...And Then Scotty Happened. A Hawaiian Adventure (CHAPTER 32 Added 5/23--THE END)

[FauntleroyFAN07]

enjoyed the golf updated...and playing through the rain will make that memory last even longer and make the stories that much better for years to come...

my guess is that in a few years, the rain stories will be a little more dramatically told where there was lighthing and one point the winds picked him up and swung him around and dropped him 5 yards away.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And that right there sums up the entire day just as it should be. My only question is why didn't Dave have on ugly shorts like yours?

Because Julie dressed him?

I can't watch golf...bores me to tears, but our oldest son who has a membership at a course here, will watch it all day long if he's not out coaching baseball.

I have an interest in the architecture and strategy behind the courses themselves. That makes it more interesting to me.

Good to finally see a picture of Julie...haven't seen her for awhile.

She's usually the one taking the pictures!

What a wonderful father/son afternoon.

A beautiful course and extra time to enjoy it

You have some great memories and great pictures to show for it.

For that price, we couldn't settle for anything less!

And I still crack up thinking about David tumbling out of the golf cart at full speed.

I'll be telling that story at his wedding, for sure.

I just found this trip report on the dvc section and read it all the way through. You have a talent for bringing your trip to life!

Thanks for reading and your kind words.

First of all, congrats on #4. I was a bit shocked when #4 came along too, but she is a joy in my life!

We're getting more excited as we get closer to the date! I just need to finish getting the baby's room ready.

Aulani sounds awesome and one of these years dh and I will get there. I was on the Big Island in March. My brother and sil retired there several years ago and my sister and I made the trek to visit. We weren't there nearly long enough and didn't leave the Big Island. So that just means we need to go back again - one, or three or six more times!

Sounds like a plan to me!

I cracked up laughing at the story of Dave tumbling out of the golf cart. Glad he didn't suffer any lasting damage. Its really wonderful when we get to cross an item off our bucket lists - and spending a one-on-one day with your son was just icing on the cake.

There's no point in having a bucket list if you never work to cross anything off, right? Definitely a memorable experience.

Looking forward to reading about the Big Island and seeing how your trip matches up to my experiences. Malasadas! Macadamia Nuts! Donkey Balls!

We really did a whirlwind tour of the Big Island. It's the biggest island by far, yet our idiot travel planner gave us the least amount of time there.

 

[that's nice]

Last year, when I had finished off our Surprise Disney Trip Report (shameless plug), I had outlined the plan to go to Hawaii. Dan (FauntleroyFan07) sent me a message telling me that his sister-in-law lived on Maui and gave surfing lessons on the side, and that he could put us in touch if we were interested. So, I checked with the kids. Scotty, as cautious as ever, decided there were too many unknowns involved to try it. But Sarah and David looked at me as though I had just asked them if they wanted their own fully-functional Iron Man armor suits for Christmas. Surfing lessons? Sign me up!

That's awesome... I'll have to remember that Dan if we ever get back to Hawaii.

I didn’t know if I could pull this off, so I spent some time memorizing his family, including his wife Candi, son Parker, and daughter Whats-Her-Face.

Oh, you're bad!

You know what? They need some cool surfer nicknames. Let’s call them Sharkbait and Chum.

You sure those were good names considering the articles you linked? Oh yea, you are already home. Call 'em what you will.

Scotty watched with rapt attention.

What a great brother!

And they both got up!

AWESOME!!!!!!

Meanwhile, we were apparently taking pictures of trees.

And what fine trees they are. I could look at that all day.

had our standard gourmet meal of crème de la peanut and grape reduction sauce on baked, sliced dough.

Maybe you'll surprise us sometime. Why even write this. We all know what you ate... probably had pizza or burgers for dinner.

As lunchtime entertainment, we were treated to an older woman badmouthing her employer and cursing non-stop to her friends. I’m sure my kids enjoyed the never-ending stream of profanity.

YIKES. Hopefully they didn't pick up a new word or two.

What an awesome update, Mark.

First, who is Barry? Is he still alive?

He is alive on Facebook.

Ok, I don't know what I was thinking here. I got my movie lines mixed up. Red talks about hoping the Pacific is as blue as it is in his dreams. The quote I was thinking of came from Field of Dreams, when Dr. Graham mentions a "chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it."

Anyway, the point is, the ocean was incredibly blue that day. This is what happens when you get old.

WHAT WHAT WHAT???????

I'M MARKING DOWN THIS DAY...... Mark got a movie quote wrong!!!

Great! They hadn't been on our radar until the last couple of years, when I found more and more trouble trying to travel with a family of 5 due to restrictions on the number of people in a room at hotels. It really opened my eyes that there are some good deals out there where you can get nice accommodations at sometimes better rates than the hotels. I hope it works out well for you!

We've rented from VBRO before and it has worked out great. Even rented a 3500sqft house 10 minutes from Disney. I hope we'll be able to do that again in the future....

Fast-forward to June 2013. We’re on Maui. Guess what I’m doing?

Driving the road to Hana?

Your golf day looked amazing.. except for the downpour. I knew you'd play through.

The sun was intermittently moving in and out of clouds, and it looked like the mountain behind us was pretty well socked in. Still, the view from the first tee was glorious. You can see the island of Molokai in the distance on the right.

Great pictures!

The foursome in front of us teed off, spraying balls in every direction except onto the fairway. The starter gulped and said, “Uh oh. I hope I didn’t make a mistake.”

D’oh.

Oh boy...

“Ok, Dave, why don’t you get out and tee off here?” I said. “Okay,” he said, and hopped out of the cart.

While we were still moving at full speed.

....and then Dave happened!

WHEW. Glad he was ok.

I was fortunate enough to capture one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken:

Great picture!!!

Dave and I tried to make a game of it. We raced to see who could run to their ball the fastest from the cart. We had a lot of laughs, and at one point I said, “Well, Dave…you’ll always remember the day you played Kapalua.” He gave me a fist-bump.

And that's what it's all about. You'll never forget that.

The pizza itself was sort-of a Chicago deep-dish style, but not as thick or heavy. And to be honest, it was just ok. It fit the bill because we were hungry and it’s really hard to screw up pizza, but I don’t think we’d be in a rush to go back.

See, told ya it was gonna be pizza or burgers.

“Yeah,” he said. “It was pretty much the best day ever.”

And you could of payed $1000 for golf and it would of been worth it..... but you wouldn't of paid that much. Then you wouldn't of heard that. Glad it only cost you $200

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Seems like an admirable bucket list item to me.

I also wanted to make the All-Madden Team, but that one may have to be retired.

Did you bring the "spot the lie" game back?

Key words in that phrase being "used to be".

I'm right there with you. I played a grand total of once this past summer.

Well, I win. I played 3 times this year. Including Hawaii. My master plan is to keep getting the boys interested, so I have a good excuse to go out.

Nothing better for a good Sunday afternoon nap.

To be fair, it's usually either golf or the Phillies. And we all know the Phillies' offense was even less exciting than golf this year.

Well, you should know better.

You did it wrong. It is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.

Well, I needed Julie's agreement to take the kids for the afternoon. Otherwise she could have just taken the car and ditched me, and that's a long walk back.

And the Budget Committee came through!

I must have caught them on the last day of the session before break!

I laugh, because I know the feeling all too well.

If I could hit it where I aimed it, I wouldn't be in my current profession.

Not only were they ugly, they were 80's NBA short.

Oh, stop. They're down to my knees. Nobody's pulling a John Stockton here.

That's what a mulligan is for.

Well, I play according to the rules, and would never dream of taking mulligans.

I also never break car rental agreements.

And then Sco... Wait a minute. Wrong kid.

This story won't get old. Ever.

See... the way I play, I'd enjoy playing behind them. Hit a bad shot. Well, that was just practice. Plenty of time to get another ball out and try again.

Well, I didn't write anything like that, and there are no pictures, so it must not have happened.

You did a good job! I'm sure Dave will be proud to display that one for years to come!

Does this mean I can expect to see you teeing off when I groggily wake up from my nap while I'm watching the Masters next spring?

Yes. I'll be the white guy in ugly pants.

Sometimes technology just likes to taunt us.

In my case, every day.

Really? I mean, it is on Maui...

I'll go back to Maui..and eat someplace else.

Was this the tip you got when you caddied for the Dalai Lama?

Absolutely. He also said I would receive eternal consciousness on my deathbed.

Definitely a great Fathers Day gift. Now we'll just have to see if Julie can do any better next year.

I like the way you think! I'll probably get a pair of socks, though.

What a great day! So happy you guys got to spend some father/son time in a beautiful place doing what you both love!

Jill in CO

Thanks! It was pretty special, despite the weather.

 

[glennbo123]

What a great chapter Captain! I'm glad that you got to spend such a great afternoon playing a beautiful golf course, enjoying time with your son. Aw, now I'm all warm and fuzzy. But then again, maybe I should shave. But enough about me.

David had been really getting into golf over the last year or two (and showcasing a nice swing on the range)

The starter called us over and said he was letting a foursome tee off in front of us. He said the foursome claimed they were good golfers and would play fast, and he thought that would give me and Dave the chance to play with nobody coming behind us and give us the time to enjoy the course to ourselves.

Oh no, I know exactly how that's going to turn out.

Anyway, I loved the idea of not having anyone breathing down our necks from behind

Anyway, I didn’t care about my score. Dave and I were having a great time.

Did we quit? No! As a wise caddie once said, “I’d keep playing. I don’t think the heavy stuff’s gonna come down for another couple of hours.”

Unfortunately, the foursome in front of us didn’t quit, either. So we still had an interminable wait on every hole. This was the kind of group where a guy would slowly walk out of the cart, check out his ball, walk back to the cart, grab a club, walk back to the ball, take 4 practice swings, line up his shot, take another 4 practice swings, then address the ball, take a mighty swing, chunk it along the ground about 20 feet or so, walk back to the cart, and drive 20 feet forward to start the process all over again.

I didn’t make any snarky comments about slow play. What did it matter at that point?

The pizza itself was sort-of a Chicago deep-dish style, but not as thick or heavy. And to be honest, it was just ok. It fit the bill because we were hungry and it’s really hard to screw up pizza, but I don’t think we’d be in a rush to go back.

Then again, maybe I was just exhausted.

 

[that's nice]

What a great chapter Captain! I'm glad that you got to spend such a great afternoon playing a beautiful golf course, enjoying time with your son. Aw, now I'm all warm and fuzzy. But then again, maybe I should shave. But enough about me.

Oh no, I know exactly how that's going to turn out.

Nice job Glen! You've won the internet today!

 

[glennbo123]

Nice job Glen! You've won the internet today!

...which is, That's Nice!

 

[franandaj]

I could never watch golf on TV, it would totally put me to sleep, however, Caddyshack still remains to be one of my favorites movies EVER!

I'm glad you took the approach that you did on this chapter. I loved seeing the beautiful sights and hearing about how you and your son enjoyed a memorable day knocking an item off your bucket list! What a special and memorable day! And what a great reward for you to hear him tell you that it was the best day ever!

 

[eandesmom]

So, the Bucket List Kapalua Golf Experience hadn’t gone exactly as planned. However, the secret of a happy life is not your circumstances, but rather your attitude about them, and Dave and I had chosen to laugh rather than grumble. It certainly was a memorable day. I’d gotten a chance to spend a whole afternoon one-on-one with my son playing a course we’d only dreamed about. I mentioned to Dave that he’d really hit the jackpot—spending a day on Maui, learning how to surf in the morning and playing 18 holes at the world-famous Kapalua Plantation Course in the afternoon.

“Yeah,” he said. “It was pretty much the best day ever.”

It doesn't get any better than that.

Ever.

What a GREAT update and incredible memory for both of you. Hopefully he has now learned not to get out of a moving vehicle um, while it is still moving. No matter what Dad says!

I can totally picture Eric doing that at that age....which did make it pretty for me but not so much for you at the time!

Guess what...the black and white literal thing?

It doesn't go away...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What a great chapter Captain! I'm glad that you got to spend such a great afternoon playing a beautiful golf course, enjoying time with your son. Aw, now I'm all warm and fuzzy. But then again, maybe I should shave. But enough about me.

Thanks Glenn! You'd have to ask Judy if you should shave or not.

Nice job Glen! You've won the internet today!

I have to agree, Glenn wins the internet! Just try not to break it like last time.

...which is, That's Nice!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I could never watch golf on TV, it would totally put me to sleep, however, Caddyshack still remains to be one of my favorites movies EVER!

So you just need some explosions added to make golf watchable.

I'm glad you took the approach that you did on this chapter. I loved seeing the beautiful sights and hearing about how you and your son enjoyed a memorable day knocking an item off your bucket list! What a special and memorable day! And what a great reward for you to hear him tell you that it was the best day ever!

That certainly didn't hurt! It's a great memory to savor.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Ever.

