When we left off last week, we were lounging around the pool while the kids were defying death on the water slide. But the Pointe has other forms of recreation such as beach volleyball, ...

tennis and ...

golf. I have not taken advantage of the first two but certainly have enjoyed the golf.

The interesting aspect of the golf course (for us golfers, of course) is the layout which includes a front nine that is traditional golf with lots of grass, water, trees and hills.

The back nine is a desert course with less grass, water and trees but with a layout that requires accuracy. Here we call it "target golf". Some people love it — some people hate it.

I used to play this course once a month or so but no longer. With Destination Resorts taking over the management, part of the refurbishment money went into the golf course. For example, what was formerly hole #1 became hole #18 and it was turned around with an island green added. Unfortunately, the average golfer will hit their drive shot past the plateau and onto a down-slope. You must then execute a tricky shot (that no one ever practices) — hitting a downhill lie onto an island green. It's really not fair.

But since they put all that money into the course, they decided that they had to charge more money to play. In my mind, there are a number of nearby courses that are better layouts — and they charge the same or less than this course. So I choose to play elsewhere and enjoy it more.

For those guests who want a more "wild west" experience, there are riding stables on property. They take groups on a gentle ride on the trails of South Mountain Park. Since the golf course stretches into the edges of the park, golfers are sometimes forced to wait on teeing off until the horses pass by — you wouldn't want to hit a horse with a golf ball and have a tourist thrown to the ground, would you?

I keep saying that I should go for a ride sometime but never seen to get around to it. In addition to horseback riding, they sometimes schedule hayrides — mostly for guests who are part of a conference at the hotel.

This photo shows the building which used to house the HP Phoenix Sales Office. It wouldn't mean much to most of you but I wanted to include it for those who used to work there — just a bit of nostalgia.

Last but not least is the residential area of the Pointe. Shown here is a typical street reflecting the Homeowner's Association goal of making this desert community look Mediterranean. One might think that such a plan would cause us to use more water than necessary — and one would be correct. I suppose there will be a day when are confronted with this issue — but for now, it looks beautiful.

This photo is our townhouse — modest but we like it.

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of my home community. Come back anytime