MORE PICKLEBALL (CONTINUED)

One afternoon after Pickleball, Ken and Anja (who had the site across from us), invited us over for an impromptu German dinner. She had prepared specially seasoned chopped chicken breast that we stuffed into wheat Pita Bread with sliced tomatoes, shredded cabbage and garnished with seasoned soar cream. Rice was served on the side. It was delicious. I asked Anja what the dish was called and she told me but I could not understand her German accent. I asked her to spell it. "GYRO". Oh, I pronounced it JI-Row!! (Which may be what she had said - HA HA)

Thank you so much Anja and Ken!! That was great!!

At last, Pickleball players have started arriving!! Just as we are about to finally leave the area!! One morning we were surprised to find our friend Tom at the courts. And the next day Oland arrived!! This is so much fun!!! We now have enough players to play again!!

Ken and Oland playing against -

Ken and Tom!! They had so much fun!!

An then, later on, three new players arrived!! Gary and Carl had met up in Washington.

And this little guy met us at the courts one morning!! Welcome, Mr. Tarantula!

Life is grand at Verde Valley!!

MORE PICKLEBALL AT TT VERDE VALLEY, AZ

Sept 12 - We are still having fun playing Pickleball in the mornings. Players come and players go, but there are a few of us here!

Here Ken has been playing with Ray, Lynda, and Bruce. After Pickleball, Lynda and Ray have been joining me at the pool for some water aerobics.

Keith and Ken.

Bruce and Ken.

On Sunday afternoon the Pickleball players got together for Happy Hour at our site.

Anja and Ken.

Roberta and Keith.

Bruce and Cheryl.

Ray and Lynda.

Ken and Faye.

Lots of goodies! Lots of conversation! Lots of fun!

BON VOYAGE MARY AND KEN

Friday - Sept. 02 - We have been playing Pickleball with Mary and Ken (from England) every morning for a couple of weeks. Sadly, they are leaving TT Verde Valley tomorrow to go to a campground in Mesa for a few nights. They will leave their motor home in storage and will fly out of Phoenix on Tuesday morning to go back home to England for a few months. We suggested that they could see Jim and Jane who live in the same area of England. But, alas, they will be out of town for an extended time.

Bruce and Cheryl came into the campground a few days ago and Bruce has been joining us for Pickleball in the mornings.

We all decided to fet together for a farewell dinner for Mary and Ken at George's Cafe in Cottonwood. Have a great trip, Mary and Ken!! See you at Palm Springs!

Couples from front to back across from each other: Ken, Mary, Bruce, Cheryl, Ken and Faye.

Most of us ordered the All You Can Eat Beer Battered Fish, but Ken had the Liver and Onions -- two thin cuts of liver about the size of two paper plates covered with loads of onions. It looked so good. And it must have been excellent because Ken and I noticed that Ken had cleaned every bite off his plate.

In fact, it looked so good that Ken and I went back to George's over the weekend and had their Liver and Onions!! UUmmmmmmmm!!

OUR SUMMER CONTINUES AT TT VERDE VALLEY

Well, as you know we have spent the entire summer (since mid-April) in and out of TT Verde Valley. We have been tied up with medical appointments and RV repairs of various kinds. Our friends, Roger and Linda, were here long term as well while they waited for repairs to their motor home. The four of us played Pickleball almost every morning, went out to dinner a few times, took the drive to Schnebly Hill to watch the sunset, etc. They helped make our summer here at Verde Valley a lot more fun!!

Another couple of friