I'm baaaaaaack!!

Ok, so a lot has happened since I last wrote…in fact, about three weeks have gone by.  Sorry about that.  Didn’t mean to leave you all hanging!

Let’s see…about three weeks ago I was in Chicago.  About three weeks ago, all of us were unsure whether or not I would continue on with the AJGA.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I was sworn to secrecy, but now I can proudly say that I am now a Communications Assistant intern for the summer of 2012 with the AJGA!  Yay!!

So, with that new position (it’s a step above the internship I was doing in the spring.  I am now acting as a trainer/teacher for the new interns.  I am still an intern, but I got a pay raise, and instead of being on just one team, I get to now fly around the country and assist every other team.)  It’s more of a teaching role than the actual hands-on role I had in the spring.  I help the helpers essentially. 

I miss my spring crew terribly, but the summer interns are all pretty hilarious.  Ben, one of my team members from the spring, was also asked back.  He is back in the same position, and this time he is on a team with six, yes, SIX girls.  Good luck with that one!

My good friend Ally was also asked back, but she ended up getting a job offer and another internship offer home in Delaware, so she decided to stay home.  I hope one day I can go and visit her!

Ok, so now onto the good stuff.  Here is my travel schedule.  Eat your heart out!

June 4-7                     Aspen, Colorado

June 11-14                 Las Vegas, Nevada

June 25-28                 Killington, Vermont

July 2-5                      Victor, New York

July 16-19                  Bloomingdale, Illinois

July 22-24                 Colts Neck, New Jersey

July 30-August 2       Warsaw, Indiana

August 6-9                 Longmont, Colorado

August 13-16             Norman, Oklahoma

August 20-23             Sun River, Oregon

Alright, so I know that Warsaw, Indiana isn’t exactly a destination location, but I can tell you that Aspen is probably the most beautiful place I have been in awhile.  And don’t even get me started on Las Vegas.  We have two tee morning tee times, with the last at 8:30.  What does this mean??  Well, we will be done before 6 pm and might have some time to go enjoy Sin City.  Just as long as we can get our butts up and be productive the next morning at 4:30 am.

Aspen, as I said before, is stunning.  I feel like I’m describing a supermodel.  Seriously though, it’s gorgeous.  The plane ride in was less than desirable though; we were on a small jet and the landing almost broke my back we hit so hard.  Basically, it’s about a half hour flight from Denver to Aspen, and upon your descent into Aspen, you feel as if you are heading straight down into the good ol’ ground.  I bet our angle of decent was about 45 to 50 degrees.  I might not be aviation savvy, but that seems pretty steep to me.  What do you think, Dad?

Once I knew I would live to see the next day, I was able to breath in the mountain air.  7,980 elevation mountain air.  I haven’t breathed in 7,000 plus air since I was in Flagstaff for Homecoming.  Wow, did I miss it.

Everything up here is clearer.  It looks like you’re looking at the world’s most advanced high-definition television.  (How bass-ackwards is the world that I am describing real life through television terms?)  The air is cleaner, the colors seem to be brighter, and all I want to do is breathe in the life that is here.  I can’t get enough of it!

I have to say, although I did enjoy driving all over the southeast this spring, it sure is nice to get to Aspen with a seven hour travel time as opposed to two and a half days.  The team that is meeting us in Aspen left Wednesday morning at 7 am and they still haven’t arrived.  That’s driving 7 to 10:30 everyday.  I flew in today, helped mark some of the course, went to dinner, explored the town, worked out, and am now writing in my blog.  A much more productive day!  And I’m not nearly as exhausted.

The summer is going to be much different than the spring.  For starters, there are usually three to four tournament rounds as opposed to two.  We’ll almost always have a Junior-Am, and in addition, a Qualifier round.  So, that adds up to five or six days every week that we are running the actual tournament.  It was usually just three in the spring.  Simply put, the spring was CAKE.

So, here’s to early mornings, late nights, great company, and lots of golf.  I’ll try to keep you all updated so, in my brother’s words, you’ll know where the heck I am in the country. 

Oh, and on a little side note, I was accepted to the University of Texas at Austin and will be enrolling for my Masters in Sport Management ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  : )

See what I mean? HIGH DEFINITION!

