Off to Wisconsin, Day 1

Well, morning started off uneventful in Dallas. Woke up, didn't have trouble getting Tony up (THANK YOU TONY, FOR TAKING ME AND TOM TO THE AIRPORT), picked up Tom and headed to the airport. Who knew that curbside checkin wasn't open at 5 am. So, pulled up top -- Pete was sitting outside waiting for us. Checked in (who knew that at 5 am only one person would be working the desk).

Got on plane, took off. I have a Kindle, Touch, Camera, Phone and Netbook. Opted to continue watching the first season of LOST (yes, I'm behind the times).

Landed, got bags (first off), picked up the minivan and headed to the Harley Davidson Museum to check it out and get Tony a tshirt. Museum was pretty cool. Very "motorcycle architecture" and awesome interactive displays. Pete keeps talking about how starving he is, so we get out of there and head to Erin Hills (http://www.erinhills.com/ ). Their website said not to go by GPS. So, with our redundant system, I have hard copy driving directions printouts to accompany the Garmin. It's definitely in the middle of nowhere and we keep wondering where the PGA Tour players will stay when the US Open is there in 2017 (Tiger may want to stay at Holy Hill, http://www.holyhill.com -- Holy Hill is located in southeast Wisconsin, on the highest elevation in that part of the state. According to their website, it "provides the visitor with the opportunity for spiritual enrichment." And, if we had time, we probably would have gone and visited it, because it's pretty impressive.

Doing pretty good directionwise until right at the end. Find another course, ask two guys -- they say that we're a long way away and send us back where we came. Don't know what their long way away was, but pulled the printed directions out and we were only a couple of miles off [note to people going to Erin Hills -- it's not well marked yet, but they are doing a lot of construction, probably in preparation for the US Open in 2017]. Pull up, unload the car, reload the car. Go find Ben, the man who has been so helpful on this trip. He looks just like you'd think Ben would look like (btw, they take American Express, a theme on this trip when you read posts to follow).

Lunch is pretty nice outside on the patio at Erin Hills (think Dave is going to beer and brats his way through Wisconsin). Their beer-battered fries were pretty darn tasty.

Their driving/practice facility is washed out after lots of rain these last couple of weeks. So, with a couple of putts, off we go with our caddies Ben (from Pittsburgh PA) and Randy (from Frederick MD).

Here's the kicker on the caddies: Ben has been laden with my bag and Pete's TOUR BAG. Ben's a big guy, but Pete's bag must weigh 70 pounds. Poor Ben. We said Poor, Poor, Poor Ben a whole lot more when we realized how many hills we would go up (why does it seem you never go down a hill, only up?)

Erin Hills is gorgeous. The clubhouse is a rustic-looking building with a locker room downstairs. Looks old, but is probably pretty new (but I'll have to check that). The course has a lot of gorse on either side of the fairway. Not much water. In the wind, which we didn't have, it will definitely be more challenging than it was the day we played it.

After our round, another couple of rounds of drinks. We contemplated dinner, since it was a pretty good lunch. But, decided to get on the road and head to Pete's in Hancock. Ice cream time anyway. Not far down the road, we encountered quickly on the left a custard place. Brats and custard will fill us up for dinner and the rest of the way. Garmin took us the "scenic" route, seeming to take a turn every few miles until we got on 39. But, we get to Pete's Mom's House. Kinda dark, and we're kinda tired, so we pretty much crash. Time to start Day 2.

REMINDER: I am not a graphic designer. I am not a web developer. Therefore, there is nothing aesthetically pleasing about this blog. I upload pictures and where they show up, they show up. You can figure out what picture goes with what story.