This Gallery of Photos is in reverse chronology (most recent is first). So, scroll down and start at the bottom if you want to view in chronological order.
One last opportunity to highlight those calves of steel (aka Cornish game hens)
Adam Edgerly presented this very cool golf-themed award honoring the 50in50in50 expedition.
And Avis and Jeff presented this one-of-a-kind HUGE water jug, so I can always have easy access to clean water!
I’m honored to have made the “Wall of Fame” at Water 1st Headquarters in Seattle!
10.12 Doing this for other folks like Porfiiria and Mercedes, who I met in Honduras and whose lives (and the lives of the family and community) have forever changed because the have easy access to water.
Thanks to 50in50in50, the Water 1st message has spread from coast to coast thanks to my Maine friends Sarah and Bobby!
10.12 The post-round reception became an opportunity for a reunion of State Parks seniors. (Marsha, Jeff and Josan)
10.12 At a reception at nearby Community Covenant Church, question and answer time with about 80 friends and family.
10.12 At a reception at nearby Community Covenant Church, with Adam (Project Blue, Covenant World Relief & Development) and Avis & Jeff (Water 1st International), the two terrific charities that benefit by the fundraising.
10.12 Nice gathering of friends near the 18th hole, hosted by Al Vallecorsa, Director of Golf at the Singing Hills Golf Resort at Sycuan, who gave a generous donation to Water 1st International! They celebrated the completion of 50 rounds… not necessarily the quality of my golf (+5 over the last 4 holes!)
10.12 California, Singing Hills, 12th hole on their Willow Glen course.
10.12 California, Singing Hills with the Round #50 fivesome: Dave, Jeff, Peter and Dick.
10.12 With my wife Lydia, after being apart for 57 days! HOORAY!!!
10.12 California, the final round at Singing Hills.
10.12 California, Singing Hills
10.12 Desperately trying to extend my allocated 15 minutes of fame, I get to have one last news interview on the first tee of Singing Hills Golf Resort, compliments of channel 10, San Diego.
10.11 Nevada, Wolf Creek
10.11 Nevada, Wolf Creek, where every tee and green are elevated and danger screams from everywhere!
10.11 After conquering the Narrows in the morning, you’d think we could handle Wolf Creek in the afternoon. We couldn’t.
10.11 Nevada, Wolf Creek. Wow.
10.11 We caught the first shuttle and beat the crowds to enjoy the Narrows, a deep slot canyon of the Virgin River. No twisted ankles, not that my golf later in the day could be much worse!
10.11 Zion National Park, The Narrows. More fun than I can possibly express.
10.11 A little early morning hike to warm up before golf.
10.10 Utah, Sand Hollow
10.10 Utah, Sand Hollow. Good golfers don’t get distracted by spectacular scenes and scary possibilities. I get distracted.
10.10 Sand Hollow, Utah.
10.10 Sand Hollow, Utah. Amazing.
10.10 With Kevin and Jim at Sand Hollow, Utah. Amazing.
10.10 Early morning, enroute to southern Utah
10.9 Arizona… Lake Powell National
10.9 Arizona… Lake Powell National in Page. THAT’S an iron shot that you’re not used to seeing.
10.9 Arizona
10.9 The Audi TTs… Goes FAST, FUN to drive and holds more than you can possibly imagine. (Somewhere in there are TWO bags of golf clubs!)
10.9 Approaching Monument Valley from the north.
10.9 Goosenecks State Park, Utah
10.9 Ahhhh, southern Utah. Where their unnamed backcountry cliffs would be iconic parks just about everywhere else.
10.9 Wild, remote country in southeast Utah. How often do you see free range horses?
10.9 In Cortez, Colorado. One of my top 3 favorite places to stay on the entire expedition.
10.8 LOVE the NPS Admin. buildings at Mesa Verde. (They don’t make them like this anymore!)
10.8 Mesa Verde, a side trip with my new companion, Kevin. Always stunning.
10.8 With Kevin on the road in southwestern Colorado
10.8 Colorado… Pagosa Springs Golf Course. SO glad we didn’t have snow. At 8000 ft elevation, it certainly is possible this time of year.
10.8 More New Mexico. Wow!
10.8 Two pretty darn happy road trippers.
10.8 The layer upon layer of colors, muted by the predawn light, made us feel like we stepped into a painting.
10.8 Early morning drive in northern New Mexico. We were all alone on possibly the perfect road. The Audi was happy (and so was the driver.)
