Waterpolo And Golf In Sunny Arizona

The Beauty of Arizona

Another Waterpolo tournament was on the horizon, and this time it was to be at Arizona State University in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix in April of 2011.  Our daughter Gillian would be playing for the San Francisco Olympic Club  in a two day men and women’s masters tournament and we decided that it would be a great time to fly out to Arizona to cheer on the team and stay a few more days to enjoy some spring time golf in the desert. Once again I went on line to Homeexchange.com to look for a place to stay. Little did we know in October when we decided upon this weekend to travel to Arizona that Sacramento would have experienced the coldest, wettest March in a long time, and that we would be very ready for some Arizona sunshine.

 After sending out several of my standard email requests for exchanges in the Phoenix area I received two replies from homeowners in the area who were both interested in an exchange, one for our Costa Rica condo and one for the Lake Tahoe cabin.  Both homes looked lovely, with one even offering to include the use of his car during the exchange.  It was a difficult decision to make, but we settled on Liz's golf course home because of the location on the highly regarded Troon North Golf Courses.

Troon North Golf Course

Hi Shelley -
We really love your Tahoe place and location for a week for a summer vacation.  My family lives in Sacramento so we could visit them too.I know you have options. Our Scottsdale home is still open for April that week before and after your daughter's waterpolo weekend at ASU. There is also a nice resident golf discount of about 25-35% off the regular high season price.  Troon has 2 golf courses, Pinnacle and Monument and both are two of the best in Scottsdale. All of our guests that come back come for the warmth primarily and for the golf secondarily.


Cheers,
Liz

Liz's Lovely Home In Scottsdale

After several emails back and forth to learn more about Liz’s home and for her to learn more about our location in Tahoe the exchange was finalized. Liz sent us four pages of information about places to shop, eat, and most importantly where to golf in the North Scottsdale area, and I did the same regarding our Tahoe home. Providing this type of information makes for an enjoyable stay and is always helpful when arriving at an unknown destination.

On April 1st after a long, rainy March, Mark and I happily loaded up our Beechcraft Travel Air with our golf clubs and flew out to Arizona. It was a beautiful flight down the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and over the mountains into the Antelope Valley of southern California where the vivid display of wild flowers could be seen even from 9,000 feet in the air.

Flying Over The Wild Flowers In The Antelope Valley

Flying Past Big Bear Mountain

Flying into the Palm Springs area where we were headed to make a fuel stop and grab some lunch, we flew through the still snow covered mountains of Big Bear and down into the Coachella Valley, where the temperature was now 100 degrees! We quickly shed some clothing, headed for a quick lunch, and then were back in the air for our one and half hour flight to Scottsdale.

Flying Into The Phoenix Metropolis (the airport's out there somewhere!)

Flying into Phoenix after flying for over an hour across the barren California and Arizona deserts is always a surprise. The urban sprawl seems to go on for ever when viewed from the air, but with the use of Marks new navigational equipment he had recently purchased for the plane we were able to locate the Scottsdale Airport quite easily.

After picking up our rental car which was brought out to our plane, we drove ten minutes to the local grocery store Liz had suggested we use, stocked up on our supplies, and within a few miles arrived at Troon North Golf Club where our new home was located. The home was located in a gated community with a gate coded entrance. Liz had provided the code for the gate, and the key to the front door was in a lock box to which we also had the code. We have found that many exchangers who also rent their homes have a lock box on their doors where the renters or exchangers are able to get the key easily without having to mail the keys back and forth. This is something I am considering doing at Tahoe as well.

Our Patio View

The home proved to be lovely and well taken care of, though we wished that the patio and upstairs decks were larger from which to enjoy the beautiful weather and views of the mountains and cactus. We had been spoiled with our stay in Palm Springs several months earlier with the large beautiful patio, pool and spa. Another lesson learned - ask about the size of the patio and try to have a pool at the home if it is in the desert. The community pool located down the street was fine, but sitting around your own pool just can’t be beat!

