in the backyard laden with early summer fruit.

I spent a couple of days exploring San Francisco, commuting from Sophie and Ken's house in San Jose (not too bad of a commute, about 40 minutes on the freeway). Monday was spent visiting some landmark neighborhoods, including Haight-Ashbury, the Castro District, Chinatown, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Haight-Ashbury was the centre of the counter-culture hippie revolution in the 1960's, famous for psychedelic rock, drugs, and free love. It's now much more gentrified, with clothing boutiques, restaurants, and nicely restored houses, but it still shows its roots with stores catering to the cannabis sub-culture and alternative music. Many of the shops date back to the 1960's and sport colorful murals illustrating its past.

When I visited on early Monday morning, it seemed as if the area was just cleaning up after a party, with street cleaners and garbage trucks going through the neighborhood. There weren't very many “strange” people about, but I still had to dodge the occasional panhandler. The entire vibe of the neighborhood reminded me very much of Queen Street West in Toronto, once seedy but well on it's way to becoming a hip, urban place to live, visit, and be seen.

Photo 4 – Colorful store mural in “the Haight”

I then moved onto the Castro District, which is the predominant gay area. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but given that it was still Monday morning, I'm sure I saw less than if I visited on Saturday night. During the day this was a normal looking city hood, just getting ready for the lunch rush. The only thing to distinguish Castro Street from any other were the rainbow flags and gay advertising.

I started to get hungry, so I headed over to Chinatown for a quick bowl of noodle soup to satisfy my craving for Chinese noodle soup. After walking up and down the hilly streets, I found a restaurant with various BBQ meat products hanging in the window, so went in and sat down for a bowl of noodle soup with BBQ pork, roasted duck, and wontons. Mmmm, a nice hot bowl of BBQ pork noodle soup for a cool San Francisco day was perfect, even though it wasn't nearly as good as King's Noodle House in Toronto's Chinatown. Lunch was capped off with a warm, crispy sesame ball filled with red bean paste from a local Chinese bakery.

Photo 5 – View of the Bank of America building through the streets of Chinatown

After a quick photo op at the bottom of Lombard Street, I headed over to the north end of Golden Gate Bridge. The wind was howling, and there was a mist that hovered around the bridge and harbour area, typical of a San Francisco summer day. As the fog ebbed and flowed, the bridge seemed to be swallowed up in the distance.

Photo 6 – Tourists driving down the twisting Lombard Street (who else would do this?)

Photo 7 – Golden Gate Bridge shrouded by fog

After saying my goodbyes to Ken and Sophie on Tuesday morning, I headed north along the PCH north of San Francisco. At one stop I captured a para-surfer and sea kayaker braving the incredible wind and surf off the coast. There was some spectacular scenery along the Sonoma county coastline, but some of it was marred by the haze and smoke of wildfires burning all throughout northern California. At one point I had to stop to allow cows to finish crossing the highway, I thought I was back in India, mooooo!

Photo 8 – Para-surfer meets sea kayaker

Photo 9 – Moooooo! Watch out for land mines!

Somewhere after the cows, I began to notice the transition of topography from coastal seashore to Pacific Northwest type rain forests. On Wednesday, after many hours of driving along very winding roads, I managed to make my way to Redwood National Park. It was amazing to drive along a road bordered on both sides by towering redwoods that blocked out nearly all light, almost creating a tunnel-like effect. I stopped to admire a couple of the more famous residents, The Big Tree and Corkscrew Tree. I was told by the Ranger that The Big Tree is about 1500 years old; the picture doesn't do it justice, it was massive and had a diameter of about 20 feet or so, making it over 60 feet in circumference!

Photo 10 – The Big Tree

Photo 11 – Corkscrew Tree

Photos 12-14 – Some of my faves from the northern California and southern Oregon coastline

For today I plan on visiting Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, a hoity-toity resort that is supposed to recreate the original Scottish links style golf courses that can be found on the coast of the North Sea. After seeing how the richer half enjoy themselves, I'll continue along the Oregon coast and eventually to Portland.

Venice Beach and the Pacific Coast Highway

Monterey, California, Saturday June 21, 9:30pm

I spent the entire day driving up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), and it was singularly the most spectacular drive I have ever done. For those that have done this drive, you know what I mean, and for those of you who have not, I would seriously recommend doing this at least once in your life. But I get ahead of myself, I want to share some thoughts from yesterday at Venice Beach as well.

As expected, Venice Beach turned out to be a very interesting place to visit. I started off the day at the Venice Pier, which is at the very south end of the area. As I walked towards the beach, I was struck by an odd occurrence, it was a very bright, sunny, hot day, but as I got closer to the water, there was a heavy fog enveloping everything. If it was morning I would not have been surprised, but it was well past noon. It turns out that the temperature differential between the land and water causes the fog and mist to linger well into the afternoon. It did make for a cooling sensation, like the misters that are used at sporting events and such.

Something began to worry me though, there were no interesting people about, just the normal tourists, joggers, and cyclists on the sea walk. Where were the weirdos? So I turned northward and began to explore. As I walked past expensive beach houses nestled next to dilapidated shacks I began to see signs of life ahead. In a few blocks I reached the “real” Venice Beach, where hippies sat and socialized shoulder to shoulder with homeless people, rastas, potheads, street performers, and vendors – this was indeed a very eclectic scene.