Another shot of heaven

Our hotel is really old-fashioned and apparently haunted.
My roommate doesn't arrive until tomorrow.  I'm all alone!!
They still have the old-fashioned keys and check-in desk.

So, they tell you to punch a black bear in the
face if you ever encounter one.  I befriended this
one instead.

He's made of nails...does that present a problem
for our friendship?

The world's most gigantic dog.  I think
I could have hopped on and caught a ride home.
Seriously, they said he weighed 175 pounds.

Chi-Town Part 2

For those of you who haven’t been to Chicago, Michigan Avenue is filled with more than just expensive clothing shops.  Ally and I made sure we stopped at EVERY street act, vendor, statue…you name it.  In between looking at clothing we will never be able to afford, (and would never be caught dead wearing), we chatted with a magician, caught up with an oversized Marilyn Monroe, worked at the Hershey’s Chocolate Factory, and drank like queens at the top of the John Hancock building. 

Marilyn...apparently she had painted on
panties - I had manners and did not look

Jim the Magician! He let me keep my lucky card

At the Hershey's Chocolate Factory!

John Hancock was our last stop on Michigan Avenue.  By this time, I’d say we walked about four miles total (going in and out of shops, back and forth on Michigan Avenue, etc.).  I was pooped.  It was around 4 o’clock, and we had yet to have lunch.  We had heard that you could go to nearly the top, the 96^th floor out of 100, for free.  It was 15 dollars to go all the way to the top, and as cheap as Ally and I are, we opted for the 13 dollar alcoholic beverage on the 96^th floor as opposed to the top.  It was the best decision I made all day.

Hancock from the street. Straaaaaight up

We sat at the top of the world, sipping Cosmos and hard Arnold Palmers, and nibbling on finger food.  Forget the fact that we were sporting yoga pants and t-shirts, we were living the high life.  Looking out over the skyline and reminiscing about the internship, about life, and thinking about our futures.  I definitely wouldn’t mind making this a regular occurrence – living life like the rest of the 1%.  Not too shabby.

The good life

After pretending to be rich for a half hour, we headed to Navy Pier.  I have been there once before, but it was the middle of December and freezing, so there really wasn’t anything cool to be seen.  Not this time.  The pier was alive with action.  There were more people, vendors, and activities.  I know it’s not what it might look like in the middle of July, but it was a definite improvement from December.

Navy Pier!

Our first stop was a contest to win a three day two night stay to your choice of 20 different cities.  The only thing you needed to do was fill out your address and phone number and spin a color wheel.  We read the fine print, and there weren’t any obligations or payments, so we gave it a try.  I declared my color was green (my favorite color) and gave it a whirl.  It landed ONE AWAY from green.  Not just one color, one of the little pegs.  I think that is the closest I’ve come to winning anything.  Ally landed one away as well.  We thought luck wasn’t on our side…

My first spin took a lot out of me so I had to
carry my backpack in the front...what do you
call it then?  A chestpack?

There was another vendor representing the same thing farther down the pier.  We gave it another shot, and lo and behold, Ally won!! She chose her destination as Vegas, and so she has a free hotel stay for whenever she’d like to go to Vegas within the next year.  I went next, and for some reason I chose the color blue.

Now, at this point in the story, things could go either way….which way do you think they went?

Well, not my way, as it landed on green.  GREEN! My favorite color which I betrayed in order to keep things interesting.  So, sometime in the next year I will not be traveling to Las Vegas for a free three day two night stay.  But, I am happy that Ally gets the chance!  She’s never been to Vegas, and neither has her fiancé, so what better way to experience it than together?

After Navy Pier, Ally and I were starving and decided it was time to get some real grub.  Our tournament director Sam had told us about this one restaurant, Ed Debevic’s, where the waiters are supposed to be rude to you.  It is kind of like Dick’s, if you have ever heard of or been to that restaurant.  As soon as Sam described it, we were in!

From the entrance side

We trekked the 1.6 miles from Navy Pier to Ed’s, and boy, was it worth it.  We get there, and it’s a 50s style diner, where the waiters and waitresses dress like they just woke up, but with a 50s flare.  One of them even had curlers in her hair still! 

