wanderlust: In the land of trolls, Ubi and wasabi mayonnaise

Numbers as I go

Random facts all my readers must be dying to know:
• Miles traveled: 15,753
• States/provinces traversed: 37
• Days of rain: I've stopped counting
• Times I've played disc golf: 7 (see below)

Nights spent in:
• Friends' houses/apartments: 61
• Hostels: 21
• Hotels: 16
• A tent: 4
• My car: 3
• On the beach under the moon: 1

Disc golf courses

Eagle's Nest: Butte, Montana
This course requires a dissertation to describe it. See here. In short, it's hard to find, poorly marked and full of trees...but challenging! There were no locals.
Knoch Knolls Park: Naperville, Illinois
A small course with a few open holes and several through the trees. Pretty short holes and not too difficult. The locals were helpful for directing us through the course.
Lohmann Park: Urbana, Illinois
Well-marked course but very short holes. Not too bad for variety—through trees and around some corners—but overall very easy. The locals were helpful for answering my questions about the course layout.
St. John's: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Laid out in a canyon and along a hilltop behind the college's soccer field and gym. Thanks to maps from the gym, we were able to navigate it with some confusion. Hole 3 has been removed. A challenging course that deserves a walk-through or play-through to orient oneself.
Ashbaugh Park: Santa Fe, New Mexico
A lot of holes packed into a fairly small area. A map is essential, because the holes overlap and there are multiple holes for each tee. It's very flat, which was a relief after the St. John's course. We could have spent most of the day playing that course; it's a good one.
Brent Baca Memorial: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fairly flat, with plenty of challenging aspects: obstructions in front of tees, arroyos, holes, trees, fences. Lots of long holes. Very well marked and mapped. (Watch your step: the bushes have prickly things that like to invade socks.) A great course overall.
Deerfield Community Park: Irvine, California
Compact course is very well marked. Get a map at the community center by the parking lot. A lot of out of bounds areas and some trees increase the challenge. Pars are generous.
Stanford University: Stanford, California
Website outlines the course in great detail. Course is challenging in that you must avoid people, windows and other obstacles. I only made to hole 1 before throwing my disc on a 10-foot ledge. (No wonder all the photos were taken at night.) Great course. I'd love to try it again.
Fort Walla Walla Park: Walla Walla, Washington
My personal favorite, only because it's where I learned to play. I love the wide expanses of grass and the annoyingly in-the-way trees. I've sent my discs into the creek and marshes a fair number of times. The locals are, I must say, helpful and friendly.

Where do I begin?

Possibly with Friday morning, when I met Leah for the first time. And her dad, older brother and mom, their cat, dog and bird, and Leah's hamster and snake. The whole kit and caboodle.

Since then, the weekend has been filled with eating, Seattle wandering, games, eating, laughter, baking, photo fun with the Fremont Troll, eating...and more laughter. Leah's family is crazy funny (heavy on the crazy), and I feel right at home here. I've been lucky enough to meet both of her brothers. Apparently, few of her friends have this pleasure.

Leah and I are way too much alike for only knowing each other through our blogs. We knew we'd get along great...and we do.

Right now Leah's family is having a holiday open house for their church (Leah's dad is the pastor...he's pretty cool), and there's a group of people sitting in the hall outside Leah's room, playing with her snake, Ferdinand. I keep hearing, "Is that a real snake?" One kid has it around his neck now. Like I said, fun times in Kirkland.

Yesterday afternoon we had some fun with the troll. We like the troll.

I'm leaving shortly to drive to Yakima and visit some more friends for a couple of days before heading home. I've had a great last week, visiting friends all around western Washington. Seeing Chelsea was especially fun. We really enjoyed being roommates during college, and now, even if we don't see each other often, it's always fun to hang out and catch up on things.

And now that I've eaten far too much this weekend, it's about time to drive for a couple of hours. The holiday bingeing has begun.

Comments

w00t!

Posted by: Leah | December 19, 2005 at 08:39 AM

Glad you like spending time with Leah...even over the internet some people's personality comes shining through...she's wonderful! Look forward to reading through you weblog. And Merry Christmas from Finland!

Posted by: Michel | December 19, 2005 at 01:15 PM

The two of you together is nothing but a recipe for trouble...

:-P

Posted by: Izzy | December 19, 2005 at 03:47 PM

oh, and dontcha know it, Izzy. Really, after that phone call, I think the three of us together would be even worse. Man, imagine a blogger party . . . it would definitely be a case of "hilarity ensues."

Posted by: Leah | December 19, 2005 at 05:58 PM

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In the land of trolls, Ubi and wasabi mayonnaise