Golfest Scottsdale - Part I

I arrived in Scottsdale tonight from Burbank - the traffic out of Thousand Oaks to Burbank Airport was just B R U T A L!!!

It took me almost 90 minutes to go 35 miles!!! I was listening to XM #222 for the LA traffic reports, and they indicated that the 101 was averaging 24 miles per hour, so I jumped off at Valley Circle Blvd, and tried to jet up to the 118. Even the surface streets were packed and slow!

Finally got up to the 118 and DeSoto an hour after I left work, and made it to BUR in 30 minutes. Valet'd the car, and the Golf Tiki was smiling on me - there was NO ONE in line at America West...(sorry, I just cannot accept that they merged with US Airways...I'm STILL bummed about that...I used to really LIKE America West Airlines - at least I still have my Frontier Airlines - if we could get Frontier to fly out of BUR, life would be complete!)

Got my gear checked in without difficulty - I pressed my ValSurf bodyboard bag into use as an equipment bag, and it worked FLAWLESSLY!!! It held all my signage materials from HalfPriceBanners.com, PVC framework parts, my 9' putting green, and half a dozen putters and my attack wedge with the TartanGolfGrips.com "Artan" design grips on 'em.

The flight was about 3/4 full, and I had seat 22A, the last row in the back. True to form, US Airways DOES NOT board from the front and rear of the plane like everyone else does at Burbank Airport (Bob Hope Airport), so there was a big logjam in the middle aisle (shades of the 101 freeway)...

Again, the Golf Tiki was smiling on me, and I had the ENTIRE ROW TO MYSELF!!! HUGELY comfy - I stretched out across the other two seats, whipped out my Wall Street Journal, and enjoyed an ice-cold Diet Coke. (What??? No PEANUTS or SUN CHIPS, US Airways??? America WEST used to at least give you some munchies in flight...I am SO bummed at that merger...)

My bags were amongst the last to be unloaded in Phoenix, and I trundled off to the rental car shuttle bus station...

The rental car depot is off-site in Phoenix - WAAAY off-site...we musta drove for 15 minutes to get to the rental car depot, which is about as big as a major metropolitan shopping mall, and is lit up like a Christmas tree - it's HUGE!!!

Alamo got my rental car biz this trip, and they let you pick out your own car from a different section after you've checked in - I'm going on the cheap this trip, so I asked for an "Economy" car - when I got down to the Compact/Economy section, there was this zippy little white Chevy number with a gaudy little rear deck spoiler that I snagged...

Drove the 20+ miles to Scottsdale, and pulled into the Wingate Inn - SCHWEET place...it's a "Built for Business" hotel right across the street from JDA Software, located amongst an office park/shopping/retail district...because their business is predominantly business, their weekend rates were a STEAL for the quality of the room!!! AWESOME - and free wireless or wired high-speed internet access, too!!! Like I said - SCHWEEET!!! =) (You know the type of hotel rooms where the bathrooms have granite countertops and the shower has matching granite walls, and the place smells really GOOD from the expensive European botanical body wash and lotion products - and the bed is really comfy and overstuffed with about eight pillows??? THAT'S what we're talkin' this weekend, folks!!!

I got checked in, and went down to get my gear - decided to go grab a quick bite to eat at a Carls Jr. that I passed by on the way to the hotel. Well, the LIGHTS were on, but no one was home...the place was lit up like the Phoenix rental car city, but no one was inside...

Undaunted, I headed down the street to the Islands Restaurant (Go ahead, click on that link to Islands if you want to see one of the most IRRITATING splashpages - make sure the sound is down), that was ALSO lit up like the Phoenix rental car city - these people faked me out SO badly - I even parked the car and hit the door handle - ONLY TO FIND IT LOCKED!!! At 10:30 on a freakin' FRIDAY night??? GEEZ!!!!

What's UP with this place??? It's a happenin' Friday night in Scottsdale, and the sidewalks are rolled up!!! (***Note to self: Check to see if there are any publicly traded AZ power companies - these people leave ALL the lights on, all night long...between the lights being on all night, and the A/C's being on all day...the AZ power co's must be makin' BANK!!!)

Disappointed (and HUNGRY), I headed back to the Wingate Inn - whaddya know - they have a convenience store behind the front desk - and the prices are REASONABLE!!! (The Golf Tiki is doing well tonight...) I paid $4.50 for a Pepperoni Pizza Lean Pocket (individually wrapped - never seen one of THOSE before...), 12 oz. Diet Coke, and a Grandma's Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookie two-pack....SCHWEET!!!!

Took it on up to my room, and nuked 'er up in the in-room microwave (you know, the one sitting on top of the small black REFRIGERATOR) and chowed down...

Moved my fragile stuff from the suitcase to the bodyboard/putter gear bag, and sat down to capture the night's activities for you here...

It's gettin' kinda late, and I've got to get an early start in the morning to get my booth set up, so I'm gonna sign off for now, and go get my beauty sleep....

Wish me luck at tomorrow's Golfweek Golfest! More later...