Loved the hats

I was a little disappointed in the service; my waiter was not NEARLY rude enough to me, and I let him know it.  I kept giving him jabs and he’d jab right back.  They would throw our straws at us, sound more than disinterested in what we were ordering, and yell at us from across the restaurant.  It was a lot of fun!  Ally and I also found a photo booth there – we definitely had some fun with that!

Probably our best photo yet

After dinner, we met up with our tournament director and assistant, and caught a ride home.  We were exhausted.  It is a lot of work having fun and sight-seeing!  I don’t think my legs have ever been so restless…

And so, that completes my day in Chicago!  Not sure when I’ll ever be back, but I’ll definitely remember by time in Chi-Town.

The most adorable thing I've seen yet

Chi-Town Part 1

Ok, Chicago is pretty legit.

First of all, Chi-Town definitely has its act together when it comes to public transportation.  From pretty much anywhere in the 'burbs, you have access to some type of public transportation.  Whether it be a city bus that leads you to a train, that leads you to the Green, Red, Brown, Purple, any-colored Line, or vice versa, you've got a way into and around the city.  West Coast, you are seriously slacking in this department (minus Portland).  If you want to get anywhere in Spokane, you better believe you are driving there.  I know very few people who are able to take advantage of Spokane's fine bus system.

I was more than excited for my first train ride.  And boy, could those locals tell I was from out of town.      We had to ask how to actually get to the loading ramp...

"Down the stairs, through the tunnel, a left or a right, up the stairs, and you're there."


Um, excuse me...do you have a map for that?  Ally and I managed, and we made it to the loading dock with seven minutes to spare.

Ally and I at the train station!

I was elated when we boarded the train.  One more thing I can cross off my bucket list!  The excitement wore off after about fifteen minutes, so Ally and I were just chatting for most of the ride.  We decided to get off at the Kedzie stop and switch to the Green Line.  We were in a questionable neighborhood, where there were half-empty beer bottles dotting the sidewalk and the windows on most of the houses were boarded up, so we hustled to the next train.

THE BEAN!!!!

After boarding the Green Line, we had a short ride into the city.  Ally had made a list of all the great things to visit in Chicago, and our first stop was The Bean.  The Bean is much more than it sounds; it's basically this giant misshapen mirror plopped in the middle of downtown Chicago.  I'm not quite sure who's idea it was to fund this artsy project, but they're a genius.  It was about 12:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, and the plaza was crawling with ridiculous looking tourists just like myself.  I could have stood out better if I had just worn my Jansport fannypack...why did I ever get rid of that thing???  

You can walk underneath The Bean, and inside, it is warped.  There are so many folds in this giant mirror that it almost seems to create alternate realities.  I immediately felt nauseous upon walking underneath this behemoth, but I held on until I was able to get a reasonable photo.  It is all about the picture, especially in this technological driven age.

Inside The Bean.  Can you find me?  I'm just about
in the middle of the photo...

Ally and I by the side of The Bean

I got to touch The Bean : )

Alright, enough with The Bean.  I mean, how fascinating can a giant piece of metal be?  Apparently, extremely fascinating, so here's one more photo.

In the same park as The Bean, there is also this really weird fountain.  Basically, it's two giant "brick" blocks that have faces on them.  These faces in turn spit water at each other.  The faces are digitally created, as the "bricks" seem to be a giant television screen.  They move, smile, blink, and for some reason, spit.  We spent a good fifteen or twenty minutes waiting between spits so we could get a photo.

The face - I was wondering how you were
chosen to be a face

Can you see the face spitting on our heads?

Again, I'm not quite sure who thought, 'Hmmm...we should make two giant brick cubes, throw them into Millennium Park, and have them spit at each other'.  There must be some weird dudes in Chicago, but they must be successful as ever.