I have to agree.

What a GREAT update and incredible memory for both of you. Hopefully he has now learned not to get out of a moving vehicle um, while it is still moving. No matter what Dad says!

I can totally picture Eric doing that at that age....which did make it pretty for me but not so much for you at the time!

Is it bad if I kind of thought it was funny at the time? I mean, I was worried about him and had to make sure he was ok, but it's hard to see that happen and not laugh. At least inwardly.

Guess what...the black and white literal thing?

It doesn't go away...

Where did I put the Tylenol again?

 

[middlepat]

Nice update on the day at Kapalua. What a great course, even in the rain.

That picture of Dave is awesome. What a great memory of the best. day. ever. Too bad for him life is going downhill from this point forward.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Nice update on the day at Kapalua. What a great course, even in the rain.

I thought you'd like the golf update.

That picture of Dave is awesome. What a great memory of the best. day. ever. Too bad for him life is going downhill from this point forward.

Well, he's got to learn that at some point. We're all grown up by the time we realize that growing up is overrated.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Whoops. Somehow I skipped Tim's reply. Sorry about that, Tim.

That's awesome... I'll have to remember that Dan if we ever get back to Hawaii.

Dan will hook you up! Or just let me know, I have her e-mail address as well.

Oh, you're bad!

You sure those were good names considering the articles you linked? Oh yea, you are already home. Call 'em what you will.

We're pretty brave once the danger has passed.

What a great brother!

Yeah, so supportive.

AWESOME!!!!!!

And what fine trees they are. I could look at that all day.

You could do worse, I suppose. Just not sure what we were going for there.

Maybe you'll surprise us sometime. Why even write this. We all know what you ate... probably had pizza or burgers for dinner.

You were skipping ahead, weren't you?

YIKES. Hopefully they didn't pick up a new word or two.

Who knows, maybe after riding the school bus every day they can teach us a few.

He is alive on Facebook.

That's why we make fun of him here.

WHAT WHAT WHAT???????

I'M MARKING DOWN THIS DAY...... Mark got a movie quote wrong!!!

The important thing is, I caught it before anybody else did.

We've rented from VBRO before and it has worked out great. Even rented a 3500sqft house 10 minutes from Disney. I hope we'll be able to do that again in the future....

We were very happy with it! We used it to rent a log cabin in New England once as well. That was pretty cool.

Driving the road to Hana?

Nobody's that dumb, right?

Your golf day looked amazing.. except for the downpour. I knew you'd play through.

When the going gets tough, the dumb get going!

Great pictures!

....and then Dave happened!

WHEW. Glad he was ok.

Seems to be a very popular phrase for this part of the story! And yes, it was a big relief that he was ok. Tough kid.

Great picture!!!

And that's what it's all about. You'll never forget that.

Exactly.

See, told ya it was gonna be pizza or burgers.

How could you possibly have known that?!

And you could of payed $1000 for golf and it would of been worth it..... but you wouldn't of paid that much. Then you wouldn't of heard that. Glad it only cost you $200

My wallet is still sore. But we save up all year so we can spend it on experiences like this anyway.

 

[afwdwfan]

Whoops. Somehow I skipped Tim's reply. Sorry about that, Tim.

We'll let it slide. I mean he followed Glenn's internet winning post. You were still distracted by it's awesomeness.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Whoops. Somehow I skipped Tim's reply.

You missed a couple of ‘em…
But then again, I missed commenting on the Surfing Update altogether so we’ll call it even.

Besides, I think Andy pretty much pegged the direct cause.



Bring on the next update!

 

[eandesmom]

Is it bad if I kind of thought it was funny at the time? I mean, I was worried about him and had to make sure he was ok, but it's hard to see that happen and not laugh. At least inwardly.

Nope. I'd have been rolling as well...while simultaneously freaking out

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

We'll let it slide. I mean he followed Glenn's internet winning post. You were still distracted by it's awesomeness.

Apparently I was more distracted than I realized!

You missed a couple of ‘em…
But then again, I missed commenting on the Surfing Update altogether so we’ll call it even.

Besides, I think Andy pretty much pegged the direct cause.



Bring on the next update!

Now how did that happen? I thought I had responded to you. Maybe I never hit the "submit" button and got distracted? I really am getting old.

Nope. I'd have been rolling as well...while simultaneously freaking out

Yep, that pretty much describes it!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

It's in the hole!

