If you travel with a theme, it increases the chances that you'll have a better time. You have the thrill of the trip as well as the thrill of looking at something you have a personal attachment to.

When we met with representatives for Travel Michigan to review the tourism indicators that we have been tracking for more than 20 years, we were all somewhat surprised by just how well the industry fared in 2005.

The real story is that the travel industry has grown remarkably in the face of all these things.

You almost always have to do some decent travel for a sectional. But now we could be looking at going to Macomb, 75 miles away, for a regional.

Last year we thought we were finally going to turn the corner ... we actually saw a slight decline in travel. So we were half-right last year.

The ball didn't travel as far, so the course played significantly longer today. I made some long putts, but I missed three putts in the 6-8 foot range that I'm kicking myself over.