A Short Visit.....!

On Friday Lee and Gerry left the park. All the pickleball players were gone, and Lee's leaving brought an end to billiards as well. But on Thursday afternoon, they went down to the clubhouse and played a few last games for a couple of hours.

Over the past several days, since Rich has been able to get up and around, we've gone for a bike ride at least once during the day, checking to see if any of the new rigs coming in were anyone we might know. Just before dark last night Rich went out for a short ride and ran into some old friends and they were just getting ready to start a fire!

This is Sharon and Joe. We met them here in Peace River two years ago. We had heard there might be a couple of pickleball players in the park, but didn't know where, and we never saw anyone out on the court playing. It's seems so strange to be looking at a pictur of us in front of the campfire. This winter was so cold that everyone was bundled in their heavy coats and sat by the fire for warmth. Today the temperature is supposted to be 90. But the fire set the atmosphere for a great evening of catching up. Joe and Sharon spent the winter in Mexico and we so much enjoyed hearing of all their great adventures and plans for next winter.

And what another great surprise. Paul and Cis just arrived in the park Thursday and they are leaving tomorrow!!!! Can't believe that we almost missed them. They just stopped for a few days on their way to Ft. Lauderdale before they head for home in New Jersey. So we heard about their winter out west and their meeting up with several mutual friends. Cis loves to play pickleball and told her stories of learning wether she was a C, a B or and A player, meeting Keith Bisel and Laurie Kilmain and watching Pat Kane play. Can't believe they are leaving in the morning; so glad we ran into them. She made me promise that I would send her the names of two other pickelball couples we met/taught this winter who live in New Jersey. You never know - they could be neighbors!

It was almost 10:00 when we got back home. I'll meet up with Sharon and Joe sometime today and the three of his will play a little pickleball together. It's the weekend, and we were surprised at home many rigs came in yesterday- maybe we can recruit a few more players.

Denny's New Toy

Got this picture from our son, Dennis. Wrote him back and asked if he was serious!!!!

"It's a motorcycle (Trike) 2010 Can-Am Spyder. 991cc
Uh yeah serious."

He picks it up on Wednesday - so we expect more pictures!!

In the meantime.......Rich and I need your help........and this is really serious. As you know, Dennis and the family live in Iowa - a long way from Pa Pa and Gramma Do........A while back he applied for a job in Florida that did not work out. Well - he has now applied for a job in the Orlando area.

PLEASE - We need everyone to keep their finger crossed and say an extra prayer that it works out!!! Thanks

Update on Rich

Well, it's been a week today since Rich had the foot surgery. For the first few days, he had quite a bit of pain, especially when trying to sleep at night. On Wednesday following the surgery he had an appointment with Dr. Feldman, where they took an xray of the foot and redressed the toes. Once the bandage was off, Rich said the pain was gone. After the surgery the toes/foot had swelled, and that had caused the bandages/dressing to be too tight and that in turn was affecting his circulation.

I went in while they changed the bandages, because I wanted to hear what restrictions the doctor was giving Rich. When the doctor says a few days, Rich hears ONE. Dr. Feldman said he needed to listen to ME!!!! Imagine that!! He told Rich that everything had to go perfect between now and the first of June if Rich wanted to be back on the courts. Unfortunately - he told Rich that he was a "perfect speciman" for a quick recovery. Needless to say Rich has continued to remind of this 'perfection' several times since then. But he was instructed to keep the foot elevated periodically over the next few day, and to keep his walking to a minimum.

Well- he has done quite well. No more pain. But it's getting more and more difficult to keep him down. He still must keep the surgical shoe on any time he's on his feet. No way does he want the toes to bend yet!! And he must not get it wet! Makes bathing a real chore!!!

Yesterday , was a comfortable overcast day, so near evening I went out for a walk. About half way back , and just ahead of me on the road was Rich- RIDING HIS BICYCLE!!! You just can't leave the man alone for a minute!!!! However, I will say that he was being very careful and made it back without incident.

Yes - he's smiling!!! He got to go for a ride today to the barber shop to get a hair cut. But I'm sure that if the park was filled with pickleball players you would see a much different face! I think Rich and I are the ONLY pickleball players in the park right now. This afternoon he's going to go down and shoot some pool with Lee so that will keep him happy for a little while.

There's not a whole lot to do--------------so he draws Smily Faces!!!!

Not too much else going on. The park looks so deserted! Kevin and Linda took off yeterday. They'll go to Orlando for three weeks and then off to Maine. Lee and Gerry will be heading out in a few days. The only people left in the park that we know are a few of the workers, and I don't think there's even a half dozen of them left. And it will be this way till next Fall!

