Killing it in Vermont

How can I be so lucky?  Sure, I know that some days it’s tough, the hours are long, and I get cranky, but really, everyday of this internship is a gift.

So serene

I’m not trying to be corny, but this six-hour ride in the car has given me loads of time to think.  I have decided that for my first internship, there isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be.  This opportunity and experience is incredible.

Ok, so now that I’ve got that off my chest, Vermont was pretty bitchin’.  Yes, that is the ONLY word that successfully describes my time in Vermont.  Bitchin’.

This was my first excursion to the northeast tip of the United States.  I have been to Boston and New York, but not in the boondocks of the real ‘tip’ of the U.S.  Now I just need to get to Maine to say I’ve been in the extreme northeast…

I traveled from Galena, Ill., with Blair and Kurtis, two other assistants, to Manchester, and then the three of us drove to Killington.  It was about a three-hour drive, and we arrived just in time to grab some grub at a nearby restaurant.  It was very quaint, set on the bank of a pond at the base of the mountains.  Dinner was so relaxing, and it gave me a chance to de-stress from the previous week.  It was so wide open in Vermont – never once did I feel cramped or claustrophobic. 

It's electric!

After dinner, we drove the three minutes to our lodging.  It was a picturesque ski lodge, complete with a fireplace and playing cards.  I was amazed at the amount of people we squeezed into that place.  There was room for nine people upstairs and four or five downstairs.  And we used every little nook and cranny to jam all of our crap in that little ski lodge.  I don’t know how we did it with almost ten girls, but we all managed to get ready in the morning in a respectable manner, showers and everything.

Now, I know I claimed that my lack of painted nails was the reason for all the stress last week.  I only gathered more substantial evidence for my claim.  InfoScore gave me more trouble the first two days we were at the tournament.  I was able to paint my nails on the third day, an electric orange, and you know what?  The fourth, fifth, and sixth days, ZERO InfoScore trouble.  Nail polish is a priority, and a necessity. 

The golf course in Killington was very nice.  It was very hilly, and several of the holes had elevated tee boxes.  It also had a wide variety of wildlife.  We had a friendly black bear that kept hanging around the garbage cans, and he even utilized a car to hoist himself into the fenced dumpster.  I also saw a few foxes and of course, chipmunks.

I also have to share that the general manager of the golf course had the deepest voice that reminded me of James Earl Jones.  I wish I could add audio to this post, as I believe most of you would agree that Mufasa was telling me where No. 7 was on the course…

He was adorable!

Some fun facts from Vermont: Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was created about 30 minutes from where we were all week.  Good thing I didn’t realize how close it was, otherwise I would have done some damage on my day off.  Also, one of our juniors fathers, Dan Tyminski, is a Grammy award winning bluegrass musician, who is part of Alison Krauss and Union Station and who wrote songs for the movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou?  Oh, and Vermont is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been.  I think I might venture to put it in the category of Montana and Aspen…maybe.

We were lucky enough to finish our final round in record time, and so we had a bit of time post-tournament to go for a hike.  It was glorious; about a four or five mile hike, and we were able to see one breathtaking view.  A nice vigorous hike was just what I needed after a long week.  I slept like a baby last  night, mostly from exhaustion.

I have one more tournament until my week long break.  We are heading to Victor, N.Y., and by the looks of things, we are going to be hooked up for lodging.  Hope this last week goes by smoothly.  I am definitely looking forward to a little break before the last half of the summer.  See you all soon!

View from the 10th tee

Mountains were lost in the clouds during
the rainy days

Dense forest lined the holes

Since the tournament was sponsored by
the town of Killington, every restaurant
welcomed the AJGA!

View from the summit of the 'hill' we hiked...simply gorgeous

Blair, Katie and I at the top

Perfect end to a great week

Galena the Beautiful

This summer is disappearing before my eyes.  I can’t get a grip on how fast it’s going by…I feel as though I’m looking at my life and watching it go whizzing past.  It’s crazy to me that a month ago I was turning 23, and now I’m pretty much a third of the way done with my summer.  Where has the time gone?

I’ll tell you where it’s gone: to the golf course!  Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa was a successful tournament, but it sure was a time-consuming one. 

