I blew caution to the wind and drove 4 hours to Raleigh, NC to attend the Jimmy V tournament. I have never been to NC, nor have I actually met any of my fellow Todd fans in the flesh, so it was going to be a new day all around for me. I wasn't disappointed.

The fun began the night before the actual tournament, when the local ABC TV station had a short show regarding it, and they interviewed some of the celebrities attending, including Todd. Nice job, nice tux-and a nice big plug for SOI, too. :)

Early the next morning, I slapped on not-nearly-enough-sunscreen, my big ol'sun hat, grabbed my water bottle, and headed for the arena where everybody was parking for the shuttle buses.

I managed, through some very convoluted directions, to find the parking. The shuttle buses actually drove the spectators over to the golf course, and everyone began looking for their favorite celebrity, as listed on the groupings sheet. It's a good thing that I have been a Todd fan for so long, and been through so many ups and downs, because his group was hard to find. I mean, really hard to find. I think I asked at least 10 volunteers for simplified directions as to where the group was. The problem was, everyone I asked had a different way to get to where I needed to go. By now, I am questioning both my sanity and my intellectual capacity, and still wandering around trying to follow Anybody's Directions. (I swear, my IQ is really above room temperature-promise!)

The title of this report almost became How I Gave Up Trying To Find Todd and Just Followed Around Some Other Celebrity Instead!

Again, through a strange amalgamation of different directions, and sheer dumb luck, I almost accidentally came across Fairway Red Pennant #7. The Promised Land! The Oasis in The Celebrity Desert! In other words, Todd's group! I made it, literally with a few minutes to spare. The tee-off was at 9:30, and with all of my wanderings, I made it by about 9:28, barely.

The rest of the day went smoothly-thankfully! The weather was clear & warm,and a welcome change from the weather the previous years.

Todd looked great & was having (what appeared to me to be) a great time. The male bonding with his fellow golfers was cute. He was very tan-bordering on very burnt-he has obviously been working on the golf this summer. Oh, and yes, he does play golf very well-not that I know anything about golf :)-but it looked good to me! It was a bit surreal, though, not seeing him in skates on the ice.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the pictures I took, but my camera has seen far better days-so I'm not confident in how they'll turn out. I'll post them if they're at all decent.

Sorry, folks, no hints about programs or music for the upcoming tour...:((bummer) Side note: Todd's brother Scott was there-the resemblance between the two was uncanny. Not an identical twin thing, but if you weren't terribly familiar with Todd, Scott could fill in for him at non-skating appearances, IMO. A definite double-take situation.

It was terrific meeting up with other Todd fans & I had a great time. Next year: A Lot More Waterproof Sunscreen! (and a better map!) :)