Rich goes back to the doctore on May 5th, and then we'll start getting ready to head over to Cocoa Beach. Probably not a lot of beach walking - but he should be able to get in the pool and do a little swimming. We're hoping for the doc's OK.

Get Well Wishes for Rich

Just way tooooooooo great not to share. This was sent to Rich from our friend Louann.

Temporarily out of (pickleball) commission

The alarm went off very early this morning. Rich was scheduled to be at the Sun N Lake Surgical Center in Sebring by 6:15 AM for his foot surgery. Those of you who know Rich, also know that he does not function well in the morning before his first cup of coffee. But it was nothing to eat or drink after midnight last night . Needless to say the ride to Sebring was a quiet one.

While not looking forward to being out of commission for 4-6 weeks, Rich was very pleased that he had finally found a doctor that promised to permanantly correct his problem, rather than just treat the symptoms as the previous two podiatrists had done.

Compliments to the Surgical Center and their staff for their efficiency and great care. We arrived about 6:10 and by 6:20 he was taken in to get prepped. The nurse said that Dr. Feldman was scheduled to begin the surgery at 7:00. About 6:45 Dr. Feldman came walking in already dressed in his scrubs, stopped to say hello, and said he'd talk to both of us after the surgery. At 6:50 they let me come in for a few minutes. Rich was just about ready, the IV's were in and the anethesiologist was there. They were ready to begin by 7:00. They scraped the bone on both of the small toes, broke the small toe and inserted pins into both toes.
And then it was off to recovery.........

Dr. Feldman and the recovery room nurse check things out before letting Rich go home. They checked to make sure that the toes were getting enough blood back into them and returning to their normal color. They decided to lowere the foot just a little to get the blood circulating better.

Dr. Feldman said that Rich was asking for COFFEE before he was even awake. Here he is, almost awake with his first cup of coffee for the day. Good thing I was there to listen to the instructions the nurse was giving him. He said that while he was awake, he still felt like he'd about 4 or 5 bottles of beer!!!

We put on the surgical shoe and headed for home. We were home before 10:00 am. If you look closely at the picture you can see what looks like two yellow push pins shoved into the tip of the two little toes. Rest and no weight on the foot (except to go to the JOHN!) for the first 24 to 48 hours.

Comfortable and Smiling!!! I left him with the TV remote and headed to CVS to pick up the pain pills and the antibiotics. He's already threatening to buy a wheel chair so he can get on the pickleball court and play. This man is not going to be easy to keep down!!!!

Back to the Doctor on Wednesday morning.

A little Tree Trimming?

Well, this may be a bit more than just trimming........A little backgroud first. Bob (the ranger here in Peace River) and his wife Kathy had their travel trailer parked in the site just behind us. They recently purchased a new Fifth Wheel. Before moving it into the site, there was some work that they wanted to do on their site, and thatt was the removal of one very large tree!!

We had not been home long from our trip to Wauchula, when we heard the sound of the chain saw. It was about 3:00 pm and I was on the computer downloading pictures from our workshop that morning. Rich came in and suggested that for my safety, I do NOT stay inside. Well, if I couldn't download my pictures, I'd go outside and take some more.

So here we go - It's time to cut down a TREE!

Just to put things in perspective - that is the picnic table at OUR site, and that is Bob with the bucket propped up against the tree to be cut down.

And Bill with the chain saw ..............

Of course the buzz of the saw brought out the park spectators, and all the guys who wanted to suggest the best and safest way to cut down this monster of a tree.

And why did Rich suggest I not stay inside? Yes - that is the back of our Fifth Wheel not far behind the tree!

Bruce and Gena along with their grandson Nate stop by to see what's going on. Nate is "almost four" he told us!

And then along came Gerry........

Dad (Bob) was busy cutting down a tree - and mom (Kathy) was a ball of nerves watching him...............and Casey - well he just relaxed and took a nap.

And then it was over - the tree comes down!

Looks more like wild brush that a tree!

And the men admire the job.........but I think that Bob's concrete pad may have suffered a bit.

Kathy - glad to see the tree finally down - inspects the tree - or is she really checking out her concrete pad?

The tree snapped here when it hit.

Kathy, Gerry and Bob

Kevin and Linda inspect the area.

And what are Rich, Lee and Bill looking at? Sure hope they are not contemplating another tree trimming! Could it be that horrid palm tree that drops those berries on our roof?

And by late morning today the tree was gone.......and once again we have the beautiful view of the walking trail and the Peace River..

Pickleball Workshop at Valencia Lakes

On Saturday morning we headed for Waumauma, Fl about a 45 minute drive over near Sun City Center. There is an over 55 active adult community lest than two miles north of Sun City on SR 301. There are so many of these communities in Florida, but this one is definately among our favorits. Not only it is in an excellent location, their is a variety of villas and homes, a beautiful clubhouse and state of the art facilitites.

