Bink Ink 2019
All year: Getting even more settled into our new home. This place, the neighbors and neighborhood have become the highlight of our retirement years! A few of the activities we’ve participated in here at Trilogy include: Golf, Cornhole, Bocce, Pickleball, Hiking, Wine Club, Poker, Wine and Dine Wednesdays, Concerts, Friday Night Social Dances, Stretch Classes, lounging around the pool, working out at the gym, Culinary Demo Days, Gait-to-Gate Walk-a-Thon, to name just a few of the events that have occupied our retirement time!
Celebrating One Year!
We began the New Year helping our son Charlie and his beautiful Bride Kristi celebrate their First Anniversary on January 13th!
Just for the Health of it!
Aimee and Bella cruising the Discovery Trail
It took them a bit of getting used to; however, our two pups thoroughly enjoy their "bike rides!"
2019 Cornhole Champs
Our neighbors, Jeff Miller and Dave McLaughlin (not pictured) along with Terry and me joined the Cornhole Club in January. We participated in 11 weekly tournaments and made the finals in early May. Our Team name: the C-12 Corn Nuts. Out of the 40+ teams competing, the Corn Nuts came in First Place with a come-from-behind win in the Championship Game.
Kirkwood Photobombing the Champs!
Bocce Team “Almost Champs.” Another neighbor, Gerry Schatz asked us to join their Bocce Team for the Fall Season. The Team name: IBS (Irritable Bocce Syndrome) Neither Terry nor I had ever played the game, yet we were eager to learn. When the regular season ended, we placed 2nd in our Division, which allowed us to make it to the playoffs. We breezed thru the elimination rounds and made it to the championship game. Unfortunately, we were up against seasoned Bocce players and lost 12-6. Nonetheless, we came in 2nd out of 96 teams in our first year of play. Watch out for us next season!
Team Irritable Bocce Syndrome - L to R
Bink, Terry, Rhonda, Gerry, Nancy, Darrell
Golf. No trophies or championships in golf…yet! Since moving into our new home, Terry and I have played the game much more frequently than ever before. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that each morning, we stare out our patio window at the beauty and intrigue of the first hole and ask ourselves…”should we play today?”
Terry and I do belong to a Golf Club outside of our community. (Arizona Sunset Golf Association – ASGA) A travelling club that plays competitive golf at a different golf course each month. Several years ago, Terry had a miserable experience at one of the tournaments and had, until just recently, chosen not to participate in the monthly tournaments.
Because she’s been playing much more golf…and much better golf, she’s back on the circuit and placed 4th in October’s event! I, on the other hand, had a miserable season with ASGA. Even though my Index has gone from 16.8 to 12.7 over the past year, I played like crap during these events.
During the February Tournament, I hit a particularly painful shot. My fairway wood drifted out into the desert on a longish par 5. My ball came to rest on hardpan about a foot behind a 14” diameter rock that was sticking out of the ground about 3”-4”. I had about 60 yards to the green, so I took out my Sand Wedge and bladed the ball into the rock, which caused it to carom smack dab back into my face! The nasty gash above my right eye took 4 stitches to close up! That was the omen for the rest of this season!
Note: Santa brought Terry a new set of sticks this Christmas...so I’m guessing she’ll want to play even more golf now!
Golf - A dangerous sport!
Hiking Club. The subdivision of the community we live in is noted as C-12 of Trilogy at Vistancia. When we first moved in back in October of 2018, we met a lady who said her husband Dave was in charge of the Hiking Club. So, Terry and I joined the Trilogy Hiking Club.
We attended the Hiking Club’s Kickoff meeting and waited to hear Dave speak about the upcoming season. No Dave. Hmmm, I wondered? What happened to Dave? As it turned out, Dave is the unofficial President of the unchartered C-12 Hiking Club…a small group of hiking enthusiasts that live within the C-12 subdivision!
Many Mondays during hiking season, an eager band of 6-10 of us wanders off into the local hills to hike about the desert. The one thing I do miss about our other house was its very close proximity to South Mountain and over 100 miles of hiking trails. To get to trailheads from the new digs takes a minimum of a half-hour!