The following day was the beginning of the waterpolo tournament at ASU, with Saturday hitting a high temperature of 100 degrees on the pool deck. We really didn’t mind the heat though, as we were just so happy to be out of the cold and rain of northern California. It proved to a great tournament for Gillian and the Olympic Club, who finished in first place after two days of play, and the Morgan waterpolo groupies loved every minute of it.

Love These Waterpolo Games!

The Olympic Club Champions!

After spending a few hours with Gillian on Sunday before she flew back to San Francisco we headed back to our golf course home in Scottsdale for the rest of the week.

The Golfers Enjoying Sunny Arizona

Golf was now on the agenda and we were able to receive the homeowner’s golf discount on both courses of Troon North, which is another added benefit of home exchanges. The first day of play we ran into a celebrity charity golf tournament on the Monument Course sponsored by the old rocker, Alice Cooper, who without all of his makeup on now just looks like an old guy with a long black ponytail! A good golfer though. After making our way around the tournament we had a lovely day of golf on Monday, and on Wednesday played the other course, Pinnacle. The desert cactus and boulders made for spectacular scenery, which is one of the reasons I enjoy the game of golf. In between golf games we explored the towns of Cave Creek, the old west town created during the Arizona gold rush, and Carefree, which was a planned community started in the 1960‘s, both of which are built up against the jagged Arizona mountains.

Even though one of the benefits of home exchanges is having a fully equipped kitchen, we find that except for breakfasts, which we always have at the house, for most of the other meals we like finding new restaurants to try out and enjoy. Unfortunately in Scottsdale it took us a few days to find some places we were impressed with.

Cactus Growing Out Of The Roof Of Barbecue Daves

Tonto's Bar and Grill

The little barbecue joint, Barbecue Dave’s, in the cowboy town of Cave Creek had some wonder barbecued pulled pork sandwiches, and along with the baked beans made for an amazing, inexpensive lunch which rivaled the barbecue we had had in South Carolina. Our favorite dinner place had to be the last night we were in Arizona at Tonto’s Bar and Grill, also located in Cave Rock on the beautiful old golf course of Rancho Manana. Now this is what an Arizona western style restaurant should be. Elegant, yet rustic and warm with spectacular food. We just needed Tonto, Trigger, and Roy to help us believe we were back in the old west. If you are ever in the area this is a must place to visit.

After the week in Northern Scottsdale we had planned to fly further north to the beautiful town of Sedona, and then on up to the Grand Canyon. We had scheduled a jeep tour of the famous Sedona red rocks and Indian cave dwellings followed the next day by a helicopter ride inside and around the Grand Canyon. However the weather would not cooperate, with thunderstorms and snow showers predicted for Sedona and The Grand Canyon the days we planned on being there. We decided that we had better head back to California on Friday before the weather became a factor and took off for Palm Springs. Again, the weather decided not to cooperate with us, with fast moving clouds developing after we departed Scottsdale with freezing levels becoming a problem.

Flying Through The Clouds Leaving Arizona

 We dodged and weaved, got bounced around quite a bit, but land safely eventually in Palm Springs, where we were planning on stopping for fuel and a quick lunch before heading back to Sacramento. However the clouds which were supposed to be in Arizona were now instead coming over the mountains towards Palm Springs with the freezing level dropping quickly. Hail and snow was predicted, but the wind was blowing fiercely and we thought the storm clouds would quickly blow through. We were mistaken. After waiting five hours in the very lovely Atlantic Aviation terminal in Palm Springs we decided that we would have to spend the night in the Palm Springs area and hoped that we would be able to leave the following morning.

The Desert Hot Springs Resort - A Trip Back To The 60's!

The Desert Springs Resort and Spa, located about 15 miles from the airport was the only spot around with an available room. Welcome back to the 1960’s! At one time this place must have been quite the place to stay with its’ large swimming pool, several large outdoor spas, massage rooms, and saunas, but it has certainly seen better days. I felt like I had stepped back in time, and it was quite an abrupt change from where we had been staying for the last week. Saturday morning we quickly got back to the airport and were able to take off, happily finally landing in Sacramento three hours later. Home at last!