Rich and I were invited there to do a Pickleball Workshop for the newly formed Valencia Lakes Pickleball Club.

This covered area with tables and chairs is situated right in the middle of the four courts, allowing players to go on and off any one of the four courts without disturbing play on the others, and which provides protection during the games from the sun. Fences between the courts and fans are still to be installed.

There are 51 pickleball club members and 41 of them registered for the workshop.

Here is Rich showing them the proper way to hit a backhand shot and below is Rich and I with the entire group. (Except Ed - who is taking the picture!!)

Following the workshop several of the players took us to lunch in their clubhouse. Here is part of a very nice e-mail we received from them later in the day:

Rich and Donna,
The Valencia Lakes Pickleball Committee would like to express our gratitude to the both of you for taking time from your busy schedules to present an extremely informative workshop to our community. We truly appreciate the time you spent with our residents explaining the rules of the game, as well as providing some time for drill. Our only complaint would be that the time passed much too quickly. Looking forward to when you can return to work with our thirteen members who have volunteered to become mentors. We wish Rich good luck with his surgery on Monday, as well as best wishes for a speedy recovery. Keep in touch.

AND AGAIN, THANK YOU BOTH.

Saying Good Bye Again

It's that time of year when it seems like we continue to say good-bye to our RV friends. While we welcome the Spring sunshine, the afternoon showers that beautify our lawns and the scent of the orange blossoms we know they signal the end of another "winter in paradise."

On Thursday evening we got together for a little cookout at our place to say so long to a few more special people:

Ken and Faye leave today for TT Orlando and then they'll start back to their home park in Chesapeake Bay for the summer.

Stan and Sally leave on Sunday for TT Orlando to and then start to make their way back to Michigan.

Tom and Margie will be leaving on Wednesday. They'll head north and probably hook up with Ken and Fay in Virginia before they move on.

Bruce and Gena are here for at least another week. They sold their home in Englewood, Fl not long ago - so they too will be heading north, making their way to TT St. Clair for the pickleball tournament in July.

Kevin and Linda will be around for a couple more weeks, so chances are pretty good that we'll get together with them at least one more time before they head for Maine.

Everyone had arrived by 4:00 and Rich fired up the grill shortly after.

Everyone made their way to the food table. The food was delicious. We had hot dogs and all the fixin's, ceaser salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, coleslaw and chips. Sally made some delicious applesauce bars and Kevin and Linda brought this strawberry cake to die for!!!!

Now the forecast for the day was cloudy with only a 10% chance of rain. It was definately an overcast day, but the sun did peek through on occassion. The sky looked threatening a couple of times, but the dark clouds managed to pass us by.....

Well - at least until after we finished our meal!!!! Yes we had to endure a short Florida rain shower . Definately not enough to send everyone away, but enough to get us 'cozy' under the shelter of the awning for about 5 minutes! And then it was back to having fun!

And laugh we did!!

Rich was telling everyone about his upcoming foot surgery on Monday, and demonstrated for everyone his ability to to hop around on one foot; we caught him here acting like the "Karate Kid".

But Stan and Sally were very entertaining - definately the "main attraction" of the evening. While we did not have to endure Sally's only two jokes again tonight......................

We see her here in her well known role as the "Bag Lady" - this time however, without her laundry cart!

And Stan entertains the group with his joke about the Wide Mouth Frog.

It was really a fun evening. Rich and I are so fortunate to be able to share such great times with such great people. Have fun and stay safe this summer!

Bowling Again at Wauchula Lanes

It was back to the bowling lanes today. Probably be the last time this year, since Stan and Sally and Ken and Faye will be heading out before next Monday.........but Tom and Margie will still be here........so maybe one more time???

Today - believe it or not...I decided to join Rich and the rest of the crew on the lanes! It's been more than 40 years since I've had a bowling ball in my hand. But we all had a great time..............and I didn't do too bad. Not a lot of pictures today.....just a few of the shining moments!!!!

The first of the day! A TURKEY - Rich throws three strikes in a row!

Donna throws her very first STRIKE!!! After starting the game with a gutter ball and then four pins in the first two frames - my game started to improve!!! My third game was the best - In the 10th frame I threw two strikes and then 9 pins finishing with a 127! YEAH!

Rich had his best game this year and the high score in the second game. He finished with a 187. He playes better and better every week. Good Job Rich!!

And Another TURKEY! Sally was hot today. Here she with a big smile after three strikes in a row.

There were only eight of us there today. Tom Margie, Rich and I bowled on the one lane, while Stan, Sally, Ken and Fay bowled on the other. Thanks to all of you for your teaching techniques........(move to the left, no move to the right, no m0ve to the left.....!!!) It was a fun afternoon.