Pebble Beach 2007

[glenneaglesfan]

Day 2 sounds pretty cool even with the bad weather. I love the way that he made contact with you all on several occasions, even though he was having a bad day. I'll know not to sing to him if I ever meet him (as if...!!!) Congratulations to you, PLS, for saying how much you enjoyed Rama and ILTW. It sounds really hopeful about the album now. How sweet he was to you, Dreamer, when you got caught up. Sigh...

Nancy, that photo is very cool. Once again I have to say he is a really nice (and handsome) man.

[Brooke]

It's not that bad, Soda! Definitely worth keeping! You both look great!

[sodascouts]

PLS, Dreamer's and soda's Excellent Pebble Beach Adventure 2007 Day 3, Part 1

Here we go...

Time for our last day! We're breaking this into two parts due to time and length considerations.

Due to PLS’ and my experience last year, we went in with expectations low. I told Dreamer we might not even get seen. Boy, was I wrong!

The weather driving up was absolutely wretched. The rain pounded against the van so hard that we were afraid the last day would be rained out. However, when we were only a few miles from Pebble Beach, the sky started to clear. It really was amazing. We went from blinding sheets of rain to seeing sunlight in a matter of minutes.

As we drove up in the new and improved weather, we realized we couldn’t have asked for a better scenario. The rain had kept people away and reduced crowds considerably, but the fact that it had cleared up allowed us to avoid getting wet (at least at that point). Woot!

Pebble Beach is, in my opinion, the loveliest course, and the rain had not diminished its beauty (although it had rendered the scenery soggier). Since the middle holes are far from the crowd on the cliffs and hills, we were lucky to catch up with Glenn when he was at the 3rd hole. At the green he looked over, saw us, and pretended to be surprised. Yeah, I’m sure it was absolutely astonishing to see that his frenzied Frey fans had come back for more! When they moved to the next hole, he came past us and smiled. Dreamer was proudly wearing her “Prelude to Obscurity” tour shirt, with “Glenn Frey 2006” emblazoned in yellow across her chest. He noticed! Dreamer saw where his eyes had landed, laughed, and said “Nice shirt, huh!”

A Clay Moment

Glenn seemed to be in much better spirits, and he was playing better as well. Clay Walker was in a better mood, too, but was still having some trouble at first. On the 6th hole, Clay hit really wide. The ball actually landed on another fairway! We were watching this from the top of the hill, with the fairway at the bottom, and the ball had gone over our heads. Discouraged, Clay trudged up the hill towards us to throw something away (we were by the trash can). When he was near us, we decided to talk to him a little bit. Dreamer was especially guilt-ridden that we had ignored Clay up until that time. We said hello and PLS reminded him of last year when, on that same hole, he had hit a ball so wide that it had almost nailed us. He said in a Texas drawl, “Really? Well, I’m glad I didn’t hit y’all!” PLS also complimented him on his chip shot from last year, which pleased him. He said that he hoped he could hit more shots like that, but it didn’t look like it so far! He thanked us and went after his ball as we moved closer to where Glenn was. I joked that Glenn would no doubt be jealous if he knew we were talking to Clay.

Back to Glenn

The guys were a lot happier on the 7th hole, where both Clay and Glenn did better than the pros. This was the hole that was so memorable from last year – the one that curved around the cliffside and seemed to be almost a ‘Hail Mary’ type drive into the whipping wind. Glenn’s drive landed on the green, as did Clay’s, while both the pros went out of bounds. We looked over and noted how the wind rushing over the cliffs was making a gorgeous swirled pattern out of the clouds... revealing the first bit of blue sky that dreamer and I had seen on our visit to “Sunny” California.

And the drink saga begins...

The real excitement started on the 8th hole. We had moved along and were waiting for the guys to progress from the 7th hole when Carl the Caddy moved ahead of the group and approached us. As he did, I had to razz him a bit about the fact that for all three days, he had been wearing white shorts. “Dude, what’s the deal with these shorts?” I laughed, gesturing at them. He shrugged and grinned. “I’m Norwegian.” “Does that make you impervious to cold?” I asked. His response: “No brain, no pain.” lol

Then, he got down to business. “Hey, we were wondering if you could do Glenn a favor?” Of course we all nodded eagerly. “Glenn wants a vodka and orange juice. Could you go get him one?” He pointed towards a nearby tent. “See if they have one over there.” “Sure!” I answered excitedly as he handed PLS a $20 bill. “We live to serve!” As we started to move away, Dreamer asked, “Does he have a second choice?” Carl said, “Nah, they’ll have it. It's called a screwdriver.” (Thanks, Carl).