Here you could get temporary henna tattoos from a number of street vendors, get real tattoos from the tattoo parlours, buy African art and trinkets (all authentically reproduced in China), have your name engraved on a grain of salt, buy joints of rolled sage leaves (apparently they are good for you), and generally just stroll and enjoy the people watching. It reminded me somewhat of Canal Street in New York, where you could buy just about any crap imaginable, combined with the multicultural melting pot of a neighborhood in San Francisco.

Venice Beach is also home to the famous Muscle Beach, where bodybuilders routinely work out in an outdoor setting. There weren't too many people there when I visited though, the scorching heat probably kept them away. One thing did make me smile, picture a very large black fellow, in reasonably good shape, dressed in all white outfit of spandex shorts and shirt that looked painted on, rollerskating up and down the sidewalk bopping to his iPod, clearly a man following his own beat.

Photo 1 – Sidewalk of Venice Beach

Venice, California was named after Venice, Italy, because one of the city founders decided to create a series of canals that were fed from the ocean, creating a cityscape similar to his home town. The canals were interesting, and the houses that bordered them were very nice, clearly it would be expensive to buy a place there. There were numerous bridges that crossed the canals, but the canals themselves were too geometrically straight to evoke any thoughts that they were natural and not man-made. However, the entire effect was one of calming serenity and green lushness in the middle of the hectic and noisy city. After the canals I left the confines of the city and headed north towards Malibu.

Photo 2 – Venice canals

I'm not sure what I expected of Malibu, maybe stretches of private beaches fronted by massive homes inhabited by Hollywood's elite. In any event, I was somewhat disappointed in what I saw, or more precisely what I didn't see. From the road all you see are fences, gates, and garage doors, there was no easy access to the beaches from the PCH, but I guess that's the way the owners want it.

As I left Malibu and headed north towards Monterey (home to Pebble Beach, one of the shrines of golf), I stopped at a roadside turnout to stretch my legs and admire the sunset over the Pacific. As I walked along the cliffs I met an Impressionist artist who had set up his easel and was just beginning a new painting. It turns out that he does this on the side, not full time, but he is good enough to sell many of his pieces. I have included his website for the curious.

www.richbrimer.com

Photo 3 – Painting on the cliffs

I started my drive this morning in Lompoc, a small city in the middle of nowhere. As I headed north I hit a roadside fruit stand to pick up some snacks for my day ahead. The strawberries are in the season right now, and having been picked this morning they were excellent. After stopping for a couple of tacos in San Luis Obispo (nothing to write home about), I started the best part of the drive.

Beginning in Morro Bay the PCH hugs the California coastline all the way to Monterey. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and it was fascinating to see the transition from long, sandy beaches to progressively more cliffs and rocky outcroppings. It took about 6 hours to drive 100 miles, so I averaged less than 20 mph. In some places the road was very narrow and twisted high above the ocean, cut directly into the cliffs. Every little while I would get out to admire the beauty of the seascape, thinking to myself “wow, this is awesome, how could it get any better?”, and then the next stop I made I would wonder the exact thought again, the vistas becoming increasingly more amazing with each stop.

At some point in my drive I stumbled upon a local surfer's paradise, with waves crashing into the cove and breakers just off shore. When I asked one of the surfers as he was leaving, he told me that the waves break only during this time of year, and so it's mostly locals that know of this place.

Photo 4 – Local surfing spot

At another one of my stops I found a curious sight, an old, tattered armchair overlooking the cliffs, waiting for someone to step up and find relief in it's cushions. I'm not sure how it got there, but I imagined that it was the seat for the old man by the ocean, perpetually watching the waves as a sentinel of the sea.

Photo 5 – The old man's chair on the cliffs

As I mentioned earlier, the drive is spectacular, and words or pictures can't really do it justice. I've attached a few more of my favorite photos, but the scenery is best viewed in person.

Photos 6, 7, & 8 – My faves from the PCH

Tomorrow I plan on exploring the Monterey Peninsula and it's surroundings before I head to the Bay Area.

Los Angeles - Wow It's Hot

Santa Monica, California, Thursday June 19, 6:30pm

Well, I've been in LA for a few days now, and it's been interesting. This is my third time visiting LA, the first time while in university my friends and I came here on a road trip, the second time was the tail end of the Cho brothers golf trip. A lot had changed in between the two trips and now, I don't remember the amount of traffic that exists today, and the city seems even larger and more sprawled out, consequently I'm spending more time driving than I anticipated.

I drove up Hwy 101 from north of San Diego to LA, visiting the small towns on the coast as I drove by. The fabled Orange County, or the OC as fans of the TV show know it by, is a huge suburban area with low density housing that is so common to many US communities. Without the sea coast and the beaches, you could be anywhere in the US with its small strip malls and larger shopping plazas with the customary Target, Best Buy, and Denny's dotting the landscape.

