WATER VOLLEYBALL IS A FUN TIME IN THE POOLS

There are a lot of people playing Water Volleyball at TT Palm Springs these days!! And, it is getting to be quite competitive!! November 10 - 12, 2011, Catalina Spa, a neighboring RV Campground, is hosting their 5th Annual Water Volleyball Tournament.

The event will be for Competitive Teams, with 8 players each, as well as Recreational Teams of 12 players. Teams will be organized in advance of the tournament. VB players at TT Palm Springs are getting ready for the big event!!

Ken and I do not participate in the Water Volleyball but it looks like so much fun!! Here is a group that played on Sunday. There are a number of Pickleball players who play Water Volleyball as well. I'll try to point them out. (Names are listed below the picture.)

(The Pickleball Players in the group, from far Left to Right): Linda; Nancy in white tee with up-stretched arms; Rob with back to the camera, reaching high for the ball; (don't know the next two men); Lee with outstretched arms; Richard near the rope with navy and red hat, and Mike with white tee and hat.

Lee has been instrumental in recruiting VB players at both TT Palm Springs and TT Wilderness Lakes. She said she already has her Competitive Team ready to enter the Catalina Spa Tournament. Good Luck, Friend!

More pictures of the fun:

SATURDAY PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AT TT PALM SPRINGS

Sat Oct. 22 - As reported in a previous article, we checked into TT Palm Springs on Wednesday, October 19. We have not been here since early Spring!! We were delighted to discover that Rick is having the Saturday morning Pickleball tournaments again this season. The tournament today was Round Robin Luck-Of-The-Draw, in which everyone draws a card and is assigned the number of the card drawn. Then according to a set format, players' numbers are put with other players, changing for each match. We still enjoy participating in the Saturday Tournaments!!

Pictures of some of the action. Hope I included everyone.

Linda and Rob.

Judy and Mike.

Bob and Ken.

Nancy and Brian.

Richard and Larry.

Judy and Brian.

Linda and Pam.

Lynn and Faye.

And, the Winners! First Place, Judy. Third Place, Brian. Rick who ran the tournament. Second Place, Linda.

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated. Thank you,Rick. It was a lot of fun!! Look forward to next Saturday!!

PICKLEBALL AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES AND TT PALM SPRINGS!!

Oct. 20 - We have spent two weeks at TT Wilderness Lakes, located off I-215 between Los Angeles and San Diego. We left there on Wednesday morning for two weeks at TT Palm Springs. The picture below is the group of Pickleball players who were there in the morning as we were leaving!! A whole group of great players came in yesterday!! Just as we were leaving!! Oh, Great!!

From left to right: Rich, Dee, Dean, Val, Bill, Bob, Phyllis, Ron, Ede, Jessie, Ray.

Have a lot of fun you guys!!!

Now we are at TT Palm Springs, off I-10 east of Los Angeles, about 65 miles from TT Wilderness Lakes. We arrived Wednesday afternoon, got set up, went to Costco and Home Depot, got our flu shots and pneumonia shots at Walgreens, then went to the $2 movie (saw "The Devil's Double"), picked up a pizza on our way home, and collapsed!!

It's early in the season here, nevertheless they have a number of Pickleball players here already!! Captured these guys on the courts this morning!

Left to right: Ranger Linda, Rick who runs the Pickleball program, two new players Nancy and Mike, Roy, Ken, Ranger Larry, Richard, Lee who inspires the Water Volleyball program, and long-time friend Cowboy Paul!

Later this afternoon friends Pam and Bob arrived at the park. We had not seen them since last spring so decided to have an impromptu get-together with them and a few others!!

Seated: Faye, Ken, Pam, Bob. Standing: Brian, Judy, and John. Great fun!!

It's great to be back!!

IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR FRIEND JOHN DAVIS

October 18 - Many of you know our good friends Carolyn, an excellent Pickleball Player, and her always supportive husband John.

This morning we received the very sad news that John died suddenly last night while sitting in his favorite chair, after talking on the cell phone to their daughter.

John and Carolyn had just been here with us at Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes. We had enjoyed Pickleball with Carolyn in the mornings and John drove over to the courts every day to say Hello to the group.

They had just left Wilderness Lakes a few days ago and were camping in their motor home in the middle of the desert at Quartzite, AZ, an area of the West that John loved, when he died. We were very relieved to learn that Carolyn is currently staying with their friends Rich and Lynn in Yuma, just south of Quartzite.

For your information, Carolyn's address is 154 Bandit Lane, Bailey, CO 80421.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Carolyn at this very sad time. We will miss you, John.

SKIN CANCER DOCTORS RADENTZ TIMES TWO!!

Oct. 17 - If this were not so serious, it could be pretty funny!!

Before leaving Arizona, I had seen a dermatologist and had three biopsies performed on areas on my face and on my right thumb. The result of the biopsies showed I did indeed have some skin cancer and needed additional procedures. By the time we got the biopsy results, we had left Arizona and were in California at TT Wilderness Lake. Our Pickleball friend, Jim who had lived in this area for years, recommended his dermatologist in nearby Murrieta. He said it was a husband and wife team. Jim's wife Shirley went to Doctor Leslie, and Jim went to Doctor Bill. I called and was able to get an appointment with Doctor Leslie the following week!