As we all descended as one to the tent, Dreamer joked, “How many California girls does it take to buy Glenn Frey a screwdriver?” We thought that was really funny.... it would turn out to be all too true! Getting that drink took us almost TWO HOURS.

The tent Carl had indicated turned out to be the AT&T clubhouse and therefore not a good spot to ask for screwdrivers. After that discovery, we went to the nearest snack stand. “Do you sell screwdrivers?” PLS asked. The girl looked confused. “Vodka, where’s the vodka?” I cried impatiently, which got me a strange look or two. Now that she understood, she consulted with a couple other ladies in the booth, and it was determined that there was a place that sold hard drinks at either end of the course, both of which were about a mile away from that spot. We decided to go to the one on the far end because the golfers were headed that way.

We went back up to the 8th fairway to report our difficulties to Carl and Glenn. As we got parallel to them (they were at the bottom of the hill, we were at the top), Glenn looked up at as and held up 10 fingers, mouthing “10.” I didn’t know what he meant, but then I saw Carl hustling up the hill to tell us. “There’s a place that sells drinks on the 10. We’ll catch up with you on the 9th,” he proclaimed.

We scurried off again. Confused about where to go, I double checked with some kids selling ice cream, then we hurried down the path. I moved a little more quickly than PLS and dreamer, and kept turning around and motioning to them to hurry up. Unfortunately, once we got to the 10th, there were no drink booths in site. We saw a small VIP tent by the hole, and a small snack shop further down called Neville’s. I once again inquired of a stoic looking Pebble Beach worker about which way to go for drinks, and he didn’t know. We walked all the way down to Neville’s and, when we asked there, we were told that the only place that sold hard liquor was the clubhouse, which was now TWO miles away!!!

PLS tried to get a cart because she assumed there might be one coming to stock shelves, but they told her to ask for one at the information booth... which happened to be located next to the AT&T tent where we’d started from. We didn’t have time to relish the irony; we were on a mission, and as I melodramatically declared, “This is all he's ever asked of us. We WILL NOT fail him!” We headed back in that direction.

Once we arrived at the booth, we told the lady there that we needed a cart and why. She called one on her walkie-talkie, saying, “I’ll just say you’re handicapped.” PLS replied that she actually DID qualify as handicapped because of her bad back. However, this day, being handicapped didn’t get you too much special service. There was actually a shortage of handicapped carts. PLS wound up hitching a ride with a passing one-seater golf cart.

After PLS hopped on and rode away, Dreamer and I headed back to give Carl the Caddy a progress report. At that point, Glenn had moved on from the 8th. The path forked and Dreamer and I weren’t sure whether we should head for the 9th and the 10th. Dreamer went on ahead to see. She found them on the 9th and we both went to tell Carl the news.

As we approached, play was on. We waited until between shots, and then we motioned for Carl to come over. Seeing that we didn’t have the drink, he wasn’t in too big a hurry. He finally made his way over and we tried to explain why it wasn’t there. He didn’t looked pleased. Dreamer began “It’s coming...” and then tried to explain what had been happening, but then Overton’s caddy shushed us and Carl hurried away. I tried to get his attention again but Dreamer told me, “Nancy, I told him the drink was coming, and that’s all he wants to hear.” Good point!

We moved away from the green and had a little bit of a powwow. Dreamer suggested that I wait at the crossroads for PLS to come back with the drink and direct her in the right direction, while Dreamer stayed with Glenn’s group. It sounded like a good idea. As Dreamer left to go after Glenn, she hollered back over her shoulder, “It really DOES take 3 California girls to buy Glenn Frey a screwdriver!” I about died laughing!

