2015 US Open Round 1

The US Open comes to the Pacific Northwest!  Chambers Bay Golf Course in Tacoma.

The day was overcast, dry with some light wind at the end of the day.

The best part of the day was spending the entire day with Dad!  Happy early Father's Day, Dad.

Right off the bat within the first half hour we were just off the tee at 18 and watching Rory McIlroy (bright green shirt) walk by.

Walking around, we strolled up the hill to walk along the holes that border the water

Here's the 17th green with a freight train running along side.  There isn't any chance of hitting the ball into the water, but the trains are a cool distraction.

This picture isn't about the crowds...it's the fact that I usually don't notice race, but the crowd was unbelievable Caucasian.  Noticeably so.

This is looking across the course.  As you can see, the course has no trees....most of the holes kind of look the same, with big bunkers.

So Dad and I planted ourselves along the second green for a couple hours.  It's hard to tell the difference between the greens and the fairway.

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen

After Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose came through, the crowd swelled for Tiger.  Of all the players we say come through, only Tiger hit it into this front bunker.

Alas, it wasn't a great day for Tiger.  He made a bogey on number 2 to go +2 for the round on his way to an 80, the highest score in the US Open he has ever shot.  I was there and witnessed part of it.

Lots of cameras followed the big players.  I have to admit though, that the course was not friendly to spectators.  There are very few places where you can get a good view.  The monitors ask you to step off of mounds (bad footing and dry slippery grass) so you can't see much and it's hard to get perspective.

The lone tree on the entire course.  Behind the 16th tee.

Looking down the 11th fairway.

Jordan Spieth teeing off on hole 11.

Dad and I also spent some time here in the grandstand above hole 1.  From here we were able to stand up and look behind to see the action on 11, but also watch the action on hole 1 below and hole 18.  Those are the hospitality tents of the Rainier Village group behind the bunker.

Dad, illegally taking photos, got a picture of me watching the action above hole 1 and the 18th green and grandstand in the background.

Ahhh, something you wouldn't have found at the US Open a decade ago.

We were at the Open because my Dad's financial adviser gave him tickets.  The tickets allowed us access to one of the hospitality tents!

Chambers Bay was a former rock quarry and so some of the remnants of the quarry structures still are standing.

Dad and I took advantage of the tent.  We ate free lunch and dinner.

It was kind of amazing to be watching the action on television and knowing that it was happening live right outside our tent.  I also learned that what happens on television is delayed about five seconds.

Last stop....the merchandise tent.  Dad went crazy, in particular purchasing something for his new grandson!  This shirt can't be worn until the kid is around 5, but we bought it anyway.

The rest of the loot.

The summer days are long here in the Pacific Northwest, this is the light as we were leaving around 745PM as the last golfers were finishing their first round.  It was such a fun day.

What NOT to do with a baby

June 16th, 2015 is the day my sister gave birth to my nephew!  Congrats to Marlene to the new addition family.  So not being fully experienced with how to handle babies, here's a picture list of what I know NOT to do.

Whales and Lobsters

On our last day on the peninsula, we decided to forgo going into the Hoh Rain Forest, instead to go whalewatching.  Tradeoffs.  This is Port Angeles from the water as we sailed into the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

We borrowed some binoculars, but they weren't really needed.

As we were leaving port going west, we saw a humpback whale.  The thing to look for is the blowhole and the water coming out of the hole.

This picture was taken off the company website blog.  Island Adventures Whale Watching

Then we sailed west for an hour to follow a pod of orca whales.  They were all around us.  It was great.

They were so close and it turns out that you don't have to be quiet as the whales will just swim wherever...sometimes right up to the boat.  One time, it surprised us and came right behind the boat within 20 feet.

The highlight was seeing a mother orca and her recently born baby orca. 

One of my favorite parts of living in the Pacific Northwest...the ferry system.

So here are some funny stories about Onions on this trip.  One of the first was the morning we were eating breakfast at the hotel.  He asks me to make waffles with the waffle maker.  But the picture showing the waffles has butter and syrup.  He asks me why I didn't put ice cream on it, thinking the butter in the picture is ice cream.  Then he went up looking for the maple syrup, but when he came back he had actually put more raw batter on the waffles!  He didn't know what maple syrup was.  Then we were walking along Port Angeles he saw something called "Pink Up" which I explained was the movement where pink ribbons being worn symbolizes support for cancer awareness and support.  Then the next day, we were out hiking out to Cape Alava and he saw one of the trees along the trail had a pink ribbon on it and he asked me why the trees were associated with cancer.  Hahahah.  We were at the hotel watching television and he saw an advertisement for the restaurant chain "Red Lobster" and was entranced by what he saw.  Turns out lobster is incredibly expensive in China.  So on our way home from the Edmonds ferry, we headed over to Lynnwood to the restaurant. 

RED LOBSTER!!!!!

Lobster happiness.

A couple funny things happened there.  We got seats at the bar and he got carded.  So he had to go get his passport.  He thought he was being singled out because he was Chinese.  Then second, he was wondering why he got TWO forks, not understanding that there is a salad fork and a dinner fork.  I love seeing America through his eyes.