Las Vegas, NV

My very good friend, Kenneth Poole ( KP ) and I combined a working trip to Las Vegas with a few rounds of golf.

The weather was wonderful, our golf was....well less just say we had a good time.

We also visited one of our favorite places to eat. Hooters.

We figured, this is Las Vegas, the town of beautiful women, showmanship, glamor, top rated shows and if any Hooters would be a showcase Las Vegas was it.



What a joke!

It was in the Hooters hotel/casino all the way back in the corner.

You know those white tops the ladies wear, how bright they are, how nice all the ladies look and how the ladies flow with confidence? Wrong!

This was not the case at the Las Vegas Hooters. The white tops were dingy, I mean it looked like they needed to be washed in bleach more than once. The ladies looked like they needed to get their hair washed and the "make over" class had been missed.

It was nothing like we've seen in all other Hooters.

The majority of the crowd, yes we know we were a part of it, looked like they had just got out of detention. Where were the yuppies, bikers, college students, and families? Had we walked into a "twilight zone" and not know it?

The food was okay but not like we're use to.

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest....we give Las Vegas Hooters a 3,5.

Okay, enough about the lack of Hooters grandeur.

We played two "links" courses. That was a first for me and while I only have these two under my belt, they're not my favorite gold course. I like seeing a fairway, grass, green if in season, some idea of where the green is other than....over that way somewhere.

The first one was the Callaway Golf Center at 6730 Las Vegas Boulevard South.



Their web site shows this beautiful tree lined, grassy fairways and sand traps. We didn't see it....no beautiful trees or grassy fairways. It's an interesting 9 hole links course. The club house is great with a golf shop, friendly restaurant and bar.

The carts are gasoline powered and the course is well laid out. It's well laid out, a championship par 3 course, nine hole with holes from 110 to 185 yards.

We rented clubs, for $20 I think, cart for $10, round of golf $19 and off we went.

I had a brain freeze that day and forgot to take my camera. How in the world does a professional photographer forget to take his camera with him?

The staff was great, very helpful and we'd go back in a heart beat.

Next we had two days at the Revere Golf Club, 2600 Hampton Road, Henderson, Nevada.

It's a 36 hole course that will challenge you, delight you, and bring out all your golf emotions. It's a blend of fairways, desert, lots of sand traps, rocks, rolling hills, rolling greens and staffed by some of the nicest people you'll meet.

Club rental was $65 and that covered both days. Don't remember the cost for a round or the cart, but they were much higher Calaway.

The view of Las Vegas and surrounding area was awesome and worth the trip itself.







KP doing his best.



This is another course we'd go back to just given the chance.

Golf is a new experience for me. It's a long time passion for KP and together we kid, encourage, torment, and have fun.

John Madden

Pendaries Golf Course

Pendaries is a beautiful course!

The course is open from April 15 to October 15. Mark your calendar, check out your GPS, head to Pendaries for clean, fresh mountain air and outstanding golf.

It's at 7,500 feet, 6,080 yard from championship tees and 5,060 yards from the forward tees.

This is a great outdoor experience!

All around you are trees (ponderosa pine, aspen and others) cheering for you to have a great round of golf.

The staff is friendly, a fully stocked Golf Shop, snack bar, a modern fleet of golf carts, the view is inspiriting, course is challenging, homes in and around the course are spectacular, view of the mountains is limited to a few holes, view of the sky is everywhere and a bad day here is better than most great days elsewhere.

Deer are part of the gallery. Deal with it. You'll enjoy their comments.

Like water, you'll not only see it but be challenged by it.

Homes to wish for add to the glamor of the course.











Makes me wonder if God plays this course.


My very good friend and the man responsible for me taking up this game....Kenneth Poole.

Thank KP and looking forward to many more rounds of golf at Pendaries.

John Madden

Hermitage Golf Course, Nashville, Tennessee

My second golf outing while in the south was at the Hermitage Golf Course

Our youngest son, Shane, and I got lucky and on the day we had a tee time the rain stopped.

The humidty was so thick it looked like fog। "Pops, when it heats up it'll burn of" Shane told me.

The course is so beautiful, lots of trees, sand traps, water opportunities, more green grass than all of Amarillo, Texas, but very little breeze. A little breeze would have been welcomed, to say nothing that a wind of 10 or more miles per hour would have helped.

My past experience with heat and humidity was heat caused humidity to acellerate, not burn off.

After five plus hours and 12 holes it had burnt off so much we gave up and went to look for air conditioning, something cold, with lots of ice, shade, no heat and no humidity.

By the time we agreed to call it quits I looked like a drowned Grandpa.

The course is extremely beautiful and challenging. Which I don't need at this point in my attempt to learn the game of golf. I'm enough of a challenge to contend with.