This week was a little different; instead of  a regular qualifier, we had a PBE Qualifier, which means that it’s a tournament that is only for gaining status.  I apologize in advance, but I’m not about to try to explain PBE status to anyone.  Really, it’s because I don’t understand it myself.  I don’t know how many times a parent has come to me with a question about status, stars, exemption, etc., and my immediate response is, “I really don’t want to give you any wrong information, so I am going to refer you to so-and-so, our tournament director.  Or, if you would like an immediate response, Player Services will have much more instant information for you.”  I’ve got that response memorized, and I use it often.

Anyway, the PBE Qualifier helps our junior golfers gain status, based on their finish, to help them enter bigger tournaments, such as opens or invitationals.  So the PBE Qualifier we had this last week is two rounds, as opposed to the regular qualifier, which is one.  We also had the largest field possible at 144.  This means that each tournament round day, we have two waves of tee times.  One from 7 to 9, and one from 12 to 2.  It’s a loooooong day.

I’m not quite sure why, but this week was a little off for me.  I have determined it is because I was unable to apply a fresh coat of nail polish.  Sounds silly, but every week before has gone relatively smoothly, and I was able to polish my nails a new color each of those weeks.  It sounds silly, but I think it’s a legitimate claim.  My first priority when I arrive in Killington, Vermont: PAINT MY NAILS.

Eagle Ridge was a very nice course.  We were in Galena, Illinois, about 45 minutes north of Iowa.  It was a very quaint town, and home to Ulysses S. Grant’s post Civil War home.  I couldn’t get a clear enough picture of the town to really illustrate its beauty, but it was gorgeous.  The course was about 15 minutes from town and it was surrounded by big trees, trails, and villas. 

We stayed in the villas all week, and man was it a treat!  Each of us had our own room, and my villa even had a hot tub in the basement, complete with a television.  We were living the high life for sure.

Not too shabby...watching the Finals with
an ice cold beer after a long, hard day at
work.

The tournament was pretty fun though, despite me being a little 'off'.  Our medic, Tim, was awesome; he was there every single day, and he helped out with more than just medical things.  He would deliver lunches, and ask some pretty entertaining questions over the radio.  My favorite was, "Um, can deer be considered a hazard?  Because we've got about three huge deer running across No. 7 fairway...Just wondering."  This made me smile!

Not too much to report from this week, other than the long days.  One day I was at the course from 6 am to 10:30 pm!  That’s not a usual day though – we were having a ton of trouble with our software and we ended up having to create our final round pairings by hand.  I was able to work with my former spring teammate, Ben Wolfe, which it was great to see him.  I was also awarded an off day!  Much needed and very relaxing.  I’m really looking forward to this next tournament.  First time in Vermont, and I get to work with some great people.  Two more tournaments and I’ll be home for a week break!  

There was a hot air balloon festival near the course
one of the mornings.  Pretty cool seeing them so close

Our headquarters for the week.  A little small,
but we took full advantage of all of our space.
Small but functional!

He's just a lil' guy!  Munching on some leaves

One of the infinite views from my office : )

Vegasssss

I'm not really sure why, but whenever anyone posts about Vegas, it always is written "Vegasssssss".  Is there a reason we include so many s's?  I mean really...As you can see from my title, I decided that the s's are necessary.  Not sure why, but they are.

Vegasssss was pretty incredible.  We had tee times off two tees from 6:30 am to 8:30 am almost every day.  You know what that means?  Early off, early in.  We were finished every day by about 4 in the afternoon.  It was glorious.

These early tee times gave us much more time to go look around Sin City.  Now, before any of you jump the gun, we weren't staying on the Strip.  Let's keep in mind that AJGA is non-profit, so unless the Bellagio wants to give us 50 free rooms like the Best Western Plus did, I don't think we'll be pitching our tent on the Strip anytime soon.

Regardless, we were able to get all dressed up and hit the Strip.  However, since we were given courtesy cars, we rocked our van all the way down to Caesar's Palace.  When we rolled up, the party started.

Who could resist us in this ride?

