Pickleball Skills Clinic

Rich had originally scheduled his pickleball skills/techniques clinic on Saturday afternoon - but unfortunately Mother Nature did not cooperate, and so it was rescheduled for Sunday . A nice group out today - perfect number for the two courts.

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Ken came over from Torrey Oaks - but the rest were from here at Peace River, Art, Art, Janet, Bob, Dave and Bruce. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day, asked lots of questions, and hopefully picked up some techniques to improve their game.

Saturday night the pickleball players at Peace River were invited to a Happy Hour hosted by Stan and Sally at Torrey Oaks.

From Peace River tonight was, Bob and Janat, Cal and Diane, Bruce and Gena,

Buddy, Art, Tom and Margie and Rich and I. Several of Stan and Sally's friends at Torrey Oakes joined us. The food was great - and the rain held off so we could enjoy sitting outside on the patio.

ThanksGiving With Family

It's been a very long time since we've spent Thanksgiving Day with our family. This year our plans for dinner changed a couple of tmes. Originally we were to spend the day with close friends, Don and Linda - as we have most every year since we came to Florida. Don and Linda had the opportunity to spend the day with his children, so we opted to have dinner here at Peace River.

But we got a call from Rich's brother, and he and his wife would be arriving in Florida, on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Pictued above with Rich and I are his (older and only) brother Bob, and his wife Diane. It would be our first opportunity to meet Diane since they married - so that made the trip to see them even more special. Bob and Diane are staying at the World Center Marriott in Orlando where they are participating in a week long Bridge Tournament. They are as serious about Bridge, as we are about Pickleball - if you can believe that!! This pictures was taken in the beautifully decorated lobby at the hotel.

Bob had made plans for us to have Thanksgiving Dinner at the Solaris - a restaurant located in the main lobby of the hotel. The buffet was absolutely outstanding - and our table was perfectly located so that Rich could keep one eye on the dessert table. The buffet selections included Ham, Pork, Salmon and the traditional Turkey with all the trimmings. There were also the usual bread, soups and salads along with a very unique create your own pasta station - which I opted to try. It was beyond delicious!! And of course we all helped our selves to more dessert than we really needed. But hey - besides giving special thanks - overeating is a Turkey Day tradition.

Today is a day for Giving Thanks - and we have so much to be thankful for. We have been blessed with the opportunity to enjoy our retirement in good health and with great friends and family. Today Bob and Diane made our Thanksgiving "extra special"

Pickleball Newbies - Dinner with Friends.

Pretty much the same as usual the past couple of days. Pickleball (or laundry) in the morning, Pokeno or Bowling in the afternoon and Pickleball at night. Rich and Dee are back in the park, Mitch and Barb have pulled in. Janet's been down playing - but Bob, after one trip to the courts realized he needed all his energy for some needed work at the righ.

Today - I headed back up to the courts in the morning, as usual, but Rich took off for Sebring. He picked up Linda (his mixed doubles parter) at Tanglewood and the two headed over to Highlands Ridge to play. One of the guys there (Gary) may be partnering up with Rich at some of the upcoming Florida Senior Games.

We've been working on setting up a regular play schedule for the courts here in Peace River, so I spent a little time with the rec person today. Art, one of the young guys who plays with us, had a large piece of wood that will work great for a bulletin type board at the courts. Got all the corners rounded nicely, so I found one of the workers here to paint it for us. We've scheduled regular "beginner training" twice/week, and Rich is now scheduling his skills clinics.

Tuesday and Thursday is beginner training for our newbies. This was the group from today - Vickie (and grandson Cameron), and Terry, Heddy and Art, Janet and Kitsey. This was actually Janet's second time attending. Unfortunately she and Cameron didn't come with proper court shoes today - so we had to ask them to leave the courts once we started hitting some balls. We had a great session, got through a couple of games, and lauged a whole lot!!!!

Tonight we met a group of our pickleball friends at Giovianni's Italian Restaurant in downtown Wauchula. Pictured above (left) is Stan, Sally, Rich, me and Margie. On the right is Mitch, Barb, Bob ( yes we got him to stop working!!), Janet and Tom. No alcoholic beverages are sold here, but you're allowed to bring your own bottle of wine. Mitch and Tom each brought their bottles - that we learned were purchased from two different nursery's, closely located in the same city. And Sally brought along a bottle of her Sally Pearl wine . The food was excellent. Portabello Ravioli was the most popular tonight and got rave revues! The waitress was a real sweetheart - and was glad to accomodate mine and Barb's need for the group picture. The company and conversation was great - bringing a smile or laugh to all before the evening was over.

Dinner with Stan and Sally

Stan and Sally invited us over to their place in Torrey Oaks for dinner Saturday evening. They've continued to do a lot of work on their site, and it is really looking great. A new look to the storage shed- nicely decorated with a widow plant and street address. They laid some great looking stone from the slide area around to the back of the rig, and planted flowers along the fence. New steps, hanging baskets of flowers a pots festively decorated with pointsettias for the holidays. Home Sweet Home!!!