10.7 Taos Country Club, New Mexico
10.7 Classic New Mexico! Taos Country Club’s broad sweeping view of the Taos valley.
10.7 Great afternoon round at Taos Country Club with Rick.
10.7 Driving over the mountains east of Taos, New Mexico. Ahhhhhh, the aspens.
10.7 Approaching the mountains of northern New Mexico from the east, near Angel Fire.
10.7 Just so he could live in my namesake town, Ron was considering taking on a job in retirement. (I think that’s per hour.)
10.7 I felt right at home at CLAYTON, New Mexico!
10.7 Ron was such an easy companion. His ONLY demand was that we have a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit at Whataburger.
10.6 HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY! First Mexican food since at least 5 weeks ago!
10.6 Classic back country road heading across the Texas Panhandle toward New Mexico. Spectacularly beautiful in its own way.
10.6 Texas: The Ross Rogers layout was a very interesting and rolling course.
10.6 Golfing in the Texas Panhandle: Ross Rogers Golf Course. (Those calves look like they’re going to pop!)
10.6 Nice impact with a long iron at Ross Rogers in Amarillo, Texas.
10.6 Ron, my State Parks colleague and driver / partner for Oklahoma through Colorado. He’s having a good time. (Hey, get your eyes back on the road!!!)
10.4 Oklahoma small town
10.5 Oklahoma: Cimarron National
10.5 Site of my amazing shot around tree, over water, rolling it just past the pin at Cimarron National in OK
10.5 Oklahoma with Phil and Brian. Fun round!
10.4 Auburn Hills, Kansas
10.4 Auburn Hills, Kansas (I tried hard, but never found a “hill” at Auburn Hills)
10.4 With Ken (the first of 3 to connect with me because of the UT article) at Auburn Hills in Wichita, KS
10.4 Kansas. Well, we’re back in the great prairieland now!
10.3 Toto! We finally ARE in Kansas now!
10.3 On the road to Kansas
10.3 Buffalo Ridge Springs, Missouri
10.3 Buffalo Ridge Springs, Missouri
10.3 Buffalo Ridge Springs, Missouri
10.3 Buffalo Ridge Springs, Missouri
10.3 My playing partners Gordie and James at Buffalo Ridge Springs. Loved the layout and it showed. I shot an Expedtion-best 75 with my final putt hanging on the edge.
10.2 It says something when the welcoming giant chicken represents a more refined look for Branson.
10.2 More Branson cheeze.
10.2 Branson at its cheeziest.
10.2 The funny thing is that, though high on the “cheezy” scale, the Titanic museum was very very good.
10.2 I’d wondered just how cheezy Branson was going to be. When I turned the corner and saw this, I knew the answer was, “very”.
10.2 Missouri post storm
10.2 Missouri, it cleared up nicely.
10.2 I asked my son to send me a captured image to show what had just passed over me as I traveled west on Highway 160. I was PURPLE! I’m not sure they allow purple back home in California.
10.2 This represents a lighter moment in the apocalyptic downpour. It was a narrow, winding road and I felt fortunate to find a spot I could squeeze into to pull off the road and wait. It was like living in a Monet painting.
10.2 The long drive from Paducah to Branson was smooth sailing until I came over a rise in the Ozarks and saw this ahead.
10.1 Kentucky countryside
10.1 Drake Creek
10.1 Drake Creek
10.1 Kentucky at Drake Creek
9.30 Mirimichi Golf Course in Tennessee
9.30 Mirimichi Golf Course in Tennessee
9.30 Rainy day at Mirimichi Golf Course in Tennessee. Raced to play in 2 hours (trying to finish before a radar-projected deluge hit) and scored perhaps the best round of the expedition (relative to course difficulty).