Once we got down to the Strip and found a garage that would accommodate our 7+ foot tall van, we put our walking shoes on (high heels) and headed out to the street.  We ended up parking at the Aria, and then walked probably a total of two miles the whole evening.  You don't want to know what my feet looked like after that trek.  

We stopped at the Cosmopolitan to grab some photos in front of the diamonds, then headed toward the Bellagio.  Perfect timing, as we caught the fountain water show at just the right moment.

Perfect time of night

Let me just say this.  When you go to Vegasssss and you decide to wear heels, make sure you know where you're going.  I tell you what, we walked around aimlessly for at least an hour, and finally decided to take a pit stop at the Bellagio.  That wasn't the brightest idea, as I think the Bellagio marks up their prices about 400 percent.  (I'm being a tad sarcastic, but I'm telling you, it's ridiculous.)

We gathered ourselves, put our heels back on, and headed across the street to Planet Hollywood.  Jackpot.  They had the big drinks, great deals, and good fun.  We grabbed a few fun things and then headed for a place to sit and rest our toes.

The other thing to keep in mind when you go to Vegassss is that it would probably be the most enjoyable if you didn't need to get up at 4 am the next morning.  I say this because just about every nightclub won't open until 10:30, at the earliest.  That's about the time we had decided we needed to leave to get home to get to bed if we wanted to function at all the next morning.  Even though we didn't quite get the typical Vegassss experience, we sure had fun.  All the lights, all the sights, it was quite an experience.  

I also found out how small of a world it is.  I ended up running into one of my college coaches while walking around in ridiculously high heels searching for a cheap drink.  Coach Chad was there randomly on a spontaneous vacation with his girlfriend, and we met up outside Planet Hollywood for a little chat.  Random huh?

Inside the Cosmopolitan with the girls from Team 6

I couldn't resist these heels!

I'm happy to report that the next morning we were all awake, functioning, and on time.  We ran the second round of the championship tournament without any issues, and then scarfed down an incredible BBQ dinner at our Tournament Chairman's house.  I don't know if it was because I was so hungry or what, but she made some baked beans that were to die for.  I think I gained five pounds just from stuffing my face for ten minutes.  They were legit.

During my stay in Vegasssss I was also able to meet up with one of my former teammates, Katie Schafer.  She graduated two years ahead of me, and I have only seen her a couple of times since.  We were able to meet up for some sushi on my last night in Vegasssss.  It was great to see her; she is now the manager of a hotel, moving into a brand-new apartment...she is doing so well!  She and I are very similar in the way we think, act, and expect from others, and she really helped me to put a lot of things in perspective.  

Now, Katie and I have a similar obsession with Forrest Gump.  Whenever we are together, we tend to speak with a southern accent and keep quoting the movie.  When I was in Savannah and was able to see the Forrest Gump bench in person, she was the first person I called.  Random, but true.  She is the second teammate I have seen while on my internship (Tiffany in Houston in April), and it really is incredible to me how this internship has brought me to see so many of the people from my past.  I am very thankful for that.

Loving my orange uniform!! So glad we were ale to meet.

I am finding that being a CA has it's benefits and also some downfalls.  I love being able to fly everywhere; the trek from Vegasssss to my next tournament near Chicago would be a pretty long drive.  The only downfall from my perspective is that I don't get to spend more time with the wonderful people I work with week to week.  I get to know all of them and then I have to leave.  However, when I look at it from a different perspective, I do get to meet a lot more great people.  Hmmm...I think I like the latter.  

Anyway, now that I've got Aspen and Vegassss under my belt, I'm so excited for the next few weeks.  I get to work with Ben, my former teammate, this week, and then I get to travel to Vermont, which I have never set foot in, and then head to New York.  I can't get over all the great places I get to go, all the people I get to meet, and all the opportunities I'm being presented with.  No room for complaint here!

Wish me luck this week at Galena.  144 player field....whew.

Emily and I at the Aria!

Another look at the fountain!

I love this view!

Pretty AJGA ladies! 

Another shot at the Cosmopolitan!

Sunrise at the golf course

A different Aspen

Aspen is pretty legit.  No explanation necessary.