C-12 Hiking Club
Dave Koz and Friends at Sea -Australia 2019
Andrew and Debbie at the Ballarat Begonia Festival
Carnivorous Plant Exhibit at The Sydney Botanical Gardens
Hanging out with Steve Oliver in Bernie, Tazmania
Euge Groove - Bernie, Tazmania
Our host Dave Koz!
Kangies hopping about the Eden Golf Course
Lovely Lady!
Her date!
Hugs from Rick Braun!
Featured Band - Tower of Power!
Symphony at the Opera House
Interactive Play at the Opera House
The rest of the Koz Cruise story following the photos
#60 - Gateway Arch National Park
Numbers 60 and 61. In September of 2017, Terry and I completed our goal of visiting all 59 of America’s major National Parks with our visit to the National Park of American Samoa. Lo and behold, Congress has since added two more to the list – Gateway Arch in Missouri and Indiana Dunes in Indiana. Well, to stay true to our goal, we ventured out to both of these parks in July.
When we first discovered that the Arch in St Louis (originally deemed Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) had been upgraded from National Monument to National Park, we were skeptical that a manmade object would qualify as a National Park. Our understanding is that to receive National Park status, the site must possess the following qualities: unique scenery, historical/cultural/scientific significance and recreational value.
The Arch is unique and historical. Not sure it has any scientific or recreational value. Nonetheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Arch. In particular, the Ride to the Top and the newly constructed museum were the highlights of the visit.
#61 - Indiana Dunes National Park
From the Arch, we travelled up to Indiana Dunes National Park located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Unique scenery? Questionable. Historical/Cultural significance? Maybe. Recreational? Yes. Another park we found to be marginally acceptable as being deemed a genuine National Park.
Just found out National Park 62 was established – White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Guess where we’ll be headed this spring?
August/September - Our Michigan Experience
August/September - Our Michigan Experience
L to R: Kirkwood, Mary, Karen, Greg, Terry, Bink
Michigan – Our good friends John and Mary Kirkwood organized a ten-day Golf Junket to their home state of Michigan in late August. Joining the party were our other California Golfing Junkies, Greg and Karen Gill. This awesome Sixsome touched down in Grand Rapids on August 28th and spend the first couple of days at John’s sister Fran’s house in Big Rapids where we kayaked and canoed down the Muskegon River, golfed at Tullymore Golf Course (a most excellent facility) and enjoyed the Midwest hospitality of Fran Kirkwood.
Paddling the Muskegon River
We then headed north to Shanty Creek where we would flail away on Arnie’s Legends at Shanty Creek Golf Course. If memory serves me, we played golf the next day as well; however, the evening before, Kirkwood was educating me on the finer differences between bourbon and whisky!
Island House Inn - Mackinac Island
After departing Shanty Town, we headed further north to Mackinac Island where we’d spend the night at the Island House Hotel. A bit of National Park Trivia: Mackinac National Park was one of the country’s first National Parks and existed from 1875 to 1895. The park abutted Fort Mackinac, the Army garrison located on the island. When the Fort was decommissioned, at the request of then-governor John T. Rich, the park was turned back over to the state of Michigan.
Highlights of Mackinac Island: Ferry ride over to the island, wandering about the quaint downtown area, NO cars, a great burger at Mighty Mack Hamburgers, bike ride almost around the island, Arch Rock, touring Ft. Mackinac, cocktails on the Island House porch.
Departing Mackinac Island, we headed south to Manistee where we’d “camp out” at a very nice VRBO on Lake Michigan. This would serve as basecamp for the remainder of our Michigan Adventure. From here, we’d play golf a couple of more times. Once at Crystal Mountain Golf Course, a nice track where a swarm of gnats circled your head with every shot. And we sloshed through Manistee Golf and Country Club…after a bit of rain had soaked the grounds.
One of my favorite day trips was when we traveled back north up to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Here, we rented bicycles and rode the Heritage Trail over to the Dunes Climb. Hiking the steeps of the dunes is great exercise and will fill your shoes with a pound or two of wind-blown sand that has piled up high on the northeastern shore of Lake Michigan. Great view of Glen Lake from atop the dunes.
