Travels with Edna and Papi: YOU NEVER CAN GO BACK, THE MASTERS' TOURNAMENT AND TOTOS' TOO!

April, 2017

"YOU NEVER CAN GO BACK", THE MASTERS' TOURNAMENT AND TOTOS' TOO!

Since the beginning of our adventures, we knew an opportunity like going to the Masters' Golf Classic in Augusta, Ga. would be once in a lifetime and the only way to get tickets was to have your name drawn in a lottery. As luck would have it, our name was drawn for the practice round. At the practice rounds (not the actual tournament days), you can take pictures freely and walk the hilly, but pristine 18 hole course. Augusta here we come……

Arriving at another military base prior to the Masters' , we arrived at Pointes West Army Recreation Area in Appling, Ga. We didn't think any other military recreation areas could be more beautiful than Lake Wateree, but we were wrong! Once again on a lake, we were given a spot a stones throw from the water. With plenty of space between us and our neighbors, we made friends with our neighbors Mo and Elaine. They invited us to their place (fifth-wheel) which we gladly accepted and with their fun, outgoing ways we knew this was going to be a fun week!

Marietta, Ga., Catfish and Waffles…..and "you never can go back"!

When Perry was active duty in the Navy, we were stationed in Marietta, Ga. For two years. I loved it then because this is where our youngest, Brandon was born. David and Kaylyn were 5 and 7 at the time and these were memorable years!

We were an hour and a half drive from Marietta, and decided to make the days drive to visit our old neighborhood, church and school. Traffic driving outside Atlanta certainly was a lot heavier than it was twenty years ago and we found our way to our church first. It had changed…..everything about it was different, but as I sat there I reminisced of when the kids were young. Next we drove by the elementary school. It looked the same, but the surrounding area had grown tremendously. The house-our beautiful three leveled brick home that once was surrounded by azaleas and large trees had worn with time! Next, we searched for the hospital where Brandon was born, but to our surprise it had many locations (according to the gps) which directed us to a site we were unfamiliar with. It wasn't anywhere close to the area he was born so we decided to head back. We stopped at a place for lunch having a traditional southern (Georgia) meal…….fried catfish and waffles. It was something I had never had and it was delicious! Looking forward to a fun upcoming week and determined after visiting Marietta where there good memories, you never can go back!

Springtime in Georgia-THE WEATHER!!

Thunderstorms were predicted during our week long stay and we prayed that it would hold out for the Masters' tournament. Another short thirty minute drive to the nearest town of Evans, we had a few things to pick up at Wal-Mart. Mo, Elaine and their son and daughter-in-law (who lived in Evans) invited us to dinner at their house that night. As we shopped in Wal-Mart, the lights flickered and thunder boomed. We knew the dogs would be scared sitting in the truck, so we quickly made our purchases. First arriving at Wal-Mart it was daylight, but within fifteen minutes the large black cloud hovered over spewing out a mix of hail and rain and plenty of lightning. We ran towards the truck and my umbrella blew inside out. There was hardly any visibility on our drive back and ambulances and firetrucks flew past us. The drive back was a little scary and I had forgotten what Georgia storms were like. As we arrived at our place, there were firetrucks, police, ambulances and news crews. The marina was a short distance from our spot and this is where all the responders were. Apparently a microburst had hit our small area, shearing off trees, downing power lines and toppling the tied boats on top of one another. Despite warnings, some people opted to bring their boats out on the water with the microburst tossing them into the water. They were taken to the hospital and we were left without power for several hours. Our fifth-wheel was unharmed so we continued with our plans to go to Anne and Jeff's for dinner. What a delight to be in such a large, beautiful home and to be seated at a formal dining room table. We enjoyed our company and could have visited all night, but we had to get up early for the Masters'.

The Masters' Golf Tournament

There was a veterinarian and boarding facility in Augusta (not far from the Masters') where we decided to board the dogs for the day. Some of their vaccinations had expired but once paperwork was completed and vaccinations completed, we were off! When my sweet, dear Grandmother was alive, she used to say, "I don't understand golf! You hit the ball only to chase after it to put it in a hole!" I grew to appreciate the sport over the years when Perry played in his spare time. We always wanted to go to this monumental event!

The employees made all the guests feel special and walking through security, the level of excitement was off the charts! Our first stop was at the practice range where many familiar golfers were teeing off. The best way to recognize them was by their caddies whose white jumpers had the pro's names on the back. We continued to walk the entire eighteen hole and perfectly manicured golf course. My personal highlight was seeing Phil Mickelson from San Diego (my home town) and as dozens of people yelled "Phil" to try to take his picture, wearing my San Diego Padres' hat, I yelled "go San Diego"! He looked over at me and gave me a thumbs up! The rest of the week, Perry and I were glued to the Masters' on TV. We felt fortunate to go on a warm, sunny day because the next day (also a practice day) had thunderstorms and tornado watches in the forecast.

And…..Toto's too!

Our feet were recovering the next day from the tournament and early in the morning, we got a knock on the door. The manager of the recreation area warned of us of more inclement weather coming into the area. He said "if it gets bad to heed the warnings and go to the latrine" which was about twenty feet from us. The warnings were all over TV and sure enough in no time came the bolts of lightning followed by rumbles of thunder. Winds shook the fifth-wheel and soon we lost power. Unable to count seconds between the lightning and thunder, branches were falling on top of us and we knew it was time to go to "the latrine". It took a great deal of strength to walk through the pushing wind and rain but our little "Totos" and I (yes I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz), completely drenched but made it to the shelter. It wasn't long before Perry joined us and we could hear others taking shelter on the opposite side of the building. Later, we learned several tornadoes had touched down.

Throughout our travels, people have told us they don't want to visit California because of earthquakes, however I had never been as scared as I was on this day. I would much rather chance the earthquakes!

Our time here was memorable, made good friends, weathered rough storms and went to the Masters'…..off to Cherry Point, N.C.

NEXT-NEUSE FOREST, KILL DEVILS HILL, THE OUTER BANKS, MORE FISHING AND LOST KEYS!