I did stop in a couple of places to go for walks, there was a nice little park overlooking the beach at Dana Point, about mid-way between San Diego and LA. I've attached a photo of the cliff side view of the surf and beach. The other stop I made was in Long Beach, which is the southern part of the LA metro area. There was a nice section of houses near the beach, and walking along the beach I discovered how it got its name. There were probably a couple of white explorers, they saw a very long, wide stretch of sandy beach, and thus named it Long Beach.

Photo 1 – Cliff side view of the surf and beach at Dana Point, CA

Last night I visited a couple of areas in Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Pier and the Third Street Promenade. The Santa Monica Pier juts out into the Pacific a few hundred feet, and most of it is covered by wooden planking giving it a boardwalk atmosphere. The pier area is akin to what Coney Island in New York might look like, carnival games, amusement rides, and the ubiquitous fast food joints selling hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and ice cream. The only difference here is that many of the eateries were large chains like Taco Bell and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. instead of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. There were families strolling with small children, and the older kids took turns on the roller coaster, ferris wheel, and bumper cars. There was also a section of the pier where anglers dropped their lines over the railing while others admired the orange full moon just above the LA horizon.

Photo 2 – The Santa Monica Pier at dusk from the bridge walkway

Photo 3 – Ferris wheel all lit up

The second area I visited was the Third Street Promenade, a pedestrian only outdoor mall that had been converted from a dodgy area of town to a bustling, very chic shopping district with nice shops and eateries. It reminded me of some of the pedestrian malls that my wife and I visited on our trips to Europe, especially in France and Italy. The only differences being the presence of lots of very large, overweight Americans compared to the thin Europeans, and instead of nice bistros and cafes there are Johnny Rockets and Yankee Doodles. Despite the proliferation of chain stores and restaurants, I wish that more cities would devote areas for these types of pedestrian malls in North America. I think it gets people out of cars and more into walking and enjoying the outdoors.

The Promenade was also friendly for street performers, some of whom were quite good. I spent about 30 minutes listening to a classical guitarist performing on the sidewalk. Although I'm not an expert on classical music, I thought he was excellent and could probably charge a lot of money for a concert. I wasn't the only one enjoying his music, there were a number of people standing around enjoying the impromptu concert. This reminded me very much of the cellist that we heard playing by the fountain in the town square of the medieval Tuscan town of San Gimignano.

Today I got in a round of golf at a club called Aliso Viejo in Orange County. I had no real expectations for this round since I have not played a lot of golf in the last 5 months or so. Between the India trip, skiing in the Rockies, and Toronto, I think I've played 2 rounds since February. Anyways, just my luck that this course didn't have a driving range, and I get paired up with some guy who ends up shooting about par. Great. Anyways, I played okay and ended up with an 86 despite a quadruple bogey on one hole (can you say Phil Mickelson?). I guess that's the golf gods' way of punishing me for ripping on Phil a couple of posts ago, talk about irony...

Anyways, it was freakin' hot today, it reached over 100° F on the golf course. It was so hot that I got a bunch of heat blisters on my arm, they didn't hurt, but it's strange to see blisters filled with liquid in an area of your body where there isn't any rubbing or chafing. Oh well. The temperatures do moderate significantly as you get closer to the coast, it's in the low 80°'s and very comfortable with the ocean breezes.

I think tomorrow I will forego the hot round of golf and check out Venice Beach, I've heard that it's got a very eclectic beach scene. I will also try to visit another Korean restaurant that I've been meaning to try, it's called Buk Chang Dong and is supposedly ground zero for the Soon Dubu stew phenomenon in North America's Koreatowns (see previous post). Well, at least it's a phenomenon for us Koreans and a few whiteys that are in the know. I will also post some more reviews of the restaurants that I've visited over the last few days.

The Almost Miracle - Sunday and Monday at the US Open

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, Monday June 15, 10:30pm

Well, after a couple of very intense days of golf, Tiger was crowned US Open champ. But just barely. As most of you probably know by now, Tiger took 19 extra holes to beat no-name Rocco Mediate, a journeyman pro who has been languishing in the bottom third of the PGA rankings over the past number of years.

I had stood by the 18^th green on Sunday for about 7 hours, from 11am to almost 6pm. My back was aching, my feet were sore, I was tired and thirsty, but the pain and suffering were well worth the drama and excitement that took place there. I had an ideal vantage point just to the right of the green, no more than 20 feet from the green and about 35 feet from the pin. I had made friends with a local couple to my left and an off duty volunteer marshal to my right, and we were all rooting for Rocco the underdog.

Rocco was 1 under par for the tournament and had a one shot lead coming to the last hole on Sunday. After a poor tee shot, he had to lay up on the par 5. Knowing that even if he parred the hole Tiger would have to at least birdie to tie him, Rocco put his approach shot in the middle of the green and two putted for par. There was a tremendous cheer of “ROC-CO, ROC-CO” from the massive gallery around the 18^th hole.

Sunday was a day to give many PGA pros much hope for the future, Tiger is beatable on Sunday of a major. Having started at 3 under par, Tiger had been struggling all day and by the 18^th hole he was 3 over par for the day, even par for the tournament, and one shot behind Rocco. Coming to the 18^th hole I'm sure he had a very good mental image of what he needed to do, since he had made a miraculous eagle there just the day before. Tiger proceeded to hit his tee shot awry and was forced to lay up, hitting his approach shot a mere 20 feet from where I stood.