Biking the Heritage Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes
Hiking the Dune Trail
View of Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore
As legend would have it, the area got its name when an immense forest fire on the western shores of Lake Michigan drove a Momma Bear and her two cubs into the lake for safety. Momma led her two little ones into the lake and they attempted to swim across to the eastern shore to safety. Sadly, the two baby cubs didn’t make it. Momma Bear perched herself atop the dunes awaiting the arrival of her two babies. The shrub-covered mound in the picture depicts the Momma Bear as she fell into a deep sleep while mourning the loss of her cubs.
VRBO in Manistee, MI - on the lake
Douglass Valley Winery
No trip with the Kirkwood’s and Gill’s would be complete if we didn’t seek out somewhere to taste local wines! Hark! Not more than a 15-minute drive from our VRBO, we happened upon the Douglass Valley Winery! The wines were ok; however, the hard ciders and root beer were outstanding!
Sunset on our last day in Manistee
Meijer Sculpture Garden - American Horse
Prior to departing Michigan, we visited Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. The horticultural elements of the Gardens include a 15,000 square foot indoor facility featuring rock landscapes, a waterfall and a variety of exotic plants, including carnivorous foliage!
Dispersed throughout a 30-acre Sculpture Park, we found over 300 internationally acclaimed works of outdoor art, including a 24-foot tall American Horse, an 8’ tall Spider, Large Parrot, an Espaliered Girl among other pieces of artistic imagination!
Hanging out with Fred and Lena Meijer
A couple of Buttheads spotted mooning the artwork!
Brian LaFramboise, Terry, Nalana, me
Danzon Cubano Restaurant
Last stop prior to heading for the airport was a visit to Terry’s Nephew, Brian LaFramboise and his newly opened Cuban Restaurant – Danzón Cubano. The story behind Brian’s restaurant goes as follows:
Danzón Cubano is a tribute to the Cuban people, their history, their culture, and their perseverance in the face of trials. Our restaurant was inspired by a gentleman born in Havana, Cuba. His father, a businessman and well-known big game fisherman, was a close friend of Ernest Hemingway—they fished together in Cuba, Key West and the Bahamas.
Many Cuban children came to the United States when they were 15 years-old as part of Operation Peter Pan—”Operación Pedro Pan”—an under the radar program that from 1960 to 1962 brought more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to the USA as exiles from the Communist regime of Fidel Castro.
When they left Cuba, many of these children barely knew English, had $5 in their pocket and a change of clothes. Today, many are successful members of society and credit the kindness of the American people for opening their arms of freedom to boys who had nothing to offer.
This historical event inspired us to create Danzón Cubano, and we want to dedicate the only Cuban restaurant in Grand Rapids to all of them and the many other millions of stories of Americans who have immigrated to the United States from all over the world and contributed to this beautiful country.
The food was authentic and full of flavor. The atmosphere was as delicious as the menu! If you ever find yourself in Grand Rapids, MI…we encourage you to sip a Mojito Clasico and enjoy the exotic flavours of Danzón Cubano.
Howling Wolf Mosaic by Jaylynn Henderson and Pappa John
Grandkid Visits in July - Jaylynn spend a couple of weeks with Grammy Terry and Pappa John in the heat of the summer. To cool things off, we spent many hours in the swimming pool. When we weren't splashing about, Pappa and Jay created a mosaic.
Since Jaylynn has for a couple of years expressed an interest in golf, we got her a starter set and spent a bit of time on the driving range.
With hair flying everywhere, JJ connects with her new Driver!
Great Lodges. Thirty-plus years ago, I came across a book titled Great Lodges of the West. The first edition featured 12 such lodges scattered throughout the western United States. A few years later, the author upgraded her book and retitled it Great Lodges of the National Parks. Her new book included the original 12 lodges plus 4 more.
When Terry and I created our “Life Plan” in 2009, we included the goal of visiting all 16 of these Lodges while we “trekked” about the country. In September, we had only three Lodges left to complete our quest of staying at all 16.
