The Raven Golf Club
Tempe, Arizona: You would think, as much as
we "get out and about" we would have experienced a few things. Wrong. Today,
we experienced several "firsts". You will have to tell us if we need to get
out more, or if these things are truly new. Don't forget, I saw my first
"water store" in Phoenix too, so there is always the possibility that
Phoenix is just on the cutting edge of cool new stuff and we just live on
the oh-so-very left coast.
To reach
The
Raven Golf Club, DT (as Grandmother Herzberg always said: "he's such a
good driver") ran a red light, and then make a left turn from the far right
lane - with a police car directly behind us - AND we were not pulled over.
No one can be that lucky - and yes, we are driving through Vegas for one
night on the way home.
The Raven Golf Club is beautiful! You are greeted by a bag boy,
enthusiastically welcomed, your bags are placed on a (mandatory) cart and
you are asked by 37 different young, attractive people (player assistants)
if there is anything they get for you, do for you, etc. Your name is on the
cart and also installed on the cart (besides your engraved bag tags!) is a
GPS system! It was so cool! Every day they re-program the GPS system
according to the pin placements. You drive up to your ball and - voila - you
can see how far you were from the pin, how far you hit your drive, the time
and read tips from the pro on how to play the hole. Hungry? Just punch in
your sandwich order to the restaurant and your lunch is ready on the turn!
Soon, the systems will make it possible to check your email!
My driver, driving
The Raven
We played with the Gonzales family from Denver. DT shot well
and I had a fabulous front nine... but I was dragging on the back nine. It
was about 80 degrees in Phoenix today - perfect golfing weather. We had a
drink with our playing partners after the round and enjoyed the beautiful
clubhouse patio while our clubs were cleaned. Wouldn't it be nice to belong
to a fancy country club? Oh, wait, we do! Hmmm... The Raven is a beautiful
course and if you ever are in Phoenix, give it a go!
Our next "first" (after the friendly policeman and the golf GPS) was driving
through a "touchless" car wash. The BC2 as looking a little ragged after her
trip down the Apache Trail, so we pulled into a car wash. There is no
attendant, but a friendly, talking machine. At first, I thought it was like
a drive-through fast-food speaker and someone was actually interacting with
us, but it was just a talking box. The box asked for money, we complied and
then you just follow the instructions that light up as you enter the car
wash. But you do not drive through the car wash, you park in the car wash
and the car wash equipment moves back and forth past your car several times,
spraying soap and then squirting water. Then, on cue, you drive forward to
enter the "drying vortex" (I'm not making this up) and your car is
blow-dried. As we exited the car wash, we broke into hysterical laughter as
our car was completely FILTHY and we had just paid $5 for an amusement park
ride. It was "touchless" all right! There is no attendant - no one to
complain to - no way to get your money back. What a racket! So now we are
looking for a "touching" car wash. We should have known, right?