After prowling around the green and surveying the hole for what seemed like an eternity, he carefully stepped up to the ball. The once raucous crowd was amazingly quiet, it's unnerving to see 20,000 people or more but not hear a sound except for the occasional chirp from a bird flying overhead. Tiger only had about a 15 foot putt left to tie Rocco and force a Monday playoff, but we had not seen anyone make this putt all day. Like some pre-ordained event, Tiger's putt started off quickly and tracked directly into the hole. There was a massive eruption from the crowd, and Tiger gave his patented double fist pump. Tiger is probably the best pressure putter I have ever seen, when everything is on the line, it seems that he draws from a reserve of willpower and determination no-one else has. Sometimes when you watch golf on TV the commentators blather on about Tiger this and Tiger that, but watching him live in a major gives a lot of credence to what seems like pandering by the media. It truly was electric to watch.

As I was leaving the course, I had the sense that although everyone expected Tiger to run away in the playoff, Rocco might have the temperament to fare well against Tiger. He's sort of a laid back kinda guy, and all throughout the pressure cooker of the final round, he kept his composure up and outplayed Tiger in the end. I expected a good match on Monday, and I was not disappointed.

I arrived Monday morning about a half hour after the pair teed off, I knew that they would have to play at least 18 holes. After a walk of about 20 minutes from the front entrance, I joined the gallery on the 5^th hole, just in time to watch Rocco play from rough to rough to end up with a bogey and lose a shot to Tiger. At that point the gallery was large and growing, there was a constant stream of people coming through the gates, and I knew that it would be futile to try and follow Tiger around the course. I formulated a plan to skip ahead a couple of holes and wait for the golfers to come to me.

After watching Tiger make 2 straight birdies in a row at holes 6 and 7 and going 3 shots up, the next few holes would be critical. I skipped ahead to hole 9, where I knew that the left side of the green would provide a very good vantage point to watch the putts. We heard a loud groan coupled with some cheers of “ROC-CO”, so we figured that Rocco had gained a stroke on number 8. As I waited on the 9^th green, the crowd seemed to be swelling right before my eyes. After playing the hole almost perfectly, Rocco had a short 2 foot putt to tie Tiger with par on the hole, but he missed badly, causing a collective gasp from the crowd. Was this where the wheels would begin to fall off? Was the pressure of playing against Tiger for the US Open championship too much for Rocco to bear?

After making bogey on hole 9 and another on hole 10 by Rocco, I knew that it was going to be really difficult for him to come back from four strokes down with 8 holes to go against the best player on the planet. While they were playing the 10^th hole I skipped over to an area adjacent to both the 11^th and 13^th holes. I knew that from my previous days I would be able to see both holes from this location. Unfortunately, about 5,000 other people had found this spot as well. As I jostled for position, Rocco and Tiger hit their tee shots to the 11^th hole.

Then the almost miracle began (I say “almost miracle” because it still ended badly). Rocco proceeded to gain strokes on 4 of the next 5 holes, erasing the massive 4 stroke deficit before anyone could really digest what was happening. There was a stunned buzz from the Tiger fans, most of whom were not really golf fans, coupled with hooting and hollering from the Rocco contingent (which was quite a bit smaller).

I say that the majority of Tiger's fans are not really golfers or golf fans because they are clueless. First, they are ignorant of the rules and etiquette of golf. A number of times after Tiger had putted out, there would be a massive movement of “fans” to the next hole, even though Rocco had not finished the hole, thus causing innumerable delays while the marshals tried to stem the movement. Then there would be the fans that claim to know how easy it is to play out the four inch deep rough, saying it's easier to get the ball in the air. Then there would be the parents telling their kids to cheer for Tiger just as Rocco was about to hit a shot. Ignorant hicks, they're all caught up in the Tiger hype. That's my anti-Tiger rant for the day.

Getting back to the golf, after watching the action on the 15^th green where Rocco took the lead, his first of the day, I quickly scrambled over to the 18^th green. I figured that with Rocco in the lead by a stroke going to the 16^th hole, the deciding action could be on the 18^th hole. After circling the area for 10 minutes, I realized that it was a futile activity to try and get close, there were probably 15,000 people waiting on the 18^th hole, the grandstands were packed to capacity, the greens were 20 deep, the fairway was 10 deep, and people had resorted to climbing onto the backs of service vehicles to try to catch a glimpse of the action.

I found a place about 50 yards from the green from which I could at least see part of the green. As the players walked down the 18^th fairway after their tee shots, there was a loud series of chants for “ROC-CO, ROC-CO”. Unfortunately, he had hit his tee shot into the bunker and like Sunday, was forced to lay up. Tiger on the other hand, was able to go for the green in two, and with a massive swing he ripped an iron to the middle of the green. Now it was going to be a putting contest. Rocco two putted for par, and after Tiger missed his eagle attempt, he had a fairly short putt to force a sudden death playoff. At this point the crowd was just enormous, and after another eternity of checking the angles, ensuring that all of the flecks of sand were brushed aside, and asking the ants to please move (just kidding), Tiger lined up his putt. Seeing as how Tiger hadn't missed an important putt like this in about 10 years, I again had a very baaaad feeling that he was somehow going to reach into his reserves of mental power, and will the ball into the hole. I really didn't see much of this putt, since by this time the crush of the crowd was about 20 people deep where I was, all I could see were the backs of what seemed like the entire LA Lakers basketball team. I was mentally cursing my gene pool which only made me 5'11” tall, I needed to be at least 7 feet!!!

