We had time this morning to do some more chores around Newman before our tee time today. The workers next door woke me up bright and early before 8am, but it gave us a great head start on the day, so it was ok to be up early.
To get things going this morning, I decided I would cook up a pound of bacon outside on the gas cooktop, in our outdoor kitchen. There is nothing worse than cooking bacon inside Newman and then having the smell of the bacon linger for days! So its really nice we have this cooktop outside.
And the smell of bacon cooking outdoors, is delicious first thing in the morning!
While Richard stripped our bed and duvet cover and walked down to the laundromat on our street, I started using our new ‘egg bite’ cooking device to prepare us a hearty breakfast. I also went and picked another pink grapefruit for our breakfast. They are so delicious! I want a pink grapefruit tree in my yard too!
I decided to make egg bites for breakfast, but I also made about 8 extra egg bites for the road trip coming up. They will be great for Richard when he is driving, to give him a pop of protein. to fill him up. I added cheese, bacon and some red peppers to the eggs, and they certainly were tasty! The best egg bites are the ones that Starbucks makes and they add gruyere cheese, bacon and cream cheese. YUMMY! I often would get the egg bites at an airport when I was travelling on business. Such a delicious, filling breakfast, and easy to digest!
Since we have a small washer/dryer in Newman, and we are parked in Motorcoach Country Club for 5 nights, its great to be able to go to the laundromat and do big loads in their big machines. We’ve now got our Christmas flannel sheets on our bed until Christmas!
Here’s hoping we don’t see any snow along our journey to Florida!
On our way to golf today though, we did see snow! Its unbelievable that on Sunday when we came to Palm Springs there was no snow on the mountains surrounding the Coachella Valley, and today there was snow on those mountain tops!
That is definitely snow on the top of that mountain in Palm Springs!
We were exiting on Bob Hope Drive today and you can definitely see the snow on the mountains in the distance! Don’t kid yourself about Palm Springs, it gets very cold here in the desert!
Entering the hallowed grounds of Mission Hills! Richard had to call the pro shop this morning because our Clubcorp confirmation of our tee time, didn’t have the address for the golf course on it. Since there is the: Mission Hills Country Club, The Westin Mission Hills Pete Dye Course, Mission Hills North, Gary Player Signature Course, Mission Hills of Hayward Golf course….you get the drift…there are a lot of Mission Hills Golf courses and they also have ‘nick names‘. For example the Pete Dye course is the ’Dinah Shore’ course and the Mission Hills Country Club course is actually the Arnold Palmer course, which is what we were supposed to be playing today.
What a beautiful welcoming stand of palm trees in the entrance to Mission HIlls.
Mission Hills entrance.
I went to the pro shop to pay for our golf. As a Signature Golf Clubcorp Member I have access to be able to book Clubcorp courses all over the USA. There is a new twist though to Clubcorp, where they now have courses where they charge the member ‘an up charge’ as well as the cart fee. In the past Clubcorp would only charge a cart fee, as well as free club rentals. I guess some things that were too good to be true had to change!
Dinah Shore beside Poppie’s pond. Mission Hills Country Club has been synonymous with women’s golf for half a century, from hosting the inaugural Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle in 1972 to the past 39 years of major-championship golf in the Palm Springs area. Starting next April, the ANA inspiration, which was a major tournament for the women on the LPGA tour, will become the Chevron Championship. In 2023, the Chevron will also have a new venue, likely in Houston. One tradition that is likely over though, is the annual victory leap into Poppie’s Pond, which began in 1988 with Amy Alcott’s historic splash. The ‘Dinah Shore’ major as it has been known, will be played next spring at Mission Hills and will have a $5million purse, the largest on the LPGA tour. There will likely be one last leap into Poppie’s Pond too. Dinah Shore was such a big supporter of women’s golf. Dinah would be the one smiling next to the 18th green of the Pete Dye course, and she would also present the trophy to the winner of the major tournament.
Wall of champions at Mission Hills, for the LPGA major winners at this course.
The 18th green at Mission Hills. Most LPGA players will go for this par 5 in 2 shots and if they are lucky enough, set up for an eagle putt to close out their round.
Such a fitting tribute to the First Lady of Golf - Dinah Shore, who was also inducted into the world Golf Hall of Fame in 1998. The home she had built in Palm Springs in 1963, is now owned by Leonardo DiCaprio!
We found out that Clubcorp no longer has the Pete Dye course as one of the courses that Clubcorp members can play, so it was great that the last time we were in Palm Springs we got to play the Pete Dye/Dinah Shore course. That 18th hole was a brute too!
We actually had time to hit some balls today before our 12:15 pm tee time.
Somebody was done hitting balls before me today, for a change!
I hadn’t seen this Wall of Champions before at Mission Hills. Despite now being sponsoring by ANA Inspiration, the tournament is still referred to as The Dinah Shore’.