And now each of the ladies will tell her own story about her adventures:

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Dreamer's saga:

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think I got the best deal here. I left Soda at her watch post to locate the Stadler team. I figured they were on the 10th hole, so that’s where I headed. When I got there, there they were on the fairway. They were walking down the middle of the green, which was pretty wide. When they stopped, Carl and Glenn were standing together, but both with their backs to me, so they couldn’t see me. Since they were nearly finished and I didn’t think they were going to see me, I decided I should head toward the 11th hole. I walked close to the rope so Carl would see me when he came along. Within a minute or so, some one walked up beside me. I glanced over and it was Glenn. I gave him a big smile and very calmly and coolly said “hi.” Before I could say anything else, he joking said, “Where are those Livermore girls with my drink?” I laughed and said, “I have no idea, but they should be here soon.” Again jokingly, he said, “Man, I send you girls to buy a drink on the 8th hole and here we are on the 11th and I still don’t have it – what’s going on here?” Then I said, “Do you have any idea how hard it is for us commoners to get a drink around here?” I then proceeded to tell him the details of the wild goose chase he had sent us on. At some point during my lament, he shook his head as if he were in disbelief and said, “And I thought YOU girls could get a guy a drink.” Since I have this hunch that patience is not one of Mr. Frey’s virtues, I kidded back that we had the situation well control, and that I was sure it wouldn’t be much longer. I told him we were very resourceful girls, and that we had even shamelessly used PLS’ heart condition to hitch her a ride in a golf cart. He gave a little laugh and said, “Sounds like it’s under control.” I told him to hang in there, that they should be here any time now. He kind of rolled his eyes. I grinned at him and kidded, “C’mon now – don’t worry – you can do this!” I assured him that we would be standing right at the ropes when they returned. He then looked up at his team, and veered off to meet up with them.

This walk was approximately 5 minutes long. After it was over, it suddenly hit me how “cool” I had remained. As I continued walking, I spotted PLS and Soda heading for the top of the hill. I started freaking thinking about what had just transpired as I walked hurriedly to catch up with them.


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Meanwhile, back at the golf cart....PLS’s saga:

Being the gimp, I got on the golf cart while Soda and Dreamer stayed behind to relay the latest twist to the guys. The cart driver drove me across the golf course, and as we were going, I asked the guy, “Is there any way I can get a cart to take me back to the 10th or 11th hole?” He said, “I’d stay and wait for you, but I have a commitment.” ‘Rats,’ I thought (I thought that a lot on this saga). I thanked him profusely and started down the hill to the “Beach Club” (aka bar). As I approached, I noticed signs everywhere: “Members Only” – and not one, but THREE, employees guarding the door. Great! But after everything I’d gone through so far, I was not giving up.

One of them asked, “Can I help you?” I said, “I’m trying to buy a vodka and orange juice.” The person said, “This is the only place selling that, but you have to be a member.” OK folks, last straw. I resorted to name-dropping. (I know, I know, the shame of such behavior!) I said, “The caddy came over and asked me to get GLENN FREY a screwdriver.” They clarified, “Glenn Frey?” I nodded, and asked, “Is there any way...” at which point, they interrupted my request that one of them go inside and get it for me by telling me, “Go on in and get it, then come right out.” (Basically, ‘no loitering’!) I thanked them and went inside. Mind you, I was damp, horrendously wind-blown, and had grass stuck to my boots. Can you say “uncomfortable”? ‘Cause I was! Luckily, I spotted the bar right off, so I didn’t have to wander around like an idiot looking for it. I ordered the drink thinking 'Hmm, that looks kind of strong,' and I went back outside. Once again I thanked the “guards” and started walking back looking for someone to get a ride from.

Have you ever noticed how when a bartender hands you a drink, it’s filled to the brim, and you have to take sip before you move or you’ll spill? Imagine walking a golf course in the wind and not being able to take that first sip to drop the level below the rim of the cup.

So, I walked along as quickly as I could, trying not to spill, and of course there were NO carts in sight. I walked all the way back to the sixth hole and finally saw a guy delivering water for the players. He had no room in his cart, but he was wearing a headset. ‘Oh, happy day!’ I thought. ‘Maybe he’ll call someone for me!’

