MM:
Here's a chapter for the book.
"D-Day: May 18, 2018 (death to disc day)
A friend and I had heard HH was the mecca. That we had to go. And so we did. I texted John asking about details, of which little I got. He promised a place to rest our heads and be out of the weather. We took out inaugural journey in October 2017. After our six hour drive, we arrived there in the dark. He initially said there "may be room in the bunkhouse". Carts would also be available for gold and granite. On our way, he said we'd have the shower building side, since the big side might have 5 people the next night.
We found the correct door in the dark (we hoped). There was a tiny kitchen and 2 air mattresses. Then there was a sheet hanging over a door-less opening. A little spooked in the dark in the northwoods, we decided to look behind the sheet. 2 more bedrooms. Empty, but a few personal belongings. Not wanting to invade personal space, but wanting to assure not getting killed by an axe murderer that night, we snooped into the large side, to find it empty and quite, umm, odd (more later). Somehow, we managed to get some sleep.
The next morning, the place looked quite different in the light. Excited that there were showers (yeah, I love a shower to wake me), I headed over to the shower building. Hmm. Weird. A couch in the shower building. I guess it is a 200 foot walk. And a fridge. And a washer from 1975. Whatever. So I head back to the showers. Old school. I picked one with a curtain, because, you know, the axe murderer. Turned it on. Nothing. F. I guess the axe murdered will see my junk. Head to the next stall. A trickle. Tried all the stalls. One had a stream about what I can piss after 6 beers. Oh well, it's cheap. And oh yeah, I f'ing forgot a towel. T shirt for the drying win! Before I left, I checked out the women's side. No better.
Disc golf. Holy crap....you guys know. Worth the trip right there. 2 awesome days of golf. Even though I f'ed every other word during playing the Bear. (day 3 was cancelled due to crazy rain that left the courses under water. Didn't want to drive home soaking wet)
The first night, we decided to play the night course that was touted online. Easy, right? Start on hole one and follow the signs and glow sticks. Which are dead. Nope. Got through 3 and could not find four. Made up the next few holes we could find and called it a night.
Day 1: 4 carts by the 'pro shop'. One works. Died on Granite. Texted John. No response. We ran into John that night by the bunk house. He told us all kinds of bunk. We believed it. The borrowed carts were just returned 2 days ago. On a huge semi. He tells us there's a big night ace race that night. Cancelled from rain. We played anyway, since he informed us the prior night that the night course and other course were combined and now we knew where to go.
Day 2 & 3: awesome disc. So many oddities. You know what I'm talking about.
BTW, no one else stayed in the bunkhouse. We saw a hand full of people the whole time. But, it's October, right, the season is over?
All in all, such a great trip. Good friend, good beer, good bourbon, good disc. Poor John just has a lot on his plate and needs more time to finish the projects, right?
Spring 2018. I tell my wife she just needs to come with this time. See the beauty. Let the dog (black lab) run around in nature. She says, yeah, but....all the weird things you talked about. Ah, forget about that. No, she says, I need details. I need to know what I'm getting into. How do you explain the bunk house, the half-finished music stage, the torn down volleyball court, the FREAKY looking clown hole thing, the half-finished tree house, the half-finished cabins, the 'pro shop', the 1982 golf carts, the scorekeeper's building with water and gatorade from 2007, the showers, 5,500 tires, etc. Ah, trust me, it's so beautiful!!!
April 2018. John tells us that the cabins will be ready. Awesome! Oh, such a relief. My wife will be so happy to not stay at the bunkhouse. All he needs is a credit card number.
May 3, 2018. John tell us the cabins are ready, just waiting for the ground to thaw to trench electric. Meh, I don't need electricity.
May 16, 2018. John tells us he's had issues with the zoning people, so both new cabins aren't ready. Tanya and her husband are "at" the bunkhouse on the shower side (read: living at)
We get there at night again, but this time in daylight. While we're carrying our stuff into the large side of the bunk house, Tanya's dog attacks ours in the hallway. Viciously. Had a hard time getting it off. Text John to ask if anyone if at the log cabin, since this a deal breaker for my wife. He says "can you talk to Tanya..their dog is good. I'm sure they will keep it at bay". Umm. Yeah, I have proof their dog is not good. Bottom line, we're **** out of luck, we will need to chaperone our dog 24/7.
No night disc. No way I'm leaving my wife alone with the other dog and the party going on next door, with her eyes the size of silver dollars. My future > one round of night disc.
May 17, 2018. AMAZING day of disc. Gosh I love that place. Played a night round. Took my wife and friend up top to see the stars without light pollution. One cart available for one round, but this time my expectations were low anyway.
May 18, 2018 (d-day). We play 2 morning rounds and return for lunch. While finishing lunch in the bunkhouse (btw, the stove and fridge work, as does the massage chair!), there's a knock on the door. My wife answers the door. I hear some confusion. I start paying attention and hear someone say "you must vacate the premises now!" Huh??? So, I rapidly go to the door and say, um, excuse me? He repeats it. I think I stammered. What are you talking about? He says, quite annoyed "this place is shut down, it's been placquered, you can ask the sheriff's department, you must leave now!". I ask him to repeat again. "It's been placquered!". I ask, what in the world is placquered? At this point, his cohort joins him at the door (there's 3 of them total, also kicking out the people who JUST GOT THERE that morning for a bachelor's weekend from the other building). They settle down and realize we're not the problem, that John's problem was just thrust upon us. At quite an inopportune time. They explain that the entire place is shut down. That there was a meeting at 9am, John was there. Whaaa? Sweet innocent John? Couldn't be. We had texted him that morning telling him there was zero hot water in the showers. He said a plumber would be out today. He'd tell us if there was trouble, wouldn't he. Nope. Turns out nothing was up to code. The shower building plumbing was held together by duct tape. That the thousands of tires were supposed to be removed. That he never got inspections as required. That he never got licenses for the residences. It went on and on and on.
We had 10 minutes to leave. It was illegal to be on premises. Whelp. F.
After my wife batted her eyelashes and pointed out we had NOWHERE to go with the dog, they got a lot nicer and gave recommendations for a hotel in Ashland. And told us we just needed to work on packing up and leaving when we could.
So, left we did. With the dog. To Eau Claire. And had some insanely good beer at The Brewing Projeckt. And Played Axldog Acers DGC in the morning, really fun private course.
Gosh, I hope HH reopens. We'd love to make another trip this summer/spring.