9.30 DON’T TAKE THIS OFF-RAMP! “It’s not right here.”
9.29 Arkansas, The Ridges at Village Creek
9.29 Arkansas, The Ridges at Village Creek
9.29 Arkansas, The Ridges at Village Creek, a terrific but terrifying layout. (I terrify pretty easily.)
9.28 Creole dinner at the resort after the rains.
9.28 And the rain fell in Louisiana…but Clay kept playing!
9.28 Louisiana, Black Bear Course
9.28 Threatening conditions at Black Bear Resort in Louisiana.
9.27 With Glen at Grand Bear in Mississippi.
9.27 On the road to Mississippi
9.26 Shelley, the cart lady, an Annika Sorenstam look-alike, at Perdido Bay.
9.26: Florida, Perdido Bay Golf
9.26 OH BOY! This is pretty exciting for a city boy on the first tee!
9.26 Pump then c’mon in and pay.
9.26 Cotton in bloom!
9.26 Back roads of the Florida panhandle.
9.26 Back roads of Alabama
9.25 RTJ Trail, Highland Oaks, Alabama
9.25: Alabama: RTJ Trail, Highland Oaks
9.25 Into Alabama
9.25: Georgia to Alabama
9.24 Georgia: Flowery Branch Country Club
9.24 Georgia: Flowery Branch Country Club
9.24 Georgia: Flowery Branch Country Club
9.24 The backroads of Georgia
9.24 The backroads of Georgia
9.23 Reunited with my Precious Pillow!
9.23 South Carolina: My one-day adoption into the Peters family. L to R: Thomas, Bryan, Lizzy (aka Libby), Murphy, Heidi and Maverick’s butt.
9.23 South Carolina: Greenville Country Club, Chanticleer
9.23 South Carolina: Greenville Country Club, Chanticleer
9.23 South Carolina: Greenville Country Club, Chanticleer with Josh, Thomas and Bryan.
9.23 North Carolina, Meadowbrook Golf Course. A cold start to an early morning two-round day.
9.22: North Carolina Boss Hog (and how did Stumpy get his name?)
9.22 North Carolina, the sun comes out!
9.22 Some of the heavy rain as I drove through North Carolina
9.22 North Carolina, The mirror says I’m heading west! Toward Home! Yes!
9.21 Virginia: Birdwood, the lovely and intriguing par 5 10th.
9.21 Virginia: Birdwood, the U. of Virginia’s golf course outside Charlottesville. Spectacular redesign by Davis Love III. Played GREAT until I rolled my ankle. I really want another shot at this.
9.20 Someone “playing through” in West Virginia
9.20 Mt. View at the Woods in West Virginia
9.19 Wonderful Maryland countryside dinner setting with Alison, Larry and the boys.
9.19 Dinner with Alison and her family in Maryland. I love where they live and am hoping they accept my offer to become live-in golf instructor.
9.19 The Monocacy Battlefield
9.19 The Monocacy Battlefield
9.19 Looking for Hobbits.
9.19 Cody and I at the Monocacy Battlefield where the future author of Ben Hur held off superior Confederate forces long enough for reinforcements to protect Washington DC.
9.19 With Jai and Clay Creek Country Club in Delaware
9.19 Clay Creek Country Club in Delaware
9.19 Delaware: Clay Creek Country Club
9.19 My dear friend and now designated “Exalted Hero of the Expedition” by the 50in50in50 Governing Board, Sarah saves my “precious” pillow from the clutches of a motel in Maine.
9.18 A side trip to the Paoli Battlefield (aka the Paoli Massacre) that became a battle cry for the Americans later in the Revolutionary War. (My chapstick didn’t work to ignite the canon….our reenactment was a miserable failure.)
9.18 Fox Hollow, New Jersey
9.18 Fox Hollow, New Jersey (Typical adjacent woodland.)
9.18 Fox Hollow, New Jersey (In the rough off the first tee, I think I stiff the next shot and made birdie….while keeping my head down.)
9.17: AAARghhhhhhh!!!!! Elephant Elbows!
9.17: Richter Park in Connecticut
9.17: Richter Park in Connecticut
9.17: Richter Park in Connecticut
9.17 With Zach Houston at Richter Park Golf Course
9.16 Rhode Island into Connecticut
9.16 Rhode Island
9.16 Rhode Island Crystal Lake ending quite lovely.
9.16 Rhode Island. It started as a nasty, rainy day at Crystal Lake Golf Club
9.15 Massachusetts, George Wright Muni with my older brother Cody now joining me!
9.15 Adding the Atlantic Ocean to my collection of 50in50in50 water bodies. I’ve spanned the continent!
9.15 The gorgeous Ledges course in Maine. My 176 yd tee shot rolled right by the hole, stopped 4 feet past; I missed the putt. ARGGHHH!
9.15 The broad geographic breadth of the 50in50in50 adventure!
9.14 Dinner in Maine with Sarah, former collegue at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
9.14 Dinner outdoors in Maine
9.14 Nippo Lake Golf Club
9.14 Cemetery along side the 10th at Nippo Lake golf club (where the back nine is terrific and the earlier designed front nine is boring)
9.13 Governor’s Inn Rochester, New Hampshire
9.13 Lodging in Rochester, New Hampshire
9.13 Brattleboro Country Club
9.13 Brattleboro Country Club
9.12 My lodging at the Inn at Kampfires. One of my few non-brand lodgings and one of my favorite.
9.12 Driving across upstate New York. Many lovely towns and villages. You won’t see these from the toll road!
9.11 Post-round, celebrating OnCore’s generous donation for easy access to clean water. L to R Bret & Steve (OnCore Co-Founders), George (San Diego Entrpreneur and Veteran advocate) and William (3-Time NASCAR Winner).
