The train set you wish you had

They have an unbelievable outdoor model train setup at Valle Del Oro RV park in Mesa, AZ.

Look at all the tracks!  Even a roundhouse!

And the buildings

And people, animals, vehicles!

It's HUGE!  More pictures.

Discovery Bay

The first 9 holes of Discovery Bay GC were built in 1925.  The course is owned today by Mike Asmundson, who designed the back 9 in 1996, and has done some changes to the front.  He also did a redesign of Las Colinas, and lives in Scottsdale, says the Internet.  But, he also seems to have been a local here.  As you can see in this story, the course has had some financial troubles.  The 2007 plans for a residential development never came to fruition.  

I played the front 9 with two of the members.  He had been playing there since 1947, and she was chair of the Rules committee.  He complained about a poor lie one time, and she commented on the recent rains.  I said he didn't want to hear about the rain, he wanted her to say "Don't worry, honey just move it."  That's when she told me she was the Rules Chairperson.

I see this guy on Facebook all the time, he must have played here once

There was an interesting tree

I expected more scenic vistas of the bay, but there were only a couple

And the obligatory (it's starting to seem like) tree in the middle of the fairway.  Most of them are just a nuisance, but this one is so tall and wide that it blocks the whole fairway, so the only strategy is to hit your drive past it, which I was able to do, and made par.

More pictures.

Troll Haven

They said a rich guy had more money than things to do with it, so he started this place.

There's also a castle where you can stay overnight.

And a farm, with goats and chickens.

And lots of trolls

More pictures.