Saturday, July 10, 2010

STAN AND SALLY AT TT ST. CLAIR!!

July 10 – Stan and Sally were among the first to greet us when we arrived at TT St. Clair. Later, they invited us to their place for dinner. We went together on a bucket of Meijer fried chicken and trimmings. Sally has started a new hobby – Wine Making!!! That’s a bottle of her “Sallypearl Wines” on the table!! It was really good!!!




It was good catching up on what’s been going on with them!

TT ST. CLAIR MEN’S AND WOMEN’S PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENTS

July 10 – Carol Manning organized the tournaments for the weekend. On Saturday they had the Men’s and Women’s Tournaments. We did not arrive until the tournament was over so I don’t really know too much about it. Except they said it was a “full round robin”; everybody played everybody; everybody played seven games!!

Winners of the Women’s Pickleball Tournament were: Julie 1st Place, Carol 2nd Place, and Sally 3rd Place.
Winners of the Men’s Pickleball Tournament were: Dennis 1st Place, Tom 2nd Place, and I’m not certain about the 3rd Place Winner.

Congratulations to all of you!!


ON THE ROAD AGAIN – AT LAST!!

July 05 – 10 – We said Good-Bye to our family and friends and left TT Chesapeake Bay for the last time on Monday and spent five days in Richmond, VA finalizing some doctor’s visits and other odds and ends before leaving the area for an extended time!!

Early Friday morning we left on our 745 mile trip to TT St. Clair, MI where they were having their annual Pickleball Rally and Tournament. It was exciting to be On The Road Again!! We stayed overnight at the Flying J in Hubbard, OH. Ken was not too keen on staying at the Flying J with all those trucks. I suggested we use the RV diesel pump instead of the faster truck pumps. That way we could use our Credit Card and still get the Cash Price. Then we could stay overnight in the RV section. We were the first rig to park there and had a very quiet and pleasant evening. On Saturday we had only about 200 more miles to travel to our destination.

When we crossed the Michigan state line we were very glad we had made that stop at the Flying J!!! Saved us many $$$ on fuel cost!!

We arrived at TT St. Clair at just after 12 Noon – just in time for the end of the Saturday Pickleball tournament and in time for the Hobo Stew and Hot Dogs they were feasting on. Everybody insisted that we come and join them!! But we had not even found a site for our RV. Didn’t matter – we had to join them!! It was delicious and a lot of fun and gave us an opportunity to become reacquainted with many of our Pickleball friends!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

FOURTH OF JULY PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AT TT CHESAPEAKE BAY

July 4 - Another Pickleball Tournament was held at TT Chesapeake Bay on the Fourth of July. This resort is becoming a real Pickleball Mecca!!!


Again the tournament organizers were Mike and Michelle and Rick, and we followed the Memorial Day format of four divisions – Championship, A, B, and C Brackets.

This time there were fourteen teams. Here is the group of Tournament Participants!!

Here is some of the action!!



New players Jerry and Randy. It was just their luck (or by design) that they started the day by playing one of the strongest teams, Rich and Dee!!



Rich and Dee are such strong players they really didn't need to resort to Dee's tactic of distracting the opponents with a little LEG as she is doing here!! Looking good, Dee!!

Tom and Mike are getting rather used to this tournament stuff!!

Or, did I speak too soon!!

Keith returned to the campground just in time for the tournament. He is playing with Julie.


Many of you remember Jack. Well, Jack thought his son was going to be his partner for the tournament. But son, Andy, brought his wife, Kelly and they played together. Andy has played a few times, Kelly almost never!! But what a strong team they made. Well they are both YOUNG and skilled tennis players. Great playing you guys!!


Jamie and John are fairly new players but they had such a good time!! I voted this team as the Most Congenial because they were so nice even if they were loosing!!


Now, here is a strong team!! Mike and Melvin. They played against us!! How could they beat up on Mike's dad and me like that???!!!


Here we are. Mike and Melvin cleaned our clock, but we came alive later in the tournament!!
(Diane looks on with great interest!)


Gilbert and Scott made a great team. We hate to admit it but they took care of us in our last game.


Eddie and Jason were partners. I didn't recognize Jason because the last time I saw him, he was a Blond!!

Jason can really jump, too!!

Todd and Laura were a good team -- both strong players!


Jack found a new partner, Carol, since Andy was playing with Kelly and not with his Dad!!


Amy and Rick made a very strong team!! Their first game was against Rick's wife, Joanne.

Linda and Joanne were teamed up again for this tournament!



Before the Tournament, players had formed partnerships and the partnerships were “seeded” into the Championship Division. As players lost matches, they were moved into the various brackets. Players who did not lose a match remained in the Championship Division. Everyone was guaranteed to play three games.

For your information, here is how the Championship Bracket looked with everyone signed in.


THE WINNERS!!

Jamie and John (Most Congenial) were Runners Up in C Bracket and were awarded a jar of pickles!!

Jack and Carol won C Bracket!!
Ken and I won the jar of pickles as Runners Up in B Bracket!!

And congratulations Gilbert and Scott for winning B Bracket!!
Todd and Laura were Runners Up in A Bracket!!

Tom and Mike won A Bracket.

Rick and Amy were Runners Up in the Championship Bracket!!!

Dee and Rich won the Championship Bracket -- the whole thing!! Congratulations to the two of you. Guess a little leg helps!! Just kidding Dee!!

Thanks to our tournament organizers for a great time!!!

NEXT TOURNAMENT WILL BE LABOR DAY WEEKEND!! BE THERE!!!