With Tiger's last putt on the 18^th hole, there was a mad dash for people to run to the 6^th hole, the first sudden death playoff hole. I decided to gamble and stay in my current position, slowly making my way closer to the fairway in the event that the playoff would make it back to the 18^th. As I made it to the second row, Tiger and his escort of about 10 uniformed police officers walked no more than 10 feet from where I now stood, ostensibly on his way to the bathroom. At this critical juncture, even the mighty Tiger Woods had to pee, and silently I had a smile to myself.

The first sudden death playoff was somewhat anticlimactic. Everyone around, myself included, were glued to the portable TV's. After a groan (Rocco's missed putt), there was a tremendous cheer, and after the 3 second TV delay we saw Tiger 's winning par putt.

For some reason, I didn't feel like sticking around for the trophy presentation. It was a little bit disappointing, after 8 days of following groups around, that I did not get to see the final winning hole, but I'm sure it was more disappointing for Rocco. All things considered, it's been a pretty phenomenal week.

Starting tomorrow I'll journey northward on Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway towards Los Angeles.

Left Jab, Right Hook, Knockout! Phil's Meltdown & Tiger's Magic (Warning - long golf post)

Solana Beach, California, Saturday June 13, 10:30pm

Well, three rounds of the US Open have been played, and I've seen some pretty incredible things in the last couple of days. For the first two rounds, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were grouped together along with Adam Scott (who is no slouch either). Thursday's round was a seesaw affair, with neither Tiger nor Phil being able to accomplish much. As I watched from the grandstand on the 18^th green, a par 5, they both hit their second shots onto the green. Phil was able to 2 two putt for a birdie, but Tiger three putted for par (three putting sucks ass). Phil finished one stroke ahead of Tiger for round one.

Then came Friday. Phil continued to struggle, but Tiger was able to mount a very impressive second nine, and ended up shooting 68, a very good score, to end the day at two under par and within one shot of the lead. Phil ended up at four over par, still within reach but he would have to play exceptionally well to be in contention.

That brings us to today. I would have to say that what I saw today was definitely worth the price of admission. I had followed Mike Weir's group and Phil's group in the morning, since they teed off much earlier than the leaders. When I got to the 13^th hole, I planted myself in the front row on the green and thought about staying there for a while. The 13^th hole is a monster, over 610 yards long and having a huge hill just before the green, making approach shots very interesting for the spectators, but not so much fun for the pros.

Then came the Phil Mickelson meltdown. First, he drove his tee shot into the deep right rough, then whacked it out into the left rough, just at the bottom of the big hill. Now, this is a par five, so he was in okay shape, all he had to do is hit his approach onto the middle of the green, two putt, and get the hell outta there with par – no damage done, right?

Instead, he decides to attack the pin, which was carefully placed at the very front of the green and just over the crest of the hill. His first attempt came sailing over the crest, bounced once, and then rolled back down the hill, basically coming to rest where he had had just hit. Attempt two was no better, he again tried to hit the ball close to the hole, but instead came up just short and and again the ball rolled back down the hill. I think at this minute Phil had a Tin Cup moment. He loaded up a third time, and again hit it short, ball rolls back down the hill. There was a collective gasp from the gallery each time he missed, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, horrifyingly surreal but fascinating at the same time. On his fourth attempt, he finally just hit the ball to the middle of the green, and there was cheering from the crowd, but I think it was partially relief and partially a Bronx cheer. In any event, Phil went on to three putt from 25 feet, and ended up with a QUADRUPLE bogey nine. In the four hours or so that I sat watching the 13^th hole, there were only 2 other bogeys, and a lot of birdies. W-O-W, was all anyone could say. I figure that if I played this hole 10 times, I might not card a nine on any of the attempts. Incredible.

Then came the Tiger magic. Now, I'm not a Tiger fan, in fact, I'm usually an ABT, or Anyone But Tiger fan, but even I have to admit that his back nine was incredible. I was still sitting at the 13^th hole, and we could see him tee off in the far distance, and then all of a sudden this huge group on people start running towards the port-a-potties to the left, it was pretty clear that Tiger had hit his ball into the cluster of port-a-potties (how poetic, I thought). After walking over there, he realized that because the TV tower is in his way he asked for and got relief from the rules official, and was able to move the ball. There was considerable muttering in the crowd about another “Tiger ruling”, but he was able to move the ball out of the toilets and into the rough. He then proceeds to hit an amazing shot onto the back of the green, lying two at this point. Now, all he has to do is two putt for birdie and move onto the next hole.

