AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES: "COUNTRY STRONG"

Today we went to the Cinemark10 $2 movies -- Saw Gwyneth Paltrow andTim McGraw in "Country Strong". We both liked it. I was prepared not to like it because I really didn't like any of the Trailers I had seen on TV. But, it turned out to be better than we expected. Gwyneth did an outstanding job with the singing. And Tim did a good job in a non-singing dramatic role.


We thought the new country songs were all very good but we both commented that all the songs were slow. Only one song had an up beat, when Gwyneth sang "Shake That Thing". That was our favorite. I'll have to find the line dance step sheet for that one!

We stayed through the credits to see Ken's Grand-daughter's name as Visual Effects Coordinator - Niki Hillier!! Great job Niki. The Visual Effects were terrific!!

We both can recommend the movie! Not really great, but very good!!

WHERE ARE WE NOW?? TT PALM SPRINGS, CA

JOE AND PAM AT THEIR NEW HOME IN LA QUINTA, CA

Mar 07 - Friends Pam and Joe have been leasing a site this winter at TT Palm Springs. They have lived nearby for years and have some family living in the area. So, they took advantage of their time here and bought a house in LaQuinta, about five miles from the campground.

Other mutual friends, Pam and Bob, have spent the last two months at the Voyager in Arizona. They are back at TT Palm Springs for a few days before heading home in Washington. We decided to leave TT Wilderness Lakes a day earlier than scheduled so we could see them again before they left. We arrived at TT Palm Springs late this morning.

Pam and Joe invited the four of us to their new home for Margaritas and nibbles before going out to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, the Fisherman.

(I had my camera but the battery was still in the charger, so only a couple telehone pictures!)

Joe and Bob threaten to throw Ken into the pool!!


Toasting the new house and good friends.

Ken, Pam, new home owners Joe and Pam, and Bob.

After the champaign toast, we went to the Fisherman for dinner. It's a very popular place. At this restaurant, you stand at the counter where you can view the different fish on ice and make your selection. They have dinner specials and if you are in line before 5:30 pm, you get an Early Bird Discount. After ordering, waiters take you to a table and later bring your order to you. Ken ordered Fish and Chips; I had chargrilled Salmon. Food was delecious!

We, ourselves, have been out of TT Palm Springs for a month (per TT Rules), so it was fun getting together with all of them again!!

CANDY BAR BINGO!!

Mar 05 - This afternoon, after Pickleball, a group of us decided to go to Candy Bar BINGO. They play here every Saturday and actually give away Candy Bars -- not the tiny Candy Bars but fulll size bars!! It's not often you get something for nothing so we took advantage!

Beverly, Dick, Judy, Bert, Carol, Ken and Faye.


We like they way they play here. Linda keeps calling numbers even after there is a winner, even after 5, 10 or even 15 winners. Finally, she says to "clear the cards" and those of us who have not won anything yet give a loud grown. But, another game follows and we are given another chance to win.

It's an eliborate set-up with numbers on computer and shown on a big screen. Linda calls the numbers over a microphone. No reason to miss a number!


Everyone is given four cards. If they win with a card, they have to turn that card in.

We get to choose our prize from a big box of Candy Bars.

Ken is choosing one of his FOUR Candy Bars that we won today. I only won two.

It was a good day at BINGO!!

MORE PICKLEBALL AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES

Mar 05 - We left TT Pio Pico on Tuesday the First and returned to TT Wilderness Lakes. After recovering from a bad cold, I was out on the Pickleball courts today, Saturday. There were a lot of players and they played a lot of Pickleball -- from 8:30 a.m. until 12 noon!! I don't play that long -- only a couple of games in a couple of hours.

Here are some of the players who were there this time.

Ed, Judy, Phyllis, Frank.

Ken, Judy, Faye, Ron.

Greg, Nell, Edie, Ron.

Phyllis, Greg, Lige, Gordon.

Frank, Ed, Judy, Ken.

A girls game -- Sis, Phyllis, Edie, Nell.

Ron, Gordon, Sis, Lige.

Gordon, Nell, Al, Anthony.

Anthony, Faye, Nell, Ken.

Ed, Gordon, Judy, Gene.

A great group of players! What Fun!!!

A NEW GAME INVENTED AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES

A new interesting, exciting, fun game is being played following Pickleball at TT Wilderness Lakes!! The game was invented by Bill (left).

The new game is a combination of Pickleball (of course), Tennis, Volleyball, and Fun!! It is played on the entire tennis court using a Pickleball and paddles. Today there were four players on each team; yesterday each team had five players. I suppose the game can be played with six or more players on each team.

Apparently the only rule is there are no rules!!! Actually there are a few rules.

When serving you can stand anywhere on the appropriate side of the court and you must serve cross court. The serve must land in the opposite service box. When a team earns the serve, players rotate on the court as they do in volleyball.

The Pickleball two-bounce rule applies. The ball bounces once in the receivers' court. The servers must let the ball bounce on their end of the court before being able to volley the ball.

Set-up and assist is allowed as in volleyball, except only one assist is allowed before the ball must be hit to the opponents. This set-up and assist seems to be very effective.

After the above rules, anything goes!! The group seemed to have a lot of fun which is another rule of the game -- Have Fun!!

Here is some of the action!

BURNOUT AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES

March 01 - We moved from TT Pio Pico back to TT Wilderness Lakes. When we came into the preserve we drove to the area where we prefer to park -- across from the Pickleball courts. This is the sight that greeted us!! Someone's fifth wheel had caught fire at about 10:30 this morning. We arrived at about 12:30.

