For now I’m still straying off the reservation -as the local colloquialism goes.

I was lying on a small bank near the 14th tee box at Pacific Dunes, arms outstretched, staring at the atypically (for this part of the world anyway) clear sky.

“I’m going to move here and spend the rest of my life meditating,”  I muttered.

“Well, you do have options.”

Niko’s voice interrupted my daydream. It was another way of saying, “Get up! Now! You’re up.”

 

“Expedition” partners, Chris Derrick (l) and Niko Hadden. Somewhere on Bandon Dunes…

 

“Yes,” I acknowledged, “my joints aching slightly as I rose to my feet. “I do have options.”  I teed it up and swung away.

I can’t remember what kind of shot it was.  The strong ocean breeze, crashing waves and “post card views everywhere you look” remain permanently etched in my memory. But I really don’t recall where the ball went.

The photographer alleges this is me in the rough at Bandon Dunes. It is true the individual in the picture bears a strong physical resemblance and is wearing clothing similar to what I had on that day. However I personally think the claim has as much credibility as one of those Bigfoot photos so common in the Northwest. Anyone who has ever played with me knows I RARELY stray from the short grass…OK, that was me. Photo by Chris Derrick.

 

I have to include at least one image from Jimmy Country. That’s Hoskininni Begay (l) and Wolfkiller during their journey to the Great Waters. The trek was made in the tradition of the ancestors for the purpose of collecting shells. Although it appears they were dressed appropriately for the Oregon coast, the photo was actually taken in Santa Barbara in 1924 by Louisa Wetherill. Courtesy of John and Louisa Wetherill Collection.

 

After several rounds of golf my friends went home. My parents came for a short visit, then left too.

“They spent two nights in the driveway,” Barbara told one of her friends on the phone the following day.

“Quit making it sound so harsh!” I quipped.  “The driveway is flat enough and they had good sleeping bags!”

Actually they slept in their fifth wheeler that was every bit as comfortable as the house we were staying in -maybe more.

For the next few days it was just Barbara and I. Nothing to do but sleep in, read, go for long walks on one of the most spectacular shore lines in the world, shower, meditate, drink, eat, read some more, then go to bed.

Thanks to the miracles of modern technology I was actually able to get some work done too.

View from “the other office” in Bandon, Oregon. As can be seen here the working conditions were rather harsh but I somehow managed to get a lot done.

It’s nice to have options.

For a couple who had just spent most of the summer in Arizona, Bandon in late September was a refreshing change. But on the tenth and last day of our trip I began tiring of the cool, windy and damp weather.

(If you think I’m exaggerating about the “windy” part check out the video below.)

I decided to exercise one of my many options and head back to the desert.

I promise the next several posts will be about Jimmy Country.