Now comes the ironic part. Up to that point, no other golfer had read the putt correctly, the vast majority of them had missed the putt to the left. Getting fed up with everyone missing left, for one group I yelled out “it breaks more than it looks!” The two golfers in that group promptly stepped up and missed both putts to the right! They took my advice, but a little too much. There were a lot of snickers from the people around me.

As Tiger starts to line up his 50 foot putt, someone behind me asks “aren't you going to offer up some advice?” “Nah,” I replied, “he doesn't need my help!” Of course, I really don't want to help Tiger get an eagle. So doesn't he step up and hit the putt, more to the right than anyone previous. Internally I was groaning, I had a very baaaad feeling about this putt. With about 10 feet to go Tiger's caddie starts to gyrate wildly, and inexorably the ball continues its track, like a radar guided missile, right into the hole! The crowd went absolutely nuts, and it took about five minutes before any semblance of order was restored, it was deafening.

As the crowd dissipated (Tiger's army resembles a herd of sheep, bleating “go Tiger” incessantly and following him over the entire course, everyone struggling to stand on their tippy toes or peer through a mass of crowded bodies to catch a even a quick glimpse), I made my way over to the 17^th hole, knowing that in a few minutes the leaders would come through again. As I stood on a small hill just beside the 17^th green, each of the leading groups played through. Then Tiger's group arrived, and it seemed that the entire 17^th green was swallowed up with his supporters. We watched as his tee shot went way right, then his approach shot out of the rough landed short and to the left of the hole. He calmly stepped up, took a couple of practice strokes, and then promptly one-bounced his chip shot into the hole for birdie! Again, the crowd went bananas, and it took another five minutes for the howling to subside. All during the applause, Tiger had this sheepish grin on his face, obviously knowing that he got a gift from the golf gods.

At this point I'm sick to my stomach. I've watched him for two holes, and he's three under for those two holes! I decided to not follow the now massive crowd to the 18^th hole, and instead began to make my way to the exit. I didn't want to bring Tiger any more good fortune. As I made my way to the exit, which was about a 10 minute walk, I heard another massive roar, and I found out that Tiger had made another eagle on 18. I was thankful I wasn't around to watch that, and was secretly relieved to know that I wasn't Tiger's magic charm, I might have had to quit watching golf.

Well, that's what's happened thus far at the US Open. I guess I'll have to wake up early tomorrow to go watch the inevitable crowning of Tiger as the champ. But there's still plenty of golf yet to play, and who knows what could happen...

Tiger vs. Phil - The Weigh-in

Pacific Beach, California, Wednesday June 11, 7:30pm

Today is the day before the US Open begins, a dream for many of the 156 players that will tee off tomorrow. The US Open is probably the toughest tournament to win, since it traditionally has the best players in attendance. Certainly the US Open courses are the most punishing of all the majors, but I think that Torrey Pines will yield some pretty low scores this week.

After having walked the entire course over the last couple of days, I get the sense that course is not as difficult as some other venues. The rough for the US Open is normally at least 6 inches, but here I don't think it's nearly as deep, and there really aren't any trouble spots for the pros. The only defenses for the course are its length and the tricky, unpredictable winds that blow off the Pacific. It will be interesting to see how the pros handle the conditions, but with the forecast calling for mild temperatures and no rain, I think the winning score will be about 6 under par. That's a pretty low score given that the past few Opens have had winning scores above par.

The course today was the busiest yet, but I imagine that it will only get busier as the week goes on. The buzz was around both Tiger and Phil on the practice range and putting green. At one point they were both on the putting green together, but I did not see them talking to each other or acknowledging each others' presence. It should be a pretty interesting couple of rounds coming up, they tee off at 7:40am tomorrow.

Photo 1 – Phil Mickelson practicing putting

Photo 2 – Tiger Woods chatting on the putting green

Other than the Phil and Tiger buzz, there really wasn't much else going on. Few players actually went out on practice rounds, rather opting to hit the range and putting green, then head off early to get a fresh start for the 7am tee times tomorrow. Either that or they're all partying it up at a swanky club in La Jolla, open only to the rich and connected. I'm neither, so it looks like I'll be looking for another party...

One interesting thing to observe was how each pro handles the many requests for autographs throughout the day. Tiger almost never signs any, and some of the other pros really don't make an effort either. Some of the notables that really didn't seem to care were Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia, and Justin Leonard. On the positive, for each brusque pro there were just as many that did make an effort, stopping between each practice hole as well as on their way from the range to putting green (these are the most congested areas for autograph seekers) to sign many, but not all, requests. Some of the best were Mike Weir (although he didn't sign my cap) and Vijay Singh. Most of the rest fall somewhere in between, having perfected the art of signing and walking.

I did get a chance to wander down to Pacific Beach today, it's sandwiched between San Diego to the south, and La Jolla to the north. The locals like to keep this place to themselves it seems, since it's not really well known or widely written about, but full of locals surfing, jogging, and riding their bikes along the sea walk. There are a couple of stretches of quaint shops specializing in beach wear, surf gear and the like. It looks like there are a lot of local restaurants and shops, so I will have to make an effort to do some research and find a good local restaurant to try.