So much water (trying to figure out how to pipe it to West Texas without it costing anything - water seems to have a magnetic pull on my golf balls), lots of sand opportunities, trees with targets on them and enough grass to cover all the yards in Amarillo.

The staff was great, especially the three Southern Gentlemen who prepared and took care of the carts.

We had a great conversation with them.

Two had severed in the Air Force (our Dad spent over twenty years in the Air Force, which makes my brother, Lynn, sister, Candy, and I AFB's - Air Force Brats).

We are proud of that honor.

The other gentleman wished he had been physically able to serve। He works with prison ministries.

That threesome show up as "Assets" to everyone they come in contact with.

Thank you gentlemen for making our Pops and Son golf outing an even greater experience.

John Madden

Jackson Country Club Golf Course, Jackson, Mississippi

My first venture into golf while on vacation in Mississippi and Tennessee was in Jackson, Mississippi at the Jackson County Club.

The Jackson Country Club is a eighteen hole golf course designed by designer John Fought.

My brother-in-law, Ronnie Smith, told me "I haven't played much. I use to play a lot, but not anymore."

My ancestors (Cherokee) would say 'he speaks with a forked tongue.

I had an idea that those words clearly told me Ronnie was a "ringer."

I'm a newbee golfer (this was my 15th round of golf) and if I shoot anywhere below 120 or near 100 I've had a good round of golf.

Ronnie, who hasn't played very much (and am I glad) shot a 79.

I shot 108 and was thrilled.

Okay, let's start a little closer to the beginning. I brought my golf clubs (via Southwest Airlines) to Jackson, Mississippi so maybe Ronnie and I would get an opportunity to play a round.

Vision this:

Newbee (me) with new golf bag (US Army), used- but not much - Arnold Palmer irons, Woods and looking somewhat fashionable.

Ronnie's (ringer) golf bag looked like it was older than me (65), clubs - irons and woods - have no idea but lots of miles and years on them and he looked more fashionable.

Get the picture?

Newbee (me) looked like a new biker with more chrome on his ride than smarts in his head.

Ronnie (ringer) looked like a newbee who stumbled onto the golf course.

I smile every time I think of that picture.

It was fun, the course is very beautiful.

The more I play golf, the better review I hope to give on the course. For now all I can say is I'm having fun learning and like sharing with others.

As the old phrase goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, here is the Jackson Country Club course.

My sister, Candy, is blessed with Ronnie as a husband, father of their children and a nicer guy, you'll have to play a lot of golf to find a better one.

Even if he is a ringer. Just kidding.

John Madden

PS: When you see Ronnie as him about "Barney's lake."

Welcome to my travel blog!

For years travel has been a big part of my life. Dad was in the Air Force so we moved around a lot, spent four years in Germany, I've been a Boy Scout all my life and I've grown to enjoy traveling.

Probably because of that I've had this idea of a travel something in my mind for some time. Judy, my wife, and I have two very good and dear friends, Kenneth (KP) and Carolene Poole. We spend a lot of time together, travel, Wednesday night hamburger nights, movies and have talked about putting together a diary of places we like to eat.

As a result of modern technology, the knowledge of my good friend/fellow photographer Steve Douglas, this travel blog has become a reality. He did a blog for me for a tour with the Kwahadi Dancers to Europe this summer.

Now it's time for a travel blog.

Come along with me as I travel from here to where ever. We'll share places to see, things to do, places to eat, people we
meet along the way and just have fun.

Have you ever been to a rodeo (either a pro or ranch rodeo), Pow Wow, motorcycle rally, ran the rapids of a river, visited old churches, looked through old windows wondering what they could tell you, traveled Route 66 (there was a TV show about it many, many years ago), gone to air shows, or many other wonderful things I get to do and love to do?

Come along and let's see what we can see.

You might even have some suggestions and you can let me know about them. Doesn't mean we'll get to go or do them right away, but we'll put them on our "Bucket List."

Sometimes we'll travel by a Harley-Davidson, a Ford Harley-Davidson pickup, a Chevrolet pickup, plane, train (hopefully), horseback (if possible), hikiing us to be one of my favorite means of travel-but those hikes and other things have given my feet reasons to ride instead plus other means of transportation.

We'll look for the best places to eat. I love to eat so I list it as one of my main objectives in life. Maybe find a golf course or two. I just took up the game and am enjoying the challenge of learning it.

No telling where we'll stay. However camping and I parted company about twenty years ago. The mind still thinks it can and wants to but the body over rules most of the time. We'll stay with friends and relatives when ever possible to save money and eat their food.

Some of our travels will be with the Kwahadi Dancers of Amarillo, Texas.

We'll post photos as we travel and you can make the trips with us.

John - Judy Madden, Kenneth - Carolene Poole.