9.11 Thanking George and Steve for putting up with me for an entire 18 holes.
9.11 Playing partner George and I trying to figure out the next shot at Glen Oak.
9.11 Getting ready for OnCore’s 9.11 Commemoration Gathering
9.9 Ohio: Jerry and Cheryl, my long-time friends and hosts
9.9 Ohio, Drew and I
9.9 Ohio: Sleepy Hollow
9.9 Ohio, Sleepy Hollow
9.8 Drive across Southern Michigan
9.8 Michigan, Island Hills
9.7 Indiana: Lost Marsh
9.7 Illinois: Harborside International
9.7 South of Chicago with Stan and Gene at Harborside International
9.7 An early morning visit to the home I grew up in. Evergreen Park, IL.. Not the best of homecomings as they called the cops on me!
9.6 The stress filled drive through downtown Chicago
9.6 Wisconsin, University Ridge
9.6 Three doctors ready to attend to any possible collapse of old geezer.
9.6 University Ridge (U. of Wisconsin)
9.5 Now entire rooms get the same treatment as toilet seats in Hotels!
9.5 I’m now an official Midwesterner!
9.5 Driving across Minnesota and Wisconsin
9.4 The Wilds in Prior Lake, MN
9.4 Back roads of Minnesota
9.4 Golf in Minnesota with Nils, Covenant World Relief Partner Liaison and our translator on my trip to Honduras.
9.3 A treelined Minnesota town
9.3 Dakota Wind
9.3 Dakota Wind
9.3 Dakota Wind in the rain.
9.2 Dinner with Dick & Nancy and their son (Brian), daughter-in-law (Maria) and 2 grandsons; highlighting what a temp wimp I am.
9.2 Sioux Falls Namesake: Sioux Falls!
9.2 Whispering Creek
9.1 With Dick Paff (the inspiration for this adventure, see June 1, Post #8) at Elmwood in Sioux Falls SD
9.1 Prairie Club
9.1 Prairie Club
9.1 Entrance to The Prairie Club
8.30 Brilliant marketing gurus we ain’t, but we’re doing what we can.
8.30 This view inspired a holy moment at Devil’s Tower.
8..30 Happy guy #2 after a happy hike during a happy afternoon at Devil’s Tower.
8..30 Happy guy #1 after a happy hike during a happy afternoon at Devil’s Tower.
8.30 Devil’s Tower
8.30 Devil’s Tower
8.30 Devil’s Tower dominates the landscape from many miles away.
8.30 Devil’s Tower dominates the landscape from many miles away.
8.30 Beautiful Powder Horn Golf
8..30 Me and my “caddie” who I unintentionally intimidated so much about moving or making noise that he was frozen to the cart.
8..30 Powder Horn Staff Cameron who was so excited about 50in50in50 that he contacted local media!
8.29 NPS Monument at Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument
8.29 Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument
8.29 Harlowtown, Montana
8.29 Harlowtown, Montana
8.29 Harlowtown, Montana
8.28 Montana with Rex
8.27 With Pat Tucker, a huge supporter of Water 1st International. He found me at Indian Creek in Oregon.
8..27 With our host Jim along with Rex and Shelley.
8.24 Royal Hawaiian!
8.24 Royal hawaiian
8.24 Royal Hawaiian
8.24 Preparing for the first tee shot in Hawaii. I was challenged to wear a grass skirt by a follower so I complied as best I could.
8.22 Vietnamese BBQ Chicken Fried Rice in the finest outdoor dining in town.
8.22 On the rim of Diamond Head.
8.21 My office in Hawaii!
8.18 My trusty steed.
8.18 These are the conditions that most northern Californians and Oregonians have been enduring most of the summer!
Amazing one-of-a-kind gift from my Fresno hosts, Rex and Shelley: A decorated tin representing 50in50in50 adventure, filled with possibly the best cookies on the planet: double dark chocolate from Hungry Bear.
8.17 All the states depicted around the cookie tin, in the order I’m seeing them! This will definitely be on display in my presidential library.
8.17 Rex and Shelley, my adorable hosts in Fresno.
In ramping up to the start of the 50 state adventure, I received some great local news coverage.