Sadly, one of them – Sperry Chalet – in Glacier National Park had burned down in 2017 and is currently under reconstruction! It is scheduled to reopen next year. However, we did manage to visit the other two remaining Lodges – Glacier Park Lodge and Belton Chalet.
Dressing up for our Lodge Quest!
Trekking the National Park Lodges
Glacier Park Lodge
Glacier Park Lodge Lobby
Glacier Park Lodge is located just outside Glacier National Park in the village of East Glacier. The Lodge was built in 1913 by Louis Hill, son of James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway. The signature element of this lodge is the 3-story Grand Hall. The Lobby features twenty-four 4-foot wide by 48-foot tall Douglas-fir columns, each log with its original bark still attached. The idea behind these mammoth posts was to bring the outdoor experience indoors.
During our three-day stay at Glacier Park Lodge, we ventured out to trek the trails of the Two Medicine and Many Glacier areas of the park. A word of caution: If you plan on visiting the Many Glacier section of Glacier National Park next season, beware of the road construction that will be underway! The road from East Glacier up to Babb was torn apart when we ventured north and reduced to a single lane. EXPECT long delays. Better yet, visit Two Medicine or other park destinations!
Belton Chalet
Belton Chalet. The Belton Chalet, built in 1910 by Louis Hill, was the first of the iconic lodges built in the vicinity of Glacier National Park. Located in West Glacier near the park’s western entrance, the Chalet was closed for 50 years before being restored and upgraded to its current condition. Our room (#37) was small like that at Glacier Park Lodge; however, it had a much roomier feel to it. Nina, the Front Desk Clerk was delightful.
Much to our glee, we noticed that our tabletop board game – Trekking the National Parks™ – was prominently displayed in the Chalet’s Lobby and is offered for sale by the Chalet, which is now owned by Pursuit (formerly Glacier Park Inc).
The Belton Grill Dining Room features an incredible menu by Chef Earl James Reynolds and is a must-do for foodies. We’ve visited over 30 Lodges and Chalets over the years and most of the food is average production fare at best. Not bad…but nothing very special. The Belton Grill is different! Only one other Lodge compared – the Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park was similarly exquisite!
On January 13, 2020, reservations for Sperry Chalet open up. Eventually, Terry and I will complete our quest to visit all 16 of these Great Lodges of the National Parks…albeit, getting to Sperry requires a 7-mile backpack hike up the mountain. Or, you can take a mule up.
For more about our trip to the Lodges, visit our other September 2019 Blog Post.
Two great gifts found in the Lobby of the Belton Chalet - Our tabletop board game - Trekking the National Parks™. Above it, the aforementioned Great Lodges of the National Parks book! Oh, and the most precious gift I've ever received -my lovely wife Terry.
The newest addition to the Trekking Game portfolio - Trivia!
Trekking the National Parks – the Board Game. In last year’s edition of Bink Ink, I mentioned that we had licensed our board game to a young entrepreneur - Hasan Hasmani. Hasan and our son Charlie formed a new enterprise called Underdog Games LLC. After a few minor changes to the art and mechanics of the game, they began marketing it in September of 2018. Since that time, they have sold over 80,000 copies! In 16 months! It took us 4 years to sell 6500 copies. There is a lot to be said about the power of social media marketing. Something Hasan has an excellent grasp of!
In the meantime, they’ve created another Trekking game – Trekking the National Parks Trivia. Trekking Trivia became available in November and they anticipate selling over 9000 copies of it over the holiday season!
Terry and I are amazed at how well Trekking has done in the marketplace. We are most grateful to Hasan for taking the game to heights we’d only dreamed about.
Happy Halloween!
Halloween. Terry loves this “holiday?!” I, not so much, yet I go along with her request to dress up and hang out at our community’s annual Halloween Costume Party. She’s got a multitude of costumes to draw on. Me, makeshift at best! (Neighbor Kim Vormestrand photobombing in the background)
Jack, Bink and Mike Halloweening.
Tina, Chef Bink, CeeCee and Garrett.