Photo 3 – Surfers on Pacific Beach riding the tube

I will try to make to the course early tomorrow to try to catch as much of the action as possible. One of the things that really makes it difficult to spend a lot of time on the course is the lack of any decent food. Their food selection consists of a hot dog, chicken breast sandwich, cheeseburger, or a chicken wrap. The other choices include chips, pretzels, ice cream, etc. - talk about bland, uninspired crap. I think the US Open organizing committee needs to spend more time in this regards, and not just for the corporate tents. I'm sure that having a couple of the local taco stands open up on the course would do wonders for the food selection!

But enough about my food rant, I need to go find some dinner now.

Best Swing Aid Ever, Only $29.95

La Jolla, Tuesday June 10, 6:30pm

Today was day two of the US Open, or the Tuesday practice round. There were definitely more people in attendance today as compared to yesterday, and also much more activity from the players. Some of the notables that I saw today were Mike Weir and Sergio Garcia. Tiger Woods practiced early in the morning, but I'm not big on waking up at 6am to go watch Tiger hit practice balls. Have not yet seen Phil Mickelson, but he is supposed to be paired with Tiger for the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, should make for some pretty good golf given their history. The biggest problem will be fighting the crowds that will undoubtedly be following this group.

One of my favorite things is to sit by the driving range and watch the guys hit balls. It really is amazing to watch, the good players make the swing look so effortless, yet hit the ball with incredible accuracy and repetition, almost machine-like. Watching Mike Weir hit wedge after wedge to within 10 feet of the pin over 20 shots is pretty impressive.

Photo 1 - Mike Weir at the range

Another thing that is interesting to observe at the range is the variety of swing aids that the pros use. The winner of the most unusual training aid goes to Shingo Katayama (the Japanese guy that wears a cowboy hat for competition rounds). He was using a club that had a head the size of a frying pan, as you can see in the photo. Most of the people in the gallery were snickering when he started warming up with this contraption, but everyone fell silent when he started striping the cover off the ball with a real club.

Photo 2 - Award for best new swing aid goes to...

While I was at the 18^th hole today, I saw something that made me laugh. For those of you not familiar with Torrey Pines, the finishing hole is a pretty short par 5 with a pond guarding the front of the green. Woody “Aquaman” Austin, who is notorious for falling into a pond while attempting to hit a submerged golf ball at last year's President's Cup, was in front of the green with about 60 yards to go. Woody had laid up to this point, and prompty stepped up and hit his third shot into the pond, but with enough spin to make the ball skip off the water and onto the green. The crowd erupted with applause, but I'm sure some of them thought he got really lucky. He then hit another ball, this time a regular pitch shot and dropped it to within 5 feet of the hole, to even greater applause, but as most golfers will tell you, the skip shot is much harder to execute.

I've added a couple of photos of some other notable golfers, including Ian Poulter, who is known for outlandish clothing. A couple of years ago he wore pants made from the Union Jack for the British Open, and I'm curious as to what he's packed for this trip. He was dressed pretty normally (for him at least) today, only a bright green golf shirt under all whites.



Photos 3, 4, and 5 - Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter

US Open Practice Round / In Search of Tofu Stew

La Jolla, California, Monday June 9, 9:30pm

I just got back from the Monday practice round, and was fortunate to see many of my favorite players in action. Some of the notables were Vijay Singh, KJ Choi, Ernie Els, and Stephen Ames.

Photo 1 - of Vijay playing out the rough

Photo 2 - KJ's swing

Photo 3 - a Torrey pine tree

Now onto dinner. I've been on a bit of a Quixotic quest the last couple of days. For some reason I've had a craving for Korean food, and not just anything. There is a dish called “Soon Dubu” stew, or spicy silken tofu stew. It's a very Korean dish, in that it's a hearty stew with seafood, meat, veggies, kimchi, and soft tofu, served in a bowl that arrives at a rapid boil to which you add a raw egg. The egg cooks in the stew almost instantly, resulting in a savory, spicy stew which is eaten with rice and the accompanying side dishes.

Last night I found a place called Tofu House here in San Diego, the place was packed, and not just with Koreans, there was a good mix of non-Koreans as well. They had about 30 different permutations of the dish, and I chose one with kimchi and BBQ beef. The stew was quite good but I could tell that the BBQ beef that was added to the stew was very sweet, making the overall dish a little too cloying, I would rate it about 7 out of 10. Dinner was served with 4 side dishes, the hot and sour cucumber salad and stir fried fish cakes were very good, the other 2 sides were nondescript and plain. One plus was the option of brown rice.

While I was surfing for tofu restaurants, I found out that there is a bit of a flame war between supporters of Tofu House vs. another place down the street called Convoy Tofu House (yes, Koreans are very creative, can't you tell). So in the spirit of trying to determine which has the best Soon Dubu, I went to Convoy Tofu house tonight (I told you that I was on a bit of a quest).

I thought that the stew itself was a little better here than the previous night, with a better flavor profile and less MSG. They also provided 6 sides, but with quantity came a lack of quality, the sides were not as good as the 2 at Tofu House. The service was much better here with lower prices , resulting in a overall score of 7.5 out of 10. A slight improvement over Tofu House, but they are both pretty close. I guess the flame war will continue.

