Swanky!

We stayed in the Executive Suite in the swanky JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Scottsdale. It was awesome ... 1000 sq ft suite with two 46" high-def TVs & wrap-around views of the golf course & pool.

Me shooting the curtain below.

The bedroom curtain at sunrise.

Mary stalked all kinds of things, from rocks ...

... to bunnies.

This poor bunny must’ve had a run-in with Mike Tyson.

Awesome sticker on our golf cart at Desert Ridge.

Desert Ridge is home to Wildfire Golf Club, which has both Palmer & Faldo designed courses. I shot this self-portrait on the Palmer practice green.

Nice pool! If you click on the link, I shot the middle photo of the pool for the resort during the first month they were open.

Palm tree trunk detail.

We’ve shot these fountains at sunset all three times we’ve stayed here.

Bellman cart shadows.

I think this is the only hotel I've stayed in that offers rubber duckies as an amenity (click to make bigger).

The Crazy 16th Hole at FBR

The atmosphere on #16 is unlike any other hole on the PGA TOUR. There is a student section close to the tee & they are really funny.

When Charley Hoffman walked from tee to green, they were chanting "Supercuts! Supercuts! Supercuts!" When the Standard Bearer walked by, they yelled, "Sign Boy! Sign Boy! Sign Boy!" When the kid twirled his sign, everybody cheered.


They had something different to say no matter what was going on ...
If somebody hit a good shot, they'd yell, "Tip your hat! Tip your hat! Tip your hat!"

When spectators entered, they'd yell something about what they were wearing:
"Sweater! Sweater! Sweater!"
"Jean shirt! Jean shirt! Jean shirt!"
"No sleeves! No sleeves! No sleeves!"

The traffic into the stadium was one way. When anybody tried to exit towards the entrance, they'd yell, "Wrong way! Wrong way! Wrong way!" When security wouldn't let them exit, everybody cheered. It was deafening!

The Rules Officials tried to maintain the peace.

When Australian James Nitties teed up his ball, someone held up a sign that said "Show us your Nitties!"

Bubba encouraged the fans on #16 to be as noisy as possible when he hit his tee shot, then high-fived & tossed Ping hats to everyone on his way to the green. It was really great!

Aerials & GigaPans

Detail of FBR Open tee marker.

Me & my helicopter pilot Ross.

An aerial view of #16 at TPC Scottsdale with the desert mountains in the distance.

Mary shot some GigaPans from several locations on #16.

This is the first year #16 has been fully enclosed.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's me in a helicopter.

There was a good What the Duck today.

Cardinal Fever

It was an early morning. Up at 3:30am to catch a 6:40am flight to Phoenix via Atlanta to shoot the FBR Open.

We got to TPC Scottsdale in time to shoot Billy Mayfair, who changed into a Phoenix Cardinals jersey in the tunnel leading into #16. The crowd went wild!

The Social Butterfly

It sure was a busy day!
Diet Coke, weekly critique, quad iced Americano, meeting at HQ, conference call ...
Lunch at Cruisers with Jen, Aiden & Mary ...

Then back to work ... performance reviews, order test prints, finish performance reviews (yay!), go home ...
Prep for dinner party, cook, eat, load dishwasher, empty dishwasher, load dishwasher again, sleep!
Big day of socializing ... especially considering it was a work day!

St. Augustine

Mary & Elsa came to town to go to Yoga Day USA at Discovery Yoga.
I met them for an awesome lunch at The Back 40 Urban Cafe.

Mary started with a delicious corn, jalepeno & roasted red pepper chowder.

I had a fabulous Santa Fe Chicken Salad.

Nice sign.

After lunch we went out for coffee. Mary shot with her G10 while Elsa knitted a blanket.

Package Store ... really nice sign ... lots of peeling paint.

Nice Sunset

I shot a beautiful sunset in the parking lot at work.

Alligator Farm

A hungry gator!

Adam at the Alligator Farm.

A macaw in nice light.

Hank, Adam & Mom.

Me, Adam & Mom.

Gator on the run.

mmmmm ... fresh rats! Yummy!

Okay everybody ... 1, 2, 3 ... squint!

Going Home

While I was in the parking lot at Trader Joe's, I shot the sunset with my iPhone.

Awesome workstations are located all over the gate areas in the new Jet Blue terminal at JFK. You can order food on the touchscreen & it'll be delivered right to your desk.

There is stepped seating with cushions & no shortage of power.

Snow

It snowed overnight at my mom's house. Not much ... but it did stick.

Alex's Bar "Mets"vah

Alex's Bar Mitzvah had a NY Mets theme. I was at the Old Timers table with most of my cousins.

Hank & mom.

Twins

Tonight we had dinner with the Weins. I got to meet Mike & Emily's new twins.

I made Cal cry.

Penny was sleeping.

The entire Wein clan.

Hank, mom & me.

Clouds

There were really nice clouds in every direction. I shot these out my car window on the way to work.