California!

Hey everyone,
In this blog I will talk about all the things I did in California, minus the golf. I have another blog that only talks about my golf. It is located at www.golfingwithglen.com under "Glen's Blogs" and labeled benjaminglenbishop.blogspot.com

On Sunday, September 5th, Brittany and Mom took me to Valdosta “International” Airport in Valdosta, GA. My flight left at 12:00 PM and my first stop was Atlanta, GA. Everything got off fine and before I knew it, I was in Atlanta with a three hour layover. On my flight to Los Angeles, CA, I had a little over 4 hours of flying and the company of a three year old girl in front of me, staring at me the whole way between the seats! I arrived in LAX with a two and a half hour layover, until my final flight to Monterey, CA. Once in the air, the sun was setting. There’s nothing quite like a sunset on the Pacific Ocean from 30,000 feet! Uncle Dave picked me up at 8:45 PM (11:45 PM EST) and I began unwinding for the night.

Monday, we all woke up early and had a good breakfast, then went around Monterey and ran some errands. We got groceries for the week and did a few odd jobs around the house. We put Aunt Jackie’s new desk together and then watched the US Open. The temperature was probably in the 50’s and the greatest thing was no humidity and bugs! It was a good day for me to adjust to the time difference and recover from jetlag.

Tuesday, Uncle Dave got me a tee time at noon at Poppy Hills so Aunt Jackie and I went around and finished some errands and rode on the scenic “17 mile drive.” We drove through some golf courses, including one of my favorites, Spanish Bay, and then went to Pebble Beach and Stillwater Cove. We took some pictures on 17 and 18 at Pebble then went to my tee time. After my round, Aunt Jackie and I went to the farmers market in downtown Monterey and ate some fried Calamari and Greek Gyros. That’s right…Glen Bishop ate some stuff he can’t pronounce! Once we got home, it was 55 degrees so we put a fire in the fireplace. I was freezing.

On Wednesday morning, Aunt Jackie and Ms. Mar were doing a lot of community service, so Aunt Jackie and I delivered some groceries to some women who have a little difficulty with some of their everyday jobs. After that, we met up with Ms. Mar and they dropped me off at Rancho Canada (Can-ya-da) for some practice while they got coffee. We ate a late lunch and I went on a bike ride down the mountain and ended up at Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium is a very unique place full of almost every sea creature available. I always enjoy going there. Once I was finished at the aquarium, I walked down historical Canary Row and went to the Pebble Beach Golf Shop.

Thursday, Aunt Jackie and Ms. Mar were delivering “Meals on Wheels” which worked out good because I was playing golf with Mr. Russ at Tehama. We played, and had a great time, as always, and then Mr. Russ took me home.

Friday, I went on another “Tour de Monterey” bike trek and explored downtown Monterey, Pacific Grove and the Wharf. It’s fun because it’s downhill the whole way and around 60 degrees. I would go where I wanted, tie the bike up, and once I got tired of that place I would get on the bike and go to the next. That night, we had a small group gathering on Carmel Beach overlooking Pebble Beach. We had about fifteen people there around a fire and watched the sun get swallowed by the ocean. Uncle Dave made a Low Country Boil for everyone, so we all ate to our capacity and slept well that night.

Saturday, Uncle Dave took me to the gun club to practice our shooting, and it became obvious that I had been practicing golf more than shooting! But as always, I had a blast. I played golf that afternoon, then went home to relax and watch the US Open.

Sunday was a relaxing day. We went to church, ate a huge lunch, went out and hit a few balls and then came home to a good dinner.

Monday, Aunt Jackie and I drove through Salinas Valley and looked at the 10’s of thousands of acres of leafy greens, and my favorite, broccoli. It’s hard to describe how unique that area of California is. On one side of the mountain, there are 30,000 acres of this vegetable and 20,000 acres of another, then the other side has pristine golf courses and resorts.

