Jason and I got home last night but I still have a post or two to finish up the trip. I apologize for being behind but internet access the last part of the trip was difficult to come by – so bear with me.
At 1:30 Tuesday morning I woke up and Jason wasn’t in bed. I looked up and my poor husband was doubled over in one of the chairs in our room with severe stomach pains. This wonderful vacation of rich food and wine had taken its toll on his stomach. I put on my clothes and walked 3 blocks to a 24-hour pharmacy to get some Pepto, Gas-X and Mylanta. Sleep was in about 1 hour increments as I checked on Jason (who only slept 2 hours) … So, our wake up time at 6:30 AM came very early.
We had just enough time to get ready for our golf round before breakfast. We ate and headed off to Tehama Golf Club. Tehama is Clint Eastwood’s private golf club. Membership is limited to 300 people and you must be personally invited by Mr. Eastwood to join. Thanks to a contact Jason had through work we were able to get onto the course as guests – unsupervised guests. 🙂
First let me say that this was golfers paradise. We were literally the only people on the course. The course is built on the side of a mountain with some of the cart paths needing large (roller coaster-like) bridges and switchbacks. It was by far the most confusing golf course I’ve ever been to. There were no signs directing you to the next hole and now that I think about it there were no signs telling which hole you were on. The cart paths stop and start just after the tee boxes and just before the greens (apparently Mr. Eastwood hates cart paths) When Allrow mentioned that he would be giving us directions I thought he was joking – we never would have found our way from one hole to the next without him! The course was beautiful. Perfectly manicured with views unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
The first nine holes for me were terrible. I was almost to the point where I actually wanted to quit playing. The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that someone (not us) paid a ton of money for us to play there so I decided to make the best of the situation and quit keeping score. 🙂 Apparently, that was the right thing to do because after I quit keeping score I started playing better! I actually think the back 9 was some of the best golf I have ever played (though I wouldn’t know because I quit keeping score).
Sometime around the 8th hole we came across this HUGE house that was being built. There were several other houses near the course that were under construction so it wasn’t surprising to see another one but this one was different – it was gigantic! I made a comment along those lines and Allrow said, “Oh, that’s Mr. Eastwood’s new house.” Of course it is. I couldn’t resist the temptation to take multiple pictures. See below.
After golf we changed shoes and were in the garage putting our bags back in the car when this car (a Jag) blows through the parking garage, barrels around the corner and into a very special parking spot. I got a glimpse of the person inside and immediately thought…that looks like Clint Eastwood. Trying not to stare I watched him get out and sure enough it was! He walked through the garage out to the chipping green and started practicing.
This was my first encounter with a celebrity and I don’t think it gets much better than Clint Eastwood! I am a huge fan (as is everyone else) so it was difficult to not be noticeably annoying and follow him around but I figure that the guy didn’t build his own golf course and put up two gates with guards to have some random girl from Texas attack him on the chipping green. I will say that he is much shorter and skinner than I anticipated him to be – out on the course he looks like any other random old guy. Granted he’s a old guy that could probably kick my butt any day.
Jason and I went back to the pro-shop to buy souvenir shirts and while Jason was paying I stood outside (hiding behind a yucca plant) and watched Mr. Eastwood’s practice session. I actually saw him flub a chip shot (suddenly I don’t feel too bad about my own golf skills)! Soon Jason was finished and the fun was over – it was time to leave.
The drive between Monterey and San Francisco is just beautiful. It is certainly not scenery we are able to enjoy in Texas. The PCH is a road unlike any other. Yes, there are freeways between Monterey and San Francisco but why would you ever want to drive on them when you could drive down the PCH instead.
I had the privlidge of driving back to San Francisco (in our awesome rental car) because Jason still wasn’t feeling well. We stopped in Davenport for a burrito at this little Mexican place called Taqueria El Jarro (500 Hwy 1, Davenport CA). They claim that they’re the best burrito on the North Coast and they’re right! It’s a burrito that would put Freebirds out of business – in a jiffy!
We arrived in San Fran about 6:00 PM and we spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room resting as Jason still didn’t feel well. We ordered room service, I worked on catching up on the blog entries and Jason slept. By 9:00 PM lights were out and we were sound asleep!