 We wandered down Michigan Avenue for quite some time after our spitting adventure.  We shopped around a bit (I finally spent a few dollars on some clothes - much needed retail therapy after being in polos for six weeks!), and pretended to fit in at Sachs Fifth Avenue.  It should have been obvious that we had no business being in there (we were in yoga pants, t-shirts, tennis shoes, minimal makeup, with backpacks) and we snickered or gasped every time we read a price tag.  I have also discovered that I don't have the fashion knowledge or appreciation to be wearing any such clothing.  This stuff was hideous.  And $3,000.  We saw a sweater that looked like my grandmother could have knit it, and it had a picture of a face.  $1,500 - no thank you.  I'll stick to the three garnets for $20 at Forever 21.  I think it would be safe to say that I would have consumer guilt after shopping at Sachs, enough so that it might drive me insane.  So I think it is safe to say it's a blessing in disguise that I can't afford to shop there.  I'm saving myself a visit to a therapist.

Yes, that says USD 3,120, for an orange biker
jacket...not quite my style

This adventure is too big for one blog, and it is too late to continue writing it, so you're going to have to wait for the rest!  

Louisiana...who would have thought

Louisiana is officially one of my favorite foreign places. 

Purple flowers (name unknown) at Squire Creek

Yes, you read that right.  Foreign.  At least to me.  Most of the places I have visited on this internship have been different from anything I have known for most of my life.  It’s warm and sunny in March, BBQ means more than hot dogs and burgers, mosquitos are the state bird (in more than one case), and instead of mountains, lakes and pine trees, there are flat cornfields, barren deserts, and palm trees.  But, after spending a week at the Lodge, eating the finest Cajun within three counties, and really getting to experience my hair in humidity, Louisiana is where its at.

I know you’re dying to know – but no, I was unable to fulfill my goal of ingesting frog legs.  I’m almost to the point where I’m just going to catch a frog myself and fry it up on the side of the road.  I could add a side of armadillo, as there have been no shortages of those dead on the road.  It would already be cooked too, after roasting in the 85-degree heat for who knows how long.  I will refrain from this obviously impulsive action, and I vow to wait until I return to the south to eat some proper frog legs, with perhaps a side of potato salad.

Sunrise off No. 18

The tournament went really well.  Save for one junior who didn’t show up on the second day (we are still trying to figure out what happened to them), the tournament was a success.  I can tell I am becoming much more comfortable with everything, as it seems to take about half the time for me to get all of my work done. We had tee times an hour earlier this tournament (at 7:30 am as opposed to 8:30), and yet I was finished with everything as early as 6:30 that evening.  It felt like we had an entire half-day off.  I’m telling you, it messes with your head when you get off work before it’s dark.  It tricks you into thinking it’s much earlier than it is. 

And so naturally, I never went to bed earlier than 10:30.

Strawberry Beer! Only in Louisiana : )

Our team this week was awesome.  Annie, our Tournament Director, gave us as much time as possible off, and we still managed to get everything done early.  I love being efficient!  It also helped that the staff at Squire Creek was really helpful; they were always coming by headquarters asking if there was anything they could help with, if we wanted anything to drink…it must be my celebrity status.  That’s the only reason I could think of why they were so kind!  Then I started to notice they treat everyone like that….sooooo I guess they are just really great people : )

Now we are traveling to our last tournament, and the AJGA is sending us out with a bang.  We are driving to Chicago, about 13 ½ hours, and we are staying in a resort about an hour outside of the city.  A resort!  AND we have a day off!  On top of that, we have some tickets to a White Sox game, and I believe we might have a chance to take a train into the city for some of the day Wednesday.  I have been to Chicago once before, in December of 2011, and so I only was able to experience the cold, the wind, and the snow.  I’m excited to see a livelier Chi-Town.

On our travels to the great state of Illinois, we drove through six whole states!  Started in Louisiana, moved onto Arkansas, then Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.  Ally and I tried to grab photos of all of the state signs, but we narrowly missed Arkansas.  Twice.  Oh well!

Route from Louisiana to Chicago

Can’t believe this is my last week.  It has gone by so fast, and it has been such a great experience.  I really hope that they choose me as a summer intern!! Only time will tell…

Second State - We missed Arkansas

Third State! Stopped in Memphis for the BEST BBQ

Nothing in this state...looked the same all the way through

Finally made it to Illinois!

I got to see a familiar face! Kristen is one of my best
friend's little sisters.  She is a shot-put thrower at
the University of Illinois in Champaign.