We enjoyed a great dinner of grilled pork chops, red potatoes, mixed veggies, ceasar salad, tomato salad and spicy peaches. And of course Sally shared a bottle of their home made brew: Sally Pearl Wine. After dinner we went inside to watch a video that Stan shot while Sally and I were playing at Kings Point in Sun City last week.......and I was given some pointers on how to improve my court position! While enjoying the video we finished the evening with Fat Free Key Lime Pie and Hot Coffee.

Thanks Stan and Sally for a great evening.

Even The Rain doesn't Stop Pickleball!!

There has not been a whole lot of pickleball players here over the last two weeks - especially at the same time. By Wednesday this week we were close to having enough for two courts. So we were finally back on schedule for 9:00 on Thursday morning. Now, since the 1st of October we have had only ONE day of rain. The second came Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. But about 8:00 Rich headed down to the courts and swept off the worst of the puddles so the court would dry faster.

When we back down just before 9:00 Cal and Buddy were doing more of the same. After about 15-20 minutes of just volleying the ball back and forth, one of the courts was dry enough to play on and more players began to arrive.

And we played until almost noon! Above is Gena and Rich, Bruce and Art, and then Bruce and Rich playing against Buddy and Bruce.

From the top left: Rich and I, Cal and Buddy, Bruce and Bruce and Rich and Art. Most of us came back out to play at 6:00 that night. On Friday morning Bruce and Gena left for Venice/Englewood to spend the holiday - and they'll be gone until probably next Saturday. Late Thursday afternoon Mitch and Barb came in, and on Friday Tom and Margie. About time for another "happy hour" I think!

Anybody Know What This Is Called?

The other day Rich moved his chair for one reason or another, and noticed this interesting caterpiller type bug meandering along on the patio rug. Definately appears to part of the caterpiler family - but this certainly will not become a beautiful butterfly!

Went out on the website to see if I could find out exactly what it was. I must have looked at 100 different ones, but could not find this one. Even tried to narrow it down specifically Florida, and that didn't help either. It was certainly an interesting Google search. I had no idea how many hundreds of different caterpillers there are!

Now this we can relate to! Meet our most recent visitors - stopping for a canine treat; one year old Pomeranian sister and brother, Thea and Teddy. Thea took to her treat right away, but Teddy, he decided to bury it it the dirt for later. Unfortunately sister Thea found it first.

Pickleball, Bowling and NO CAMERA!

I guess Sunday was our day of rest. We talked a lot about yesterday's pickleball event and what a great day it was. Best part of the day was seeing all our pickleball friends laughing and enjoying the day.

After the tourney Bruce and Gena were off to Englewood to take care of business and were not expected back until Tuesday. So we phoned Stan and Sally to see what time they would be playing picklebll on Monday morning. Pickled up Buddy in the morning and we headed to Torrey Oaks. Stan and Rich and Buddy and Richard played together most of the morning while Sally and I worked with two fairly new players - Ken and Maureen. Joe and Cis were in the park and came over to play a few games. They were only in the area for a week or so, to attend their neice's wedding. They are off to the airport on Wednesday, heading back to PA until after the holidays, when they'll return to Torrey Oaks.

Monday afternoon is bowling at the Bowl Of Fun......and this week there was a really good turnout. Last week there were just four - this week we had nine. Stan, Sally, Eleanor, Cis, Ken and Joan from Torrey Oaks, Shirley, Rich and I from Peace River. Stan had the high game with 199, and Sally was right behind with 198! Rich had a total of 400 for the day and I had 331 - not bad for my first time out!

Can't believe I didn't have my camera today!

Rally Tally Tourney - Kings Point

On Saturday, we headed to one of our very favorite places to play - Kings Point in Sun City Center. Most all of the RV'ers in the area know of Louann Dubendorf and her pickleball crew at Kings Point. Every year they look forward to her two events, generally in the Fall and another "Winter in Paradise" after the first of the year. This year some of our friends from the Meadow Pointe community in Wesley Chapel where we live - came to the tournament as well.

That's Louann, in the green sweatshit - welcoming the players at the registration table. And as usual, she made up some of her great goodie bags for all the participants. The event seems to grow larger and larger each time.....There were 65 players registered to play today!!

Above are our friends from Meadow Point, John, who was supposed to play with Don , but because of medical issues he was unable to play. So Louann partnered him up with one of the Kings Point players. Rich teamed up with Chris, and in the bottom left they play against John and Mike. The two ladies are Karen and Cindy. Karen lives in Meadow Point, and Cindy is visiting from California.

And we had a great turnout from our RV crew...... Stan and Buddy playing against the guys from Solivata (up near Orlando) Dennis and Austin, Kathy and Fran, and bottom right - Nate and Bruce.

Stan, Sally and Doug from Torrey Oaks - relax between games. Krystal and Tracy in a hot match! Doug and Richard - knees bent and getting down for the ball!!Krystal and Tracy relax after a tough match as Buddy waits his turn.

That Bob Hughes and Dennis from Tanglewood, Louann and her partner Nadine from Kings Point, Rich and Chris playing against Doug and Rich, and Rich with his mixed doubles partner, Nancy Meyer - from down in Ft. Myers.