We went to the Pinnacles National Monument. The Pinnacles are eroded leftovers of half of an extinct volcano. The monument is located near the San Andreas Fault. Large scale earth movement created deep, narrow caves and tall mountains, some of which are 824 feet tall. We explored all the caves and climbed the mountains. It was SO dark. You literally couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It was creepy thinking that one shift of these rocks and I could be just like the Chilean miners. After all that, Aunt Jackie and I rode through wine country and saw the thousands of acres of grapes. I had a tee time later that evening and not really sure how we stayed awake for it. Aunt Jackie and I were pretty tired after all that mountain climbing and walking, but we did it anyway.

After a good night of sleep, Aunt Jackie and I went to Carmel to look through the shops and go to Thomas Kinkade’s Art Gallery on Tuesday. We ate lunch at r.g.(“real good”) Burgers then she took me to my tee time at Bayonet. Uncle Dave picked me up and we had Poppa Murphy’s for dinner. They make fresh pizza for you uncooked, then you take it home and cook it. It turned out to be really good!

Wednesday morning, Aunt Jackie took me through some of the small towns to get a few souvenirs and take a few more things in. My flight was to leave at 4:55 PM, so we decided to go rock climbing before I left. I have never been rock climbing. It was real neat. Aunt Jackie literally had my life in her hands. She held the rope that kept me from falling. From 50 feet off the ground, all your thinking is, “I hope she’s not mad at me for anything.” Then you let go of the wall…the rest is in her hands. Since I’m typing this blog, I guess all is well between Aunt Jackie and me! I have never been so tired after I climbed a few of those walls. Apparently, you don’t just grab a rock and climb. There is a technique to it and it’s not just use your arms. After two 50 foot climbs, I was blown up, but once I figured out how to use all of my body, including my legs, I could do a lot more.

At the airport that evening, I didn’t know if I could even lift my bags out of the car. I look like I had walked from Florida I was so tired. Aunt Jackie laughed and said I’d sleep good since it was a night flight… so I thought!

All went well in Monterey airport. The view is amazing from the plane, looking at the Pacific coast until you hit Los Angeles. Once in LA, there was a runway issue, so we circled until it was fixed. We flew 1,000 feet over the USC Trojans football field. We finally landed and I got some Chili’s while I waited on my redeye to Miami. After 3 hours, we were finally ready to board. It’s approaching 11PM and I had been fighting off sleep so I would sleep on the long flight. As soon as I was in line to give them my boarding pass, a man came sprinting out of the jet way only to come to an abrupt stop from a security guard. He apparently got on the wrong plane and you’re not suppose to leave the plane once you enter. After a football spear from the security guard and three other guards pinning him down, I doubt he’ll ever do that again. So after that excitement was over, we get on the plane and I get settled in. Then the lady in front of me starts choking on her gum and had to have the Heimlich to remove it, but she was fine. We were taxiing out to the runway when a young lady apparently got sick and ran down the isle. Well, to save the integrity of the story, she expelled “lunch” the whole way down the isle. I was sitting there thinking, “Please just get me to Florida.” With lunch on the ground and the lady in front of me coughing from choking, I was rolling in to Florida on 2 hours of sleep.

I arrived in Miami at 5AM. It was neat. I left when the sun was setting and arrived when it was rising! One more long layover and I was home! I boarded the plane at 8AM and settled in for a short flight to Jacksonville. There was a family of five who had never flown before who made this trip interesting and sleepless, but all was well when mom was waiting in the arrival area at JAX. She looked at me and said “Long Flight?” and I said “You have no idea!”

California is a place I always look forward to visiting. I never want to leave but know it’s necessary. Every time I go, I create new ideas and outlooks about everything from golf to business, but I always know good ol’ Jefferson County will be here waiting on me just how I left it!

I hope you have enjoyed the blogs about my travels to California. It’s neat to go back and read the old ones on occasion to see how things change. I sincerely appreciate all the support I receive related to golf and to my travels.

Your friend,

Glen