The owners of fifth wheel had gone to the Office. Pickleball players saw the fire from the courts and ran over the help. They removed the propane tank and used multiple fire extinguishers to help put out the fire, but it burned too fast. This is all that was left!

For more details on the fire, click on Dancin'Dottie's Blog (in my right margin). She and Larry were on the scene!!

TT PIO PICO AFTER A HEAVY RAIN

Jan 06 - It rained all last night and most of today so we hibernated most of the time. After the rains we took a look around. Our babbling brook had become a raging "river"!!

Our creek ran through the preserve and crossed the Otay Lakes Road just outside the gate. The road was flooded!

Some cars drove through anyway!

DINNER WITH JEANNETTE AND JOHN

Feb. 24 - Today we went to visit Jeannette and John again. I have known Jeannette for years. In fact, Jeannette's sister Betty Lou was a classmate of mine and was my best friend. We all grew up together, went to school together, got baptized together, got married together, had children together, worked together, etc. Anyway, Jeannette and her husband, John have lived in San Diego for years. We always enjoy stopping by to see them whenever we are in the area.

I had carried with me a DVD of my Manchester High School class reunions. Although she was a couple of years behind Betty Lou and me in school, Jeannette knew most of my classmates and I thought she would enjoy seeing them as they are today. Before going out to dinner, we got a kick out of looking at the reunion pictures on the DVD. It was so funny! Our husbands were very patient listening to all of our laughs and "Who the heck is that?" and "Do you remember..." comments.

Later we went to dinner at their favorite haunt, Bully's.

We soon discovered why they like Bully's so much. Not only were the Prime Ribs delicious, but they were personal friends of the owner, JD!! We had the pleasure of meeting him, too.

Faye, Jeannette, John and JD.

After dinner, we had the waitress take our picture for the Blog!!

Thank you Jeannette and John for a delightful evening!

ON AN ADVENTURE WITH PHIL

Feb 22 - We moved from TT Wilderness Lakes today to TT Pio Pico, southeast of San Diego, CA. We did not have to go temporarily to the North side as so often happens. We were able to go directly to a site on the South side. This is probably the best site we have ever had at TT Pio Pico. Not only is the site a large one with good views, it has 50 amps!!!

The view from our side yard -- A Babbling Brook!!!


One of the first people we saw after setting up was Phil. We had run into Phil several times in the past few months. In fact, we heard that he had won Gold in two Basketball events in the Palm Desert Senior Games -- The Free Throw and The Hot Shots!! When we asked him about it, he showed us his medals -- Impressive!!

Phil had told us he was coming to TT Pio Pico and how much he enjoyed the area because of the hiking and the Watercress that grows here. He agreed to take us on a short hike to gather Watercress that grows in a nearby creek. I was excited.

Before leaving, however, Phil and Ken argued about who had the better hiking sticks!! Phil's stick was made from Yucca cactus and Ken's was made from Saguaro cactus ribs. Both were strong and light weight!! But, Ken's was prettier!!

We found the Watercress!!

Here we are with our harvest!!

Thank you, Phil, for the adventure and the Watercress!! I have already made a delicious sandwich of soft bread and butter and Watercress. UUMMMMM!!

ALL WE COULD EAT AT ASIA SEAFOOD BUFFET, MURRIETA, CA

Ranger Al had mentioned to Ken that Asia Seafood Buffet in Murrieta had a great Chinese Buffet and they had Senior Day all day on Tuesdays -- one-half off for Seniors!! Sounded good to us so we decided today was the day to give it a try.

We told others on the Pickleball courts about the Asia Seafood Buffet and announced that we were going on Tuesday. Since Al could not leave until 4:30 we decided to leave at 4:15 and get a table for the group. Amazingly, when I called the restaurant to be certain they could accommodate our group, they asked if I wanted to make a reservation -- which I did!! When we arrived, there was a line out the door, but because of the reservation, we were able to pass on in!!

The buffet was as great as Al had described!! They had all the Chinese dishes plus piles of King Crab Legs and Shrimp and other Seafood plus a great Sushi Bar!! Great recommendation, Al!!

We had a total of 18 in our group!! Great turn-out!!

HAL AND ALTHEA VISIT US AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES

This morning, Tuesday, we were playing a game of Pickleball when Hal and Althea walked through the gate!! We have not seen them for years!! They are staying in Palm Springs and came to Hemet on other business. They took a detour to visit us at TT Wilderness Lakes.

The last we had heard, they had bought a place up in Washington a few years ago, so we figured we would not be seeing them again. They said they sold that place after a year and bought another in Mesa, Arizona!! Quite a change in climate!! They still have their rig and do some limited travel from time to time.

Hal played a couple of games of Pickleball with us. Said he had not played in quite a while until he got to TT Palm Springs. He still has his famous Slice and Dice technique!!

It was so good seeing them again. They looked wonderful!!

KATHY AND RON COME FOR TACOS

Valentines Day at TT Wilderness Lakes and we invited Cousin Kathy and Ron over for Tacos for lunch. Sunday had been a beautifully warm day but today it was overcast and cold, burrrr!! But Tacos were very good.

After lunch we cleared the table for a game of Euchre. They had never played so it was fun teaching them the game. Ron caught on quickly and Kathy kept saying, "I don't understand" as she took trick after trick! It was a close game but Kathy led the girls to victory!!

A BIG SURPRISE FOR FAYE!!

Today, a knock on the door. Who could it be? When I opened the door – it was my cousin and her husband, Kathy and Ronnie, all the way from Richmond, Virginia!!!!! We had heard from her a couple of months ago that they might be heading West in their motorhome. I responded, asking them when and where they planning to be. Then I forgot about them!

And here they are!!!