Saturday, September 27, 2008

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US”


HAPPY BIRTHDAY -- FAYE, JIMMY, AND DIANE (Absent)!!!”

Hate to say it, but, I’m having ANOTHER birthday coming up on October 2nd!! Our daughter-in-law, Diane, celebrated her much younger birthday last week. And, our friend Jimmy recently had a birthday, too. We decided to have a joint birthday party.

Diane was going to bring soup. I was providing grilled cheese sandwiches, and Jimmy’s wife, Delores, bought the Birthday Cake.


And then it RAINED!! Delores and Jimmy and Ken and I were the only ones from our group at the Campground. All of our other friends stayed at home. What to do?????

Delores had a great idea. Let’s cut the cake anyway!! OK!!!






I brought the makings for grill cheese sandwiches (perfectly grilled by Delores)!!











And Ken made his delicious Tomato Basil Soup.



We four had a fun and tasty dinner together.














Followed by delicious Birthday Cake.







Then I had a HUGH surprise!! Delores had made a birthday present for me!! You will never guess what it is!! All of you Pickleball players will be SO JEALOUS!!!




She had printed a tee shirt for me. The picture came from our BLOG -- The 2008 Thousand Trails 1st Annual Pickleball Tournament!! What a surprise!!



THANK YOU, Delores, for the birthday celebration and the perfect memento!!!





Monday, September 22, 2008

KEN LOOKS AT KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY!!

We have had great pickleball at TT Chesapeake Bay recently. However, it has taken it's toll on the Ewbank's!!

I've developed what feels like Arthur in my right hip and I have to hobble onto the courts. My play has not been very good lately

Ken, however, is worse off than I. He has had arthritis in his right knee for years. With playing so much pickleball, his knee has been killing him!! Today we saw his orthopedic surgeon and scheduled knee replacement surgery for Friday, October 17. Assuming all goes well with surgery and recovery, we will begin on our tentative schedule on November 18th, when we hope to leave for Florida again!!

Wish us luck!!

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

DATE IN DATE OUT LOCATION
(Revised 10/11/2008)


10/07/08 10/16/08 TTN Chesapeake Bay, VA
10/17/08 10/17/08 Ken has Knee Replacement Surgery, Richmond
10/16/08 10/27/08 Elk’s Lodge, Richmond, VA (Faye staying in RV; Ken in Rehab??)
10/27/08 12/01/08 TTN Chesapeake Bay, VA
12/01/08 12/04/08 Traveling
12/04/08 12/15/08 TTN Orlando, FL
12/15/08 12/18/08 Extend at TTN Orlando, FL
12/18/08 01/01/09 TTN Peace River, FL
01/01/09 02/01/09 TTN Peace River, FL RENT JANUARY
02/01/09 02/15/09 TTN Orlando, FL
02/15/09 03/01/09 TTN Peace River, FL
03/01/09 03/15/09 TTN Orlando, FL
03/15/09 03/29/09 TTN Peace River, FL

2008 BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL AT TT CHESAPEAKE BAY

This weekend our campground sponsored their 2nd Annual Bluegrass and Bluegrass Gospel Festival. Groups from all over the state and North Carolina played all afternoon and evening.






























I went to the evening performances. (That’s why my pictures are sooo dark.)
























Then I remembered – my flash has a setting to make the background bright. I tried that one. Now, I see. The camera should have been on a tripod!!







All of the performances were great and enjoyed by all. We look forward to the 3rd Annual!!

MORE “TRANSIENTS” PLAY PICKLEBALL AT TT CHESAPEAKE BAY

We have been having more fun playing Pickleball every morning. There are six transients here at the same time!!

Sam & Barbara learned Pickleball in Texas last Thanksgiving. They really enjoy the game!!
Bill, Charlotte, and Dennis are all “A” players. We know them best from playing at TT Orlando.
Wayne is a great player, too. He is stopping here after being at Hershey.

We are thrilled to welcome them all!!!