Lone Cypress - Monterey, CA
Hamilton and Monterey. In early November, Terry’s niece, Nicki Lopes, arranged tickets for us to see the acclaimed play Hamilton. We joined Nicki and her parents Ben and Elisa Lopes to experience this award-winning musical. Here’s how the play is described:
Hamilton is the story of the unlikely Founding Father determined to make his mark on the new nation as hungry and ambitious as he is. From bastard orphan to Washington's right-hand man, rebel to war hero, a loving husband caught in the country's first sex scandal, to the Treasury head who made an untrusting world believe in the American economy. George Washington, Eliza Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Hamilton's lifelong friend/foil Aaron Burr all make their mark in this astonishing new musical exploration of a political mastermind.
The days following the play found us exploring Sanat Cruz and Monterey with Ben and Ilse. Lunch at Stillwaters Restaraunt overlooking the 18th green of Pebble Beach Golf Links increased Terry's desire to one day play this iconic course.
John, Ilse, Nicki, Terry, Ben and Hamilton!
Cruising Santa Cruz with Butch and Ilse
Pebble Beach - 18th Green!
(I finally took Terry to Pebble!)
(I finally took Terry to Pebble!)
Hot Air Balloon Launch - Vistancia
Twice each year, our community hosts a Hot Air Balloon Launch directly behind our home from the Golf Course Driving Range. This Fall, we invited our neighbors to join us for an early morning brunch and enjoy the Balloon launch.
Musical Moments in 2019. This year proved to be musical for us. Not only did we enjoy the week-long Dave Koz Jazz Festival with all the aforementioned artists, we also had the pleasure of attending concerts featuring: Keiko Matsui, Michael Bublé, David Benoit, Peter White's Christmas Show featuring Euge Groove and Vincent Ingala. To bring in the New Year, we travelled down to Tucson to take in Rick Braun’s New Year’s Eve Getaway Party.
Michael Bublé
Euge Groove, Peter White, Secret Weapon, Lindsay Webster &Vincent Ingala
at the Peter White Christmas
David Benoit
Keiko Matsui
Hippie Chicks at the local Woodstock Festival!
Rick Braun's New Years Eve Party
Nick Corlionne
Wishing all of you a great 2020!
Dave Koz (Sax) and Rick Braun (Trumpet)
The rest of the Dave Koz Cruise Story
Rick Braun's New Years Eve Party
Terry turns 7-0h! To celebrate her 70th in style (12/28), we headed down to Tucson for the Rick Braun New Year’s Eve Getaway Party. Rick is a smooth jazz trumpet player who we met on the ship one afternoon during our Dave Koz Australian Cruise.
While chatting about the cruise and his music, Rick asked us where we lived. When he found out we are from Phoenix, he asked us if we were going to attend his New Year's Eve party in December. We asked him where the party was to be held...thinking Los Angeles or San Francisco. When he mentioned Tucson, we were all over it and immediately signed up!
Terry found an onboard computer and made reservations for the two-day event. She also let two of our neighbors (the Vormestrand’s and Drozda’s who also enjoy smooth jazz) know about the event and they too were able to secure tickets to the Getaway.
Day one featured a Scramble Golf tournament in the morning and a Mindi Abair concert that evening. The two of us joined Kim Vormestrand and Bill Drozda in the Scramble and ended up hacking it around the Starr Pass Golf Course. Although we were able to get the ball on the greens, our putters sputtered. Each of us won a raffle prize and Terry got closest to the pin on Hole 8!
(L to R) Kim, Terry, Rick Braun, me and Bill
(L to R) Me, Terry, Janet and Bill Drozda, Gloria and Kim Vormestrand
Before the Big Show, we ventured down to the city of Tucson and wandered around 4th Avenue with four of our favorite musicians.
Dec 31st - On New Year's Eve, the Main Event featured Rick Braun, Dave Koz, Peter White, Mindi, Larry Braggs and Nick Colionne. The best New Year’s Eve party we’ve ever attended!
