Passion to Play!
Disc golf! Much of our trip so far had been spent visiting some beautiful parks and amazing sites but not enough disc golf! The Phoenix area holds the coveted disc golf course, Fountain Hills. We’ve watched PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) tournaments on YouTube and were super excited to see and play the course. That said…the temp was expected to be 100 degrees in Phoenix and Birdie doesn’t have air conditioning in the living quarters. We waffled back and forth about going but decided to go for it! How bad can it be?
We drove to Flagstaff from our wonderfully quiet forest service road campsite in the Coconino National Forest and stopped for dry 5 lb. scones, lukewarm hot chocolate and sub-par coffee but we were not to be deterred! Fountain Hills…we could practically feel the breeze and spray of the beautiful fountain as we shaped our shots around the trees and up over a grassy hill with the right speed and distance to avoid the water and land stunningly close to the basket glistening in the sun!
Up to this point we hadn’t found a campground or RV park that would take a couple of youngsters like ourselves – most of the locations that had open spots were for folks 55 and over or they didn’t accept “home-made RVs or vans”. Full disclosure, I turned 55 in April but Phil had yet to hit ‘middle age’ so we were not welcome! We finally found a location at an event center in Scottsdale called WestWorld. They had an RV area with water and electric hookups, bathrooms and showers and they rent out spaces when there isn’t an event going on. We called and booked our reservations… Yay!
Being from the Pacific Northwest, we weren’t used to seeing the desert terrain with cacti and creosote bushes. It’s so exciting to experience new and different climates, natural features and landscapes. I kept snapping photos of the Saguaro Cactus out the van window as we were driving! They were just so awesome and they can take 50 to 75 years to grow an arm and 100 years to grow several – they deserve to be photographed! We drove straight to Fountain Hills – it was early afternoon and very hot, so we decided to walk the course and play first thing in the morning. The course was beautiful – we were even more excited to play! We found a local pizza place nearby for a late lunch then headed to WestWorld.
The RV park is basically a parking lot but there were only a couple of other RV’s there so we got a spot on the outside edge. We made chicken stir fry and settled in our chairs outside to eat and enjoy the sunset. It had cooled off nicely and was a lovely evening. Almost. One fear I have about travelling is getting sick on the road. Let me tell you there’s nothing to fear, it’s as miserable as being sick at home, LOL. Phil graciously moved Birdie close to the bathrooms…I laid on the floor of the van and slithered out the door when I needed to…well…be sick. It wasn’t pretty but luckily it only lasted half the night.
We planned on staying one night in Scottsdale, but since I wasn’t feeling too great, we decided to get some chores done, stay another night and play Fountain Hills the following morning. We did laundry, bought groceries, snagged a few new discs and purchased a few needed electronic gadgets at the Apple store. Scottsdale has a really awesome outdoor shopping and restaurant area with twinkle lights strewn between walking paths. It was very enticing, but we reminded ourselves we’re not on ‘vacation’ – we are on sabbatical and on a budget!
The next morning, we got up early and started a round of disc golf at Fountain Hills! Phil had purchased a brand-new disc for me and on hole 1, I threw it right into the water. Gone under a layer of green muck. Ugh! After that I was pretty choosy about the discs and holes I played – which worked out in my favor since I was still feeling weak. Phil played the entire course and did really well, he lost two discs but continued to play the very challenging course. We have a much better appreciation for how technical/difficult this course is to play. Ninja thoroughly enjoyed being in the cool grass all morning. Near the end of play, we were rewarded with the fountain spewing and an eagle sitting in a tree near-by! It was the perfect end our to our stay in the Phoenix area. On the way out of town we stopped at Spinners on the Green disc golf shop to replace a few discs and Phil found out there are people who dredge Fountain Hills and bring the discs to this shop for money – if your name or number is on the disc, they add it to a Lost and Found list on-line and you can get it shipped back to you for $3. (Fast forward a few weeks and Phil found his disc on the lost list and had it shipped home – sweet deal!)
Now off to Joshua Tree National Park!