DEL AND JERRY BRING HANNA TO TT CHESAPEAK BAY

Del and Jerry, really good Pickleball friends from the West, came to TT Chesapeake Bay the weekend that Hanna came to town. We were able to play three great games of Pickleball with them on Friday morning before going to the Manager’s “Hurricane Meeting”. At the meeting, it was recommended that everyone evacuate the campground, just to be on the safe side. They were expecting trees down and possible loss of electric and water. The four of us decided to evacuate to the Richmond Elk’s Lodge for the weekend. Fortunately, Hanna was downgraded and caused little damage in our area. After the storm, Del and Jerry decided not to return to Chesapeake Bay. Instead, they went to tour Williamsburg for a couple of days and then went to TT Forest Lakes, NC. We never saw them again!
And now, here comes Morgan to Chesapeake Bay. He came from Forest Lakes where HE had been playing Pickleball every day with OUR friends, Del and Jerry!!! So now, we’ll enjoy playing with our new friend, Morgan!!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

UPGRADING TO DIGITAL TV

(A "JERRY-RIGGER'S" HOW TO GUIDE)

[Thursday, July 18, 2008] We have been talking about this for awhile. Analog is OUT – Digital is IN. So – today we decided to replace our old 1999 Analog TV in the bedroom with a new flat screen LCD. We have been looking at TVs at Sam’s, Costco, Circuit City, and Wal-Mart every time we were in the stores. Finally, we compromised on a 19” LCD Television. (Ken wanted a 22”.)








We went FROM THIS --















TO THIS!!!
















First, Ken removed the old TV from its built-in frame.












After taking measurements, we went to Wal-Mart and made the purchase.















Then, next door to Home Depot where we had them cut a piece of plywood and support strips to proper size to fit into the frame opening.










While Ken screwed in the support strips,














I sprayed the plywood black.












Ken then screwed the plywood onto the support strips.










Next, we installed the TV Wall Mount onto the plywood.

















After a Pizza break -





We connected the electric cord and the TV cable and mounted the TV onto the Wall Mount,.

This evening we are lying in bed watching our new Sanyo 19” LCD High Definition Digital Television.



Da Dah!!!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

PICKLEBALL COMES TO THOUSAND TRAILS CHESAPEAKE BAY, VA!!

We started playing Pickleball at Thousand Trails Rancho Oso, near Santa Barbara, CA in 2002. We have enjoyed playing all over the country, and have made many great friends on many Pickleball courts. We LOVE this game!!

Several years ago, when we came back to Virginia, we introduced our favorite game, Pickleball, to family and friends who are “seasonal campers” at our home park, Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay. We ordered Spike’s Paddles for them and taught them the rules and strategies of the game.

But, for years we could only get a very few people interested in playing.





Joanne and Rick


Wayne and his wife Linda



We presented all of them pickle pins at a pinning ceremony. Joanne is so proud of her pin that she wears it as a charm on her gold charm necklace!!





Ken and MikeE



Father and Son – an unbeatable combination.

PICKLEBALL BOOMS AT TT CHESAPEAKE BAY

This past summer (2008) a strange thing happened!! Suddenly, lots of people started playing Pickleball. They came out every morning – wanted paddles and balls -- wanted to know how to play. We ordered more Paddles and balls. We gave lots of lessons. The new players, of course, taught their friends to play. And now we have a really good group of Pickleball players at TT Chesapeake Bay!!!







Eddie, Ken, Keith and Mark















Tim, Gilbert, Scott and Julie (Tim’s wife)













Scott, MikeE (hidden), Gilbert and Mike






Players then began asking, “How can I get a Pickle Pin?” “I want a Pickle Pin!” So, Faye conducted Pickle Pinning Ceremonies for the new players who showed enthusiasm and an indication that they loved the game!!



Faye gives a rousing “O”vation before pinning for some of the local players.
Mike, Tim, Julie, Scott, MikeE, Keith and his daughter, Ashley.






Another ceremony for more local players (plus a couple of visitors).
Bill, Eddie, Gilbert and Mark squatting. Jack and Winzell were visiting at the time.