There definitely were some stunning holes on this golf course today! We were paired up with a couple from Washington State, who were visiting Palm Springs on vacation. They were also Clubcorp members, and were a treat to play with.
If you look very, very closely there is an old guy sitting on a bench in the backyard. I think the old guy is supposed to be Bob Hope, looking out over the 10th green!
More sculptures in the backyard of the home on the 11th tee.
Look at that par 3. No bail out area to be found!
Such a stunning golf hole! #18 on the Arnold Palmer course at Mission HIlls today! A par 5.
The course was playing long and tough today, but it still was a treat to play. I was still able to break 90, despite the very long course conditions. Even with great drives, on some of the par 4’s I will still coming into the green from 175 yards! YIKES!!! That’s longer, than long!
Look how beautiful this bush is! These are everywhere in Palm Springs and its such a treat to see beautiful flowers again after seeing nothing but rain forests on Vancouver Island and all down the West Coast!
After golf we needed to stock up on more food for our trip to Florida. We debated on doing our shopping today, or tomorrow, and since our round of golf only took 3 hours and 45 minutes, we decided there was no time like the present. We punched in Trader Joes in La Quinta, into our GPS and headed straight there after golf.
Stunning scenery on our drive from Mission Hills, to Trader Joes.
Isn’t that such a pretty sky?
I wonder what I should buy? Maybe some treats?
It was far too cold at +7C to sit outside this evening to enjoy this lovely outdoor sitting area at our RV site. It’s actually warmer in Fort Erie right now at +12C, which is not a good thing since there are high wind warnings again for tomorrow off the Lake.
Richard has the BBQ lit, and is enjoying a glass of wine while he BBQ’s.
Searing the tri-tip roast while the fingerling potatoes and root vegetables cook on the upper rack in aluminum foil.
Since Richard was busy outside with the BBQ, I decided to make a little treat!
Trader Joes certainly is the best!
Delicious, now I just need to ice them.
While the meat and veggies were on the BBQ, I also made a homemade chimichurri sauce. Garlic, red wine vinegar, parsley, cilantro and olive oil with a touch of Dougies own maple syrup. YUM YUM! So fresh and tasty on the tri-tip roast!
Tri-tip roast, with chimichurri sauce, fingerling potatoes and roasted parsnips/carrots. MMMM good! What a treat to have such a delicious meal after golf today! I did have a work out today as well before golf, so I may indulge in a cinnamon bun for dessert!
Richard certainly cooked the Tri-tip to perfection! We’re so glad our neighbour Bob in Florida introduced us to Tri-Tip. Tri-Tip is such a California cut of beef, and is so delicious! If you were traveling to California in the 1950’s the California cut of beef that was so popular was the Tri-Tip steak. This cut of meat quickly became associated with California because of the boom that it experienced within the state. Bob Shultz who was a butcher and meat manager at a local Safeway decided to capitalize on this flavorful and lean cut of meat. The tri-tip is a triangular cut, that when cooked properly is considered to be super tender and delicious. This cut of meat, may also go by the name of Santa Maria Steak, and is pulled from the underside of the sirloin section that is cut out from the cow. The tri-tip has an excellent level of marbling and makes a great grilling meat. It is also a lot less expensive than a rib-eye. Butchers didn’t initially know what to do the with tri-tip steak. Cutting the tri-tip out was initially a difficult task, as it was thought to be in a complex area of the cow. Add to that the fact that the tri-tip was primarily used to make hamburger meat or cut up into chunks to sell as stewing meat. It wasn’t until Shultz thought to utilize it in a different way that the tri-tip received the second wind that it deserved. It also wasn’t populate prior to the 1950’s, as it took up too much space in the display case. If you’ve never had a tri-tip roast, go to your local butcher and ask them to carve one up for you! Or visit your local Trader Joe’s and you can find one already marinated in a package! What a treat to have such a fine cut of meat for our dinner this evening and Richard didn’t over cook it! It was perfect!
Tomorrow will be a bit of a whirlwind for us since we have our booster vaccine appointments at Walgreens in Palm Springs at 9am and 9:30am and we have to be at the pharmacy 15 minutes before the first appointment. The pharmacy is about 35 minutes away from our RV park, and then we have to be back to move Newman to our new Platinum RV site tomorrow, before 11am. We will definitely be on a tight timeline tomorrow and let’s hope there are no bad reactions to our 3rd vaccine doses tomorrow, because we’ve got an afternoon tee time as well!
Its been such a treat to stay in Palm Springs. We would have preferred no rain yesterday, but regardless, its been nice to be in one place for longer than a few days. We’ve enjoyed some relaxing time here, great food, good shopping and very enjoyable golf. We’re really looking forward to getting our shots tomorrow too and then heading to Tucson, for some more golf, before we make our mad dash to Florida for Christmas! The fridge and freezer are now fully stocked and I think we’ve got enough food to get us all the way to Florida…and then some!
Comments