From Peace River to TT Orlando

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly three days since we left Peace River. We pulled out of the park about 9:30 Tuesday morning and stopped for a quick lunch at Burger King before we pulled into TT Orlando. We always like to park back in the wooded section, and we were surprised when the site we like the best was open. So we pulled in to Site D157, had everything set up including Direct TV in time to be at the courts by 3:00 for pickleball.

There were only about a dozen of us out playing, but it was so nice to see some folks that we hadn't seen since last year, like Charlotte and Dean and Margie. We had been so dissapointed when Nate and Krystal, decided to spend the winter in Orlando instead of Peace River this year when both Krystal and Arik were able to find jobs there. Tuesday was Krystal's day off so she and Nate and Austin were out on the courts.

At about 6:00 we headed out for dinner. It was Chili's tonight where we both ordered a chicken dish........It was OK, but definately not worth the price. Neither of us are big fans of Chili's but it was close and we gave it one more try........Probably won't go back!

The tire on Rich's bike went flat just before we left Peace River so we made a quick stop at WalMart to pick up a tire, a washer we needed for the water hose and then a few groceries before we headed back. We called it a day about 9:00. We had to get up early the next morning.

On Wednesday morning the alarm went off about 6:15am, and we were on the road to The Villages by 7:15. We were meeting Coach Mo at 8:30 at the pickleball courts at Pimlico.

Didn't get the camera out in time to catch Mo on the courts, but here's Rich playing his last game of the morning.

And we were really surprised to see this lady at The Villages!! This is Sandy Rohner, the USAPA Ambassador from Halfmoon, NY and we learned that she was visiting The Villages and renting a villa there until mid March. We had originally met Sandy over in Ft. Lauderdale last year at the National Senior Games. She and I played about 4 or 5 games together that morning.
We stopped at Subway to pick up a couple of subs and headed back to Mo's place to meet up with Jeanne and have lunch. That was followed by a delicious peanut butter/chocoate dessert that Jeanne had prepared. We watched some of the video that Mo and Rich had filmed this summer while we were there, and then some video that was taken of Mo and his partner playing at the USAPA Tournament out in Buckeye, AZ last month. We picked up 10 more of Coach Mo's DVD's and headed back to Orlando. Rich changed the bike tire and we headed back down to the courts for pickleball at 3:00. About 3/4 of the way to the courts.....................the brand new tire on the bike went flat AGAIN!! It has now been determined that the rim is the problem.............and so next on our list of 'TO DO's' is to pick up another bike for Rich!

At the courts we learned that a Happy Hour had been planned for 5:30 that evening at the Showalters.

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure......this is AVA, the newest member of the Showalter family. AVA enthusiastically greeted us upon our arrival.
Unfortunately - mother nature decided that an outdoor happy hour was not to be enjoyed this evening. It started to rain, so we had to pack up all the food and move the happy hour indoors at the Clubhouse.

Tracy, Jim and their daughter along with Margie and Dean.

Happy Hour folks mingling and Dave stops to pose with Charlotte!

And the Showalters - our Hosts for the evening. Krystal made enough Lasagna for everyone and the rest of us brought a dish to pass.

Another reason for our Happy Hour tonight was to celebrate year number 61 with the Birthday Boy! Austin surprises Dean with his birthday cake! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAN!!!

Today we both slept in a little later than normal. Rich headed back for the pickleball courts at 3:00 today and said there was a big group playing. And he and a few other guys made plans to meet back at the courts at 7:00 pm............ It's nearly 9:00pm - so he must be having a good time!!!