I walked over to him. When I asked him, he said that there was a rule against taking spectators in carts. I told him, “I’m trying to get this drink to a golfer on the 10th hole.” He said, “Oh, sorry, I don’t have room. You can go to the information booth and ask for a transport, or try to flag someone down.” Huge sigh. I started walking again, but luckily, another twenty-something guy came along in a cart. I flagged him down and ask him pretty please, to take me to the 10th hole, and he said OK. Yay!!!

We started down towards the 10th hole, and I held the drink out to the side so as not to spill it on me. He asked who the drink was for. I said, “Glenn Frey.” He said “I don’t know him.” (Blasphemy, I know!) I said, “The Eagles.” He said, “I’m a Cardinals fan.” Somehow, I managed not to hit him over the head with a brick, and said, “The rock band.” He said, “Oh! Before my time.” I looked around for the brick.

He took the shortest route as quickly as possible which, unfortunately for me, involved going up and down curbs and across bumpy grass. I spilled surprisingly little and then, halfway to the 10th, we ran into Soda.


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Back to me (Soda) again! I had been standing, then sitting at that corner for almost an hour. I began to wonder if PLS had taken a back way to the tee and they were all there now, getting ready to come and fetch me. If Dreamer had the best job, I undoubtedly had the worst! Finally, I decided to go back to the information tent and have them radio PLS’ cart, which I assumed she was still on, to discover if she was still on her way. I was almost at the booth when I saw her riding towards me in the golf cart, drink in hand. “GLORY HALLELUJAH!” I cried out loud, getting more strange looks – especially from the cart driver, whom I was now running towards joyfully. “You’re back!” I cried as I ran up. I started walking alongside the cart, but the man was nice enough to invite me to hop on to the platform in the back where they put boxes. In my mind I wondered about the legality of it, but since I wasn’t planning on suing him if I fell off, I gladly climbed on. There was no seat there, so I stood up, gripping the back of the seats in front of me, as we pulled away. With the wind whipping through my hair and the sun shining down on our success, I felt like I was riding in on a royal chariot with the princess holding the golden goblet. Too bad Glenn Frey didn’t get a load of the sight we made!

The guy dropped us off at the bottom of the hill after using his walkie-talkie to determine Glenn’s position. We trudged up the hill and poor PLS, who had been so good about not spilling anything, was now getting splashed by Glenn’s drink simply due to the force of the wind. At least she was able to make this into a punch line later!

And that “Later” will be part two of the day, which will be much more Glenn-centric, I assure you!

[timfan]

you ladies sure had an adventuresome few days!

can't wait to her Part 2!!!

[freyfanatic]

wow who would have know it took that much work to buy a guy a drink? very interesting and exciting read, can't wait for part 2...

[Maleah]

good grief this is like reading a good book! I get to the end and I'm like......WHAT??? Where's the rest??? I want to know what happened NOW!

[glenneaglesfan]

That was such fun to read! What a saga getting that drink!! PLS, you did really well not to spill much on that cart. I'd have found it hard to resist taking a little sip just to lower the level!! Dreamer, fancy finding him alongside you and chatting, WOW! He must have been chuffed to see your shirt!

I agree, Maleah, it's like a novel that you can't put down! Can't wait for the next episode, but it may have to wait until after our holiday...

[EasyFeeling]

I also agree with you, GEF and Maleah. That really was fun to read. And it's not nice to stop at this point.

GEF, have fun in Portugal!!!

[Brooke]

This is just hilarious! I wish someone would have been along to video you gals!

Clay Walker is so cute (especially with the longer hair these days! ) and I like his latest country single "I Saw Mama Before She Was Mama." Check it out. It's funny and cute!

Dreamer, very cool interlude with Glenn!

PLS, loved your comment to the cart driver "the ROCK band!" I can just imagine your disgust! And I would probably have been tempted to take a sip of that drink, too!

Can't wait to hear the finale!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Actually, if I must say so myself, this is rather funny to read now as I look back on it. At the time, we were so focused on our mission and were determined to get that damn drink! It wasn't until I read this that I realized just how pathetic we really were. The whole day was just surreal. Oh well, anything for Glenn!