+1

I have no idea what you’re talking about.
(and I’m stunningly bad at telling lies)

"My teacher said real beauty is on the inside."
"Oh, that's just something ugly people say."

The play by play goes like this:
- A person swings a club
- Camera swings on and upward angle to look at vast blue nothingness
- Long exposure of blue nothingness…
- blue… blue… blue… blue…
- Camera swings down to green nothingness…
- green… green… green…
- Close-up of ball that for all we know was placed while we stared at blue nothingness.
- Repeat (ad nauseam)

Sounds familiar somehow. That's why I like the Masters, because there's a few flowers in there to get some different colors.

That’s all right… there is no excuse for watching it on the Telle.

I figured as much.

Now playing the game… that’s a totally different animal (something like a cross between a Badger and a Wildebeest to be precise, but a completely different animal to be sure.)

Or a cross between an elephant and a rhino.

Oh sure…
You can count on that happening.

Uh huh.

Winning both the “Husband of the Year” and “Father of the Year” awards outright.

The competition must have been fierce!

OK… this is true.
My DW actually works for a country club and while it’s certainly not Hawaii (and while that fact doesn’t translate into our being allowed on the course either), even that course is very a pretty location.

Not allowed on the course? This is something up with which I will not put.

Driving on questionable roads and swimming with the fishes?

Who would be dumb enough to do that?

Better, but yup… still pricey.
Until you add in the fact that you’re on an internationally heralded course in the midst of a tropical paradise, so it may just be worth it.

I paid too much to take my son parasailing on Castaway Cay and I certainly still consider that to have been worth it.

The question, "When am I ever going to get the chance to do this again?" carries a lot of weight, doesn't it?

“You know, you should play with Dr. Beeper and myself. I mean, he's been club champion for three years running and I'm no slouch myself.”

“Don't sell yourself short Judge, you're a tremendous slouch.”

+1

“Double turds!”


(We may have to start calling you “Spalding”)


Oh, that’s the worst-looking thing I ever saw. What, when you buy this I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh?

Oh, but it looks good on you.

“He's on his final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2 iron I think…”

It's not as flashy, but this is as impressive as Glenn's post.

And then “Dave” happened.

Glad he was OK, but I gott’a say…

Me too.

So you had that going for you…

Which was...nice?

“I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!”

(Yah… I know… wrong movie, but certainly apropos)

Absolutely! +1

“You're right. Anyway, the Good Lord would never disrupt the best game of my life.”

+1

Shouldn’t that be: “H-E-Double Putters” in this instance?
Or maybe: “H-E-Triple Six-Irons”

Oooh, Triple Six Irons! I love it! You can have the internet when Glenn is done with it.

Sure it did. You planned to play that course on that trip and that’s what happened. Plan executed.
It’s just as with most trips that, the universe conspired to add additional excitement and humorous memories to the experience; thus providing you with a better story. If it weren’t for the pictures to prove the point, I’d say that you made it up so that we wouldn’t fall asleep reading the description of a golf game.

Hey, that doesn't sound nearly so bad when you put it that way.

Second secret… first secret: keep wife happy.
Then keep a good attitude.
Then… everything else will fall into place.

Sounds like the voice of experience.

(of course more money makes that third part considerably easier, but still…)

Too late. We blew all our cash on this trip.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Despite the rain that sounds like a perfect father/son day. I despise golf but being the dutiful wife that I am, played (more like drove the cart) when my hubby and I were in Hawaii for our honeymoon as it was on his bucket list. I can't remember where we played but I do remember that the course was beautiful. Now of course 13 years later hubby is a much better player and would love to go back and play again.

I guess the only question is: have you recovered from the first time? I can always get my kids to go with me if I let them drive the cart.

You could say that.

My dad watched a lot of golf. Still does (along with every other televised event that even remotely qualifies as a sport). So… when I was a kid – back in the Stone Age – back when a house had one TV (if any) – what Poppa was watching was also what we were watching or we watched nothing.

I’ve seen my share of televised golf and it's one reason I don’t watch it any more (don’t have to ).
I suspect that I’d enjoy playing the game (although I don’t have the salary required to find out), but as for watching it…

Playing it is more fun. I have an unhealthy interest in golf course architecture, so I'm watching more for the course than the players. I do have my favorite guys that I follow, though.

High praise coming form you sir.

Yeah, what happened to Andy? Did you hijack his account?