The Maroon Bells

Ok, so now that you can see what I saw for seven days, let me paint a picture for you at how incredible this mountain town is.

Here are a few facts:

The X-Games have been held in Aspen at Buttermilk Mountain for the last ten years, since 2002.  Buttermilk Mountain is located directly across from the Aspen Golf Club.  We could actually see the half-pipe from a few of the holes on the front nine.

Aspen is located at about 7900 feet elevation.  Let me tell you, when you aren’t acclimated to the elevation, it burns.  I can usually run three miles no problem.  Mix the elevation with fatigue, add it to a run, and you’ve got yourself a walk.  I’m just saying.  It’s rough.

Aspen also has one of the most interestingly diverse populations (this isn’t actually a Google-able fact, just an observation).  Now, I don’t want this to be taken the wrong way, but I do believe that a few of the residents went to Woodstock and never really left.  There is also a large portion of the population that can afford to buy Burberry, Coach, Gucci more often than once every eternity.  You have the people that come into Aspen for more of a ‘status’ thing, and you also have those who are ski bums who double as hiking bums in the summer.  Sometimes I was confused as to what Aspen was supposed to be identified as.  Mountain town or celebrity destination…usually they are NOT one in the same.

Not sure if these fun facts actually explain why Aspen is incredible.  I’ll just let you look at another picture while I think of something clever to say.

Just enjoying the view

I've got nothing.  So how about a little ghost story?

So, as I wrote before, we were fortunate enough to stay in the Hotel Jerome.  It is a gorgeous hotel; built in the late 1880s and still complete with much of the charm it was first built with.  For some reason, with old buildings, it’s only appropriate to be accompanied by a few ghost stories.

We had heard about the haunting before we even arrived.  Tommy, our tournament assistant had said that when they stayed in the Hotel Jerome at last year’s tournament, they were unable to squeeze any information out of the employees about the ghosts.  This year, they pretty much laid the juicy info out for us on a silver platter.  All we had to do was ask.

Here’s the first one:

The old chef was so attached to the hotel, that he requested to somehow be incorporated into the building after he died.  Kind of a weird request, but who am I to judge what an old chef’s dying wish was?  Can you guess how he was incorporated into the building?  Yep, there are a dead guy’s ashes behind the grandfather clock in the foyer.  That’s not at all creepy.  And, I had the pleasure of walking past this fine piece of time-keeping machinery at least twice every day. 

Here’s the second, longer and more intriguing story:

It starts with a young boy, about seven or eight years old, and his parents, who were all staying in room 310 in the Hotel Jerome in the early to mid-1900s.  One evening, the young boy’s parents decided to go out for dinner and a night on the town, leaving their son alone behind.  This can never be good.

The young boy ended up going swimming by himself in the hotel pool.  He ended up drowning, and apparently, he still hangs around the Hotel Jerome, showing himself from time to time to guests and employees. 

A few years ago, one guest reports that she came out of her bathroom to find a drenched, shivering boy standing in her room.  Now, my first thought would be, how the heck did this little boy get in my room?  The woman tried talking to the young boy, tried to coax some kind of information out of him, but was unable to connect with him.  After about five minutes of one-sided conversation, she decided to call the front desk to report her visitor.  She connected to the front desk and turned around to face the boy to describe him, and he vanished.  There was still a puddle of water where he was standing.

Another woman claims that she had a paranormal encounter, most likely from the ghost of the young boy.  She was taking pictures of the hotel, and claims that there was a shadow cast by absolutely nothing.  Chills….

And so, the Hotel Jerome is haunted.  Apparently.  Just to add to the haunted effect, when they remodeled, they just happened to make every single long hallway look like it was straight out of The Shining.  I expected to see REDRUM every time I walked to my room.  What a great visual right before you head to bed.

Can't you just make out the two twin girls
at the end of the hall? REDRUM

I made it out of there alive and unscathed.  Who knows why they spared me, but the paranormals decided to leave me alone.  Thanks!

And now, I’m spending my time in fabulous Las Vegas.  Not a bad spot.  More posts to come about VEGASSSSS!!!!

The water was FREEZING!!!

Our tournament assistant Tommy!

Team 4!! Love them all!

A view from one of the greens