Anticipation

Torrey Pines State Beach, California, Monday June 9, 12:20pm

As I write this I am sitting watching the surf crash onto the beach at Torrey Pines, waiting for the bus to take me to my first US Open. I'm filled with anticipation on what awaits me at this very famous municipal golf course.

I first visited Torrey Pines Golf Course in 2000 with Helen during a company trip, and I recall how majestic it looked, towering over the Pacific with paragliders launching themselves off the cliffs. I next visited in 2002 with my brother, but this time with golf in mind. We were on a Cho brothers golf vacation (still the first and only one). We wanted to get there early to secure one of the very scarce walk-on times, but waking up at 5am was no easy task for either of us.

I remember my drive off the first tee, into a stiff breeze with the par 4 measuring about 430 yards off the white tees. I hit it pretty well, but it only went about 220 yards and landed in the thick rough, resulting in a double bogey. Not to worry though, because there were many more of those to come. The rest of the day was similar, fighting the wind off the ocean and the on again off again rain showers, and wrestling with the golf swing that was still rusty from many months of neglect during the winter months in Toronto.

I still remember that early morning round, and remember what a great time we had. I'm hoping that my next set of experiences will be just as memorable. But I have to leave it here to make my way to the bus stop.

The photo is of the surfers waiting to catch the “big one” off the coast of Torrey Pines State Beach.

First Day in San Diego

Del Mar, California, Sunday June 8, 5:00pm

I arrived in the San Diego area earlier this morning after spending a night in the van at some truck stop off the interstate. The weather in San Diego is cool compared to Austin, the temperature is in the low 70's Farenheit (which is equivalent to the low 20's Celcius), but it's sunny and clear, making for a pleasant day. The cooler weather is a nice change from the sweltering heat that I've endured in Austing during the month of May, with daily highs in the mid to high 90's all month (that's high 30's Celcius for the Canadians).

My first stop was the beach at Del Mar, which is just north of San Diego, to take off my shoes and dip my toes in the Pacific. Del Mar has a very nice sandy beach, and as I walked along it I promptly got my shorts soaked by the waves crashing on shore.

After walking along the beach for a while, I decided to stop by Torrey Pines to check out the US Open merchandise tent. The tent was huge, and it contained a whole lot of stuff with the US Open logo on everything. I ended up getting a couple of hats for myself and a few gifts, and ended up $125 lighter. Oh well, I guess that's what “authentic” gear costs.

Photo 1 - Beach at Del Mar

Photo 2 - A little shack on the cliffs

Arizona Desert

Gila Bend, Arizona, Saturday June 7, 9:30pm

This segment is being written on a gas station bench in Gila Bend, as I watch the sun set over the Arizona desert. A very warm, dry breeze is blowing, making it pretty comfortable to be sitting outside as I type, unlike during the day when it's way too hot to be sitting outside without a massive AC unit nearby.

One of my stops today was in Tucson, a small university city in southern Arizona. I stopped at a Starbucks to grab an iced coffee and surf for a good place to eat. A couple of places came up, El Charro, which apparently has been around for a while (about 85 years or so), and Mi Nidito, a place where Bill Clinton and Enrique Iglesias have been known to visit when in town.

Celebrity sightings notwithstanding, I decided to go to El Charro (I'm sure that if Helen were with me we'd have ended up at the celebrity place). El Charro claims to be “the oldest continuously family owned Mexican restaurant in the USA” and has been written up in Gourmet magazine, so I figure the food should be pretty good. The first things to arrive, like in most Mexican restaurants, were the chips and salsa. I've been to a lot of Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants since I've moved to Austin, but these chips are probably the best I've ever tasted. The corn tortilla chips were thicker than normal, but very crisp and had an incredible sweetness and freshness from the masa. Wow, not your average Dorito The salsa was kinda runny and reminded me of tomato sauce, but it was second fiddle to the chips. I couldn't stop eating them, and was dangerously close to the refill line (that imaginary level that when crossed, causes the the server to bring out a fresh batch, almost obliging you to continue eating lest you leave food behind), but I managed to keep it to less than one helping. Talk about willpower! I will need lots more willpower throughout this trip if I hope to finish under 300 pounds...

For the main course I ordered the “world famous” Carne Seca, which literally means dried meat. Mmm, sounds appetizing, doesn't it? It's actually Angus beef which has been sun-dried and then shredded along with chiles, onions and tomatos, served with the usual rice and beans. The Carne Seca was unlike anything I'd ever tasted, almost like shredded beef jerky served with some veggies, the flavor was very unusual, a very strong beefy taste which may have been too overpowering on it's own. Thankfully, it came with a selection of corn and flour tortillas, the better of which were the corn tortillas, a little smaller than normal but soft and served piping hot from the grill. The guacamole was also very good, with a nice balance of onions, lime, and cilantro. The beans were about average, but the rice was flavorful and moist, something you can't say about all joints serving rice and beans.

This was the first worthy meal on my big road trip, hopefully there will be many more.

Picture 1 – Cacti standing guard in the waning evening sunlight of the Arizona desert

Picture 2 – El Charro in Tucson, AZ