The rest of the Dave Koz Cruise Story
Dave Koz and Friends at Sea - Australia 2019. For a number of years, Terry has unsuccessfully tried to get us on a Dave Koz Smooth Jazz Cruise. Unfortunately, due to the huge demand and the limited number of guests the cruise will accommodate, it is very difficult to secure a cabin for these weeklong musical extravaganzas. Typically, these cruises sell out in the first hour sales open up.
Much to our delight, Terry was able to get us on the 2019 Australian Cruise with Dave Koz and Friends! We love smooth jazz. Been fans of it for years…and to secure a birth on this cruise was a dream come true.
We headed to the Land Down Under on March 24th form LAX. We landed in Sydney 2 days later! (The International Dateline really screws you up!) From Sydney, we flew to Melbourne and took a $279 cab ride out to Ballarat to visit with our Australian Trekker friends Andrew and Debbie. We met the two of them in Bettles, AK during our treks to all of the National Parks.
Like us, Andrew and Debbie had a goal to visit all 59 of our country’s National Parks. They made 17 individual trips from Australia to the States over several years to visit and photograph all of these amazing natural cathedrals.
Back to the $279 cab ride. Andrew had told us that the easiest and least costly method of getting from the Melbourne Airport to Ballarat was to take the train. What he failed to tell us is there are two different train stations in and about Melbourne. When we flagged down a cabbie at the airport we asked him to take us to the train station in Melbourne.
As we were departing the airport, the cabbie’s first question was, “what is your final destination today.” To which we said Ballarat. He replied that it would be much easier and cheaper if he just drove us straight there. I asked “how much?” He replied, “around $70.” The train ride was supposed to cost us about $35, so we insisted he take us to the train station. He shrugged and said, “okay!”
As we entered Melbourne, the traffic was horrendous. We were crawling along at about 3 mph. The cab’s meter was running up quite the tab. Both Terry and I had been on the road for over 30 straight hours and had become a bit ‘bunchy” toward each other. As it looked, it was going to be at least another 45 minutes to reach the “train station.” We called Andrew and asked him where the train station was. He said “go to the Southern Cross Train Station,” which is NOT the one the cab driver was headed too! Southern Cross was in the opposite direction!
Once again, the cabbie offered to drive us direct to Ballarat, and get us there sooner than if he rerouted us to Southern Cross. Out of patience and very irritable, I bluntly directed him to take us to our AirBnB in Ballarat! Hence, the $279 fare!
That evening, I took a look at a map and noticed that to get to the Southern Cross Train Station, we had to head south from the airport. Ballarat is located northwest of the airport. The Cabbie was right in suggesting we would have gotten to Ballarat much sooner (and much cheaper) had we taken his early advice. Se la vie!
An old gold mining town, Ballarat is Australia’s 3rd largest inland city. It was a pleasure hanging out a couple of days with Andrew and Debbie. They showed us around this charming town, taking us to the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, which was featuring their annual Begonia display. We had no idea how many varieties of begonias there are!
One bit of trivia we found interesting as the four of us walked around Lake Wendouree, located in the center of town, was that the lake hosted the rowing events for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games!
Rather than take a cab or train back to Melbourne airport, we opted to rent a car. Total cost of the car, $47. In hindsight, we should have rented a car at the airport and driven to Ballarat. I have a tough time adapting to driving on the “wrong side of the road,” otherwise we’d have rented a car instead of opting for the train-ride-that-became-a-cab-ride! When we reached the airport to drop off the rental, we had one helluva time finding the drop zone! We circled the airport 5 times on the wrong side of the road looking for the silly place. Finally, I flagged down someone who told us all rental cars are returned at the parking garage adjacent to the terminal! WTF! Where were the signs to tell us that!
As for the cruise, I could go on and on about this delightful experience. It turned out to be one of THE most rewarding vacations ever! Seven days of musical heaven. An intimate experience listening to, hanging out and chatting it up with a premier group of smooth jazz artists. If you like great smooth jazz, consider trying to get aboard one of these cruises.
This vacation was so delightful, we've signed up for the 2020 cruise beginning in Amsterdam, Neatherlands and the 2021 cruise beginning in Barcelona, Spain!
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