Delores, our newest player; Katelyn, Mike’s daughter and a very enthusiastic player; and Butch who came down from Hershey. (Notice my new Pickleball shirt!!!)



PICKLEBALL FRIENDS VISIT CHESAPEAKE BAY, SUMMER OF 2008!!

Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay is different from a lot of other Thousand Trails parks. It is a family oriented park. Most of the people who frequent the resort are local campers and their families. But, we do have a few transients who pass through and have joined us for Pickleball. You may recognize some of them.





















What a thrill it was when our long-time friends Wayne and Nancy visited the park from Montana and Arizona. It just happened that two other couples, who are good friends, were visiting at the same time. What FUN!!

Wayne and Nancy took us under their wings when we were just learning about Pickleball; Karen and Harry visiting from Pennsylvania; and Ralph and Mary from Kentucky.



Lynn and Steve have traveled around the country. They know and played with many of our friends.

Bill’s first love is Tennis, but he joins us on the Pickleball court occasionally.




Mike (white shirt and hat) and his wife Jeannette came from Happy Trails in Arizona. They knew so many of our old friends out west that we felt they were “old friends”, too.

Tom and his wife Amy (next picture) learned to play this past July. That’s when they were camped across from the Pickleball court. Every day they watched us play. Finally we told them there was a fee to watch, but the fee was waved if they participated. The next morning they were on the court. Now, they are the first ones on the court when they are here. We gave their daughter, Tabatha a pickle pin as an official Pickleball Orphan.


We first met Jack on the beginner’s court at Thousand Trails Peace River, FL this past winter. He said he was afraid to play with me (Faye). Said I kept yelling at him in Florida. “Get up to the line!!” “Stay back; Stay back!!”“Let it bounce!!”
Vickie was a new, enthusiastic player. She also joined Faye for Water Aerobics, and was pretty card-smart when playing Hand and Foot.


Harry’s expression shows how we all feel about the game!!!

SO MANY PLAYERS – SO LITTLE COURT SPACE -- ADDING MORE PICKLEBALL COURTS

Suddenly, in the Summer of 2008 there were so many Pickleball players at TT Chesapeake Bay that one court simply was not enough. Sometime we had 15-20 people waiting to play. A year ago we had talked with the Assistant Manager, Ru a Pickleball player herself, about painting two courts across the ends of the tennis court, making two more courts available for play. That was agreed to, but it was a matter of getting it done. With so many players, we now had plenty of volunteers. Ru ordered the nets and we did the rest!




Billy is a member of the Maintenance Staff. He was a major player in getting the lines for the new courts painted, and in setting the poles for the nets.







MikeE tapes the corners before painting.





Keith paints the first lines.



Gilbert and Eddie untangle lines for the nets.


HAPPY VOLUNTEERS!!!

MikeE, Billy, Eddie, and Mike
Delores’ husband Jimmy (behind) and the man in yellow shirt don’t even play.

FIRST ANNUAL LABOR DAY PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AT THOUSAND TRAILS CHESAPEAKE BAY, VA!!

As you’ve read above, we now have a lot of really enthusiastic Pickleball players at TT Chesapeake Bay!!! Believe me, when they are here, they are on the courts at 8 - 11:30 in the morning and again from 7 – 11 at night!! They have gotten their spouses to play, as well as their friends!! Well. They are young!!! What can you say?


Soon, they were asking, “When can we have a tournament??”

Monday, Labor Day, seemed the perfect time. So we organized and ran a tournament -- the first for most of the players. We explained to all participants that it would be a round-robin format, strictly Luck-of-the-Draw. We had FOURTEEN participants for the First Annual Labor Day Pickleball Tournament!! A Great Time was had by all!!










Tournament Participants: Delores, Butch, Faye, Ken, Joanne, Rick, Linda, Wayne, Jack, Julie, Tim, Keith, Katelyn and her dad, Mike.









Our WINNERS!!
(Right to Left) Rick, lst Place.
Keith and Ken tied for 2nd but Luck-of-the-Draw gave Keith 2nd and Ken 3rd Place.
















Participants pose with our Winners!!