Nancy again with partner Cindy - Sally and I played against them - but alas........we lost. Great Return from Nate and Krystal. That's Bruce on the left and Rich playing against Stan and Sally.

Bob and Kathy Hughes, Buddy and his partner , Shirley, from Kings Point in a good match against Austin and Tracy. That' me hiding Sally behind me......and Fran, Kathy and Bob Hughes and Bruce chillin...between matches.

And we brought home a few ribbons this time. Rich and Chris took Gold in the Men's Doubles - competitive division. Karen and Cindy took Gold in the Ladies Doubles, Recreational division. Stan and Buddy took Bronze in the Men's Doubles- Competitive Division, and in the Mixed doubles: Chris and Louann -1st place, Bruce and Jane (his partner from Kings Point- 2nd place, and Rich and Nancy-3rd place in the competitive division. I was supposed to play with Don from MeadowPoint, but since he was not able to play I partnered with John from Kings Point and we took gold in the mixed doubles - recreational division.

The weather was perfect. We had a gret day and look forward to the next one!

Monday - Tuesday- Wednesday

Busy Busy Busy.......... Time to catch up on what's been going on.

We've been getting some pretty cold weather for this time of year, waking up to the high 40's a couple of mornings. Don't usually have the heat on this early in the season - but it's been kicking on almost every night. Until today even the days have been pretty darn nippy, with winds from the north anywhere from 10 to 15 mph!! Talk about Bad Hair Days!!

I'm still nursing this sore neck, wanting to make sure I can play this Saturday at the Rally Tally Tournament over at Kings Point, in Sun City Center. Rich has been out most evenings playing. On Sunday we said goodbye to the Showalters!! We had hoped they'd be staying here in Peace River, but Arik got a job at TT Orlando, so that will be there home for a while. We are really going to miss them - but we hope to see them Saturday at the tournament.

Bowling is officially under way. The group was small - but Rich, Stan, Sally and Eleanor kicked off the Monday afternoon season at the Bowl Of Fun in downtown Wauchula. Everyone bowled some decent games and Rich even had a TURKEY!!!

On Tuesday we had visitors from Kings Point. Louann and JD called and asked Rich to work with them on their pickleball game. Buddy, Bruce and Gena came down to help. Rich would watch and critique their play during a game, and then work one on one with them. They are partnering for most of the tournaments this winter, and wanted Rich to give them some pointers/drills to help improve their game. Louann promised that she, Tony and "the girls" would be over in December with the buggy and stay for a few days. We gave them a quick tour of the park and the river before they left. And then we spent much of the afternoon getting the "blown tire" on the car fixed. I'll let Rich tell you about that!

On Wednesday it was more pickleball practice for Rich. His mixed doubles partner, Linda Kramer came over from Sebring so that the two of them could do some practice drills. While the two of them worked out at the courts for about two hours - I met the group at the adult lounge for some afternoon Pokeno. Made it back to the RV in time to enjoy a little conversation and an afternoon beverage before Linda left for home.

At 5:00 - we were meeting some friends for happy hour at Bill and Brenda's. Bill prepared the most delicious Ribs! I could smell them cooking when I came back from Pokeno about 2 hours earlier! Without a doubt, some of the best ribs we've ever had. There is a little contest going on here between Stan and Bill as to who makes the best ribs. Stan I guess we'll have to try yours' next! To accompany the ribs we had Buddy's potato salad, Gena's macarone salad, my green bean salad, and Shirley's Baked Beans. Brenda topped off the pot luck with some home made brownies.

See you on the courts at 9:00 am tomorrow!

Trick or Treat

Even the dog joins in to enjoy a "Spook-tacular" Hallowed Eve!!!

That's Dalton and Chauna and Shadow the Super Dog!!

Wednesday Night Out!

Not a lot going on since Jack and Diane and Rich and Dee left. Buddy's down with pneumonia, I have a sore shoulder - so the pickleball courts have been pretty empty lately. Bruce and Gena came in on the 31st . Yesterday Barb Purvis came in and one other couple that plays pickleball and Nate and Krystal and the boys have been out a few times at night. But the last couple of nights we gotten some pretty good rain showers.

So, since rain was in the forecast we made plans to go to Sebring to return a buffer that we had previously purchased at Home Depot. Since we were heading that way we invited a few friends to join us for dinner at Homers Smorgasboard.

That's Stan (almost didn't get him in the picture!!!) and Sally, Gena and Kathy Hughes on the left. To the right is Rich, Bruce and Bob. Stan and Sally rode with us. A brief stop at Home Depot, checked out some shrubs and patio furniture for the Michalski site and then watched the beautiful double rainbow while waiting for the rain to ease up long enough to get to the car. Bruce and Gena and the Hughes were there when we arrived. Bob and Kathy are staying at Tanglewood again this year and have only been in town for a few days. Great seeing them again.

As usual dinner at Homers was excellent. And I already know what some of you are waiting to hear - but it seems that the chocolate eclairs no longer decorate the dessert table. But the chocolate monster ( Rich) enjoyed the chocolate pie and then a peanut butter sundae!!