A Rainy Weekend - But Plan to See Friends

The forecast for the weekend is more rain. This morning I (Donna) headed out for my walk at about 5:45. I've noticed the last two mornings that the air is a tad bit cooler, and there's been a nice morning breeze. I returned back to the Villa about 7:10 just as Rich was getting ready to head out for the pickelball courts. He was back by about 8:30 - it had started to rain. Just after noon, the skies had cleared and still suffering from a serious pickleball twitch - he headed back out to see if the guys were playing at La Hacienda. Indeed they were - more than usual, since they had not gotten to play in the morning.

It rained a little off an on later in the afternoon, but cleared right around 5:00 as we headed out to meet friends for dinner. We met here, at the Oakwood Smokehouse and Grill in Lady Lake.

We had not been here before, but the food was good and the atmosphere very friendly. Best known for their Ribs, we found the menu to have a nice variety. Fresh specialty salads, grilled burgers, chicken ,Mahi, steaks etc., and some creat sidekicks ( corn salad, baked beans, baked sweet potato etc. )

Here's Rich and I with Ken and Lynn Corbett (center) and Manny and Marie Cardoza. Manny and Marie live in Highland Lakes in Leesburg, and the Corbetts, from Greenville, SC are visiting Lynn's Mom at Highland Lakes. They came to celebrate her mom's birthday, which was yesterday. Her mom also recently had surgery for skin cancer, and has experienced some complications. We wish her a happy birthday and hope she recovers quickly!

The evening was just way too short. We had some great conversation that could have gone on much longer - but we needed to give up our table for those customers still waiting! Yes all of us are pickleball players, so yes there was a lot of pickleball talk. It's amazing how all of us woman have to put up with the same problem with our husbands who really overdue "poaching" on the courts!. But the best story of the night was Ken and Lynns 10 month stay back in 1991(I think), when as engineers, their jobs took them to Muskatine, Iowa. Nothing so strange about that, unless you've ever been to Muskatine. After staying at a Super 8 Motel for a few days they finally found a place to rent. One Half of a mobile home (yes I said 1/2) where they paid $270 a month rent, that included all utilities!! From the south and not used to those northern winters - they told us some really great stories of surving the weather and the town. What a hoot!

Ken and Lynn will be heading back to SC on Thursday as long as Lynn's mom is OK. Hopefully we can get down to Highland Lakes one more time to play picklball with Manny and Marie before we leave here. And if our travels take us near Greenville, SC we will definately stop by and meet the rest of the Upstate Pickleball Club.

Yes it's still raining and Rich is fearfull that the courts will be too wet to play in the morning. Despite the weather - we had a great time with friends..

..........and maybe tomorrow they can finally move on with the US Open Tennis Matches!!