I told Jim I was going in on Wednesday afternoon to determine how the doctor would proceed. Jim said he had an appointment that same afternoon. Later, I told Jim I was going in on Monday afternoon for a procedure Doctor Leslie said was called Mohs Micrographic Surgery. Jim said he was going to see Doctor William that same afternoon!!!

On Monday afternoon, my surgery was complete and I was having the dressing applied when I heard, "Hey, Faye!!" from the hallway. Jim had just arrived for his surgery across the hall. "Hey, Jim. Good luck!"

I asked Doctor Leslie if it would be possible to get a picture of this most unusual happening! Two friends visiting two doctors at the same time. The doctors were wonderful and agreed to my request!

Picture: Doctor Bill, Jim showing the area on his hand pending surgery, Doctor Leslie, and me showing my nasal surgery.

Doctor Leslie told me she had excised sections of skin surrounding my skin cancer and tissue evaluation showed the margins were clear. All evidence of the cancer had been removed. I have two more surgeries to go.

May I take this opportunity to encourage everyone to have a skin check-up with their dermatologist!! Skin Cancer is Serious!!

TWO BIG CELEBRATIONS IN OCTOBER!

Well, I crawled and clawed my way up that huge hill for years and I just rolled over the other side on Sunday, October 2nd!! Yes. I am officially OVER THE HILL!! 75 years old!!

We were staying up in the San Bernardino Mountains, miles away from anything, so we decided to celebrate my big day later in the week. But, we did spend the day eating!!!

First, Ken treated me to a really nice birthday breakfast omelet! Ummmm!

For lunch we had one of our favorites - chopped tomatoes and mixed olives with basil and Feta cheese grilled on tortilla (or pita bread)! Ummmm!

And, for dinner it was Ken's special Shrimp and Crab Fettuccine!! Ummmm! A very tasty birthday!!

Later in the week we moved to the Elk's Lodge in Buena Park, Ca, because we needed to have our Hughes Autoformer repaired. Hughes Autoformer is located in Anaheim, CA, about 15 miles from the Elk's Lodge.

While we were waiting for the repairs, we decided to go to Marie Callender's to celebrate my birthday!

We noticed the cake and pie display as we entered the restaurant!! It looked so sinful!!

Ken ordered a Pecan Pie to go!!

We stopped back by Hughes Autoformer and picked up our repaired unit! Only $175!! What a deal!!

The Elk's Lodge is also located only 30 miles south of Culver City where Ken's Granddaughter Niki lives and works. Fortunately, Niki was able to meet us for dinner at Rush's Cafe on Tuesday evening. Niki has been working 12-16 hours a day at a Zoic Studios that creates movies and TV programs. Currently, she is working on the new TV series, Pan Am. Later, she will be involved with True Blood coming on Showtime. Way to go, Niki!!

Our October celebrations are not over!! Tuesday, October 11, was our Anniversary!! Our 32nd Anniversary!! We decided to go to Outback Steakhouse in Temecula. We both knew it was too much, but we started with their famous Blooming Onion!! Only about 2000 calories!! But oh so good!!!

After our Steak dinner, our waiter Branden surprised us when he brought a complimentary Anniversary dessert!! It looked like a volcano! Ice cream topped with whipped cream with hot fudge sauce and Oreo cookie crumbles! Ummmm!! Delicious!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us!!

BACK AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES, CALIFORNIA

We arrived at TT Wilderness Lakes, California, on October 5th. Soon after that we were on the Pickleball Courts ready to play. It's a little early in the season, so there are only a few of us, but we had enough for a foursome with one or two sitting out.

Here are Ken, Jessie, Jim and Ede who lives nearby.

And another foursome: Al who is a Ranger here, Carolyn, Faye and Jim.

It is great to play with these players again!

The courts have been redone and now we have four courts, painted across the tennis court. Al was instrumental in getting that work done. Thanks, Al!!

I have been getting up about 5:40 AM to exercise a little before Ken gets up. If I don't do it early, I just don't get it done. At this time of year it's a little too cold and dark to walk outside that early in the morning, especially since they have a great Fitness Center here at Wilderness. I have been walking on the treadmill and a little light weights every morning while Ken snoozes!

Our plants have been growing all Summer. We all know that Ken has a "green thumb" but this is ridiculous!!

(Left to right) Periwinkle, Mint (almost hidden from view behind the Periwinkle), Basil, and Purple Shamrock!!

GRANDSON RUSSELL'S HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME

Friday, Oct. 7 - Ken's Grandson Russell attends Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, CA. And, he plays defense on the Varsity Football Team!! We wanted to watch him play; so we drove down on Friday afternoon to go to the game!!

Russell was great!! He played the entire game -- every time the defense was on the field!! His number 67 and name were announced a number of times as being the defensive player involved in the tackle!! We were so proud!!

On one particular play, on Fourth Down for the opposing team, as the punter kicked the ball, Number 67 was there and blocked the kick; then Russell charged down the field and fell on the loose ball, less than 10 yards from the Lancer's goal line!! Yeah Russell!! What a play!!

Here Russell receiving instructions from his Godfather!!

A family picture with the hero!! Jacob, Emily, Faye, Russell, Rich, and Ken.

Congratulations Russell on a great game!! That was a lot of fun!!!