Dateline July 30, 2013, Long Beach to Torrey Pines, Closing the Trip
The Reagan Library is a "must see" in the Los Angeles area. Coming out of Simi Valley around midday, we thought taking the 405 into Los Angeles would be straightforward by California standards. Local standards turned out to be more like rush hour on the Long Island Expressway. The only person in modern memory ever to drive fast on the 405 was O. J. Simpson, and even he was crawling.
We arrived in Long Beach later in the afternoon. We had reservations at a city-owned park literally downtown, a few blocks from the harbor and the Queen Mary.
We set up and John grilled dinner.
We had made an appointment at the local Mercedes dealer first thing Saturday morning to have the brakes replaced. Seventy thousand miles on one set of brakes is not bad. We thought it would be a half day. The morning ran into the afternoon. Fortunately we had booked the park for two nights.
Sunday morning we drove down and walked the Long Beach Pier.
Views of the Queen Mary and the boats in the harbor. Then we worked south down the Pacific Coast Highway to Huntington Beach, aka Surf City. We rolled into Huntington Beach to find enormous crowds everywhere. It was the final day of the US Open Surfing Championship. That explained why we had not been able to get a campsite anywhere nearby and had ended up making a reservation at a Marriott Courtyard instead.
Janice was qualifying for the USGA Senior Women's Amateur at Sea Cliff Country Club in Huntington Beach on Tuesday. Since John was caddying, it was important that we both walked the practice round Sunday afternoon, because the course would be closed on Monday. We played a nice round and headed back to the hotel.
There is something comical about traveling in an RV. You get so used to making your own meals that you almost stop eating out. We stopped at a local Safeway, picked up a cooked chicken, and ate dinner in the hotel room with the rig parked just outside our sliding glass door. Best of both worlds.
Monday morning we met our friend Gigi Kimball for breakfast at Ruby's, out at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier. Gigi was visiting family in the area and was also qualifying for the USGA event.
After breakfast we drove out to Yorba Linda and spent the morning at the Nixon Library.
Tuesday morning. Janice was in the first group out, with two other golfers, to play the qualifying round. She played beautifully right up to the par-three 17th, where the wheels came off the green and she took four putts. That dropped her into a six-way playoff for one qualifying spot and two alternate positions. She struck a strong par on the first playoff hole, a par five, but three of the other players made birdie and rolled on to decide the final qualifying spot among themselves. To make the morning sting a little more, this was the second year in a row Janice had lost the qualifier in a playoff.
There is still the USGA Women's Mid-Amateur qualifier in early September, so no real cause to mourn.
Next destination: San Diego. We had made wonderful friends with Ann and Ruth on our Alaska trip, met up with them again in Nova Scotia last year, and now we were going to see them at home. They live in Oceanside, just north of San Diego, in a lovely house right on the beach.
We arrived in time for cocktails and a sensational sunset. After cocktails we shared some wonderful wine over steak. They asked if we wanted to stay the night, and we did, leaving in the morning for our round at Torrey Pines.
What a wonderful evening with two outstanding people from our Roadtrek world.
We had plenty of time to make the drive to Torrey Pines for our 8:30 tee time. This was a special day for us, the closing round of more than 1,600 miles down the California coast. Both of us had wanted to play Torrey Pines for years, going back to when celebrities still had their names on the tournament. The event was the Andy Williams San Diego Open from 1968 to 1988, and now runs as the Farmers Insurance Open. Tiger Woods won the only US Open ever played here, in 2008, which also turned out to be his last major championship victory.
The morning was perfect for golf, slightly overcast, a comfortable 60 degrees. We were paired with two gentlemen from the local community. Torrey Pines is a San Diego municipal course and is very reasonable to play if you are a local. We teed off on the first of the South Course. The course is a real test, with breathtaking views the whole way. It runs along the cliffs above the Pacific, with some holes set right up to the edge, including a par 3 that has to be seen.
Quite majestic.
John was in good form on the day, as the shot shows.
Round at Torrey Pines finished. Time to start back east, with our first stop in Arizona to see Lelia and her mother Betty Lou. Lelia has bought a lot in Flagler Beach and is in the process of building a home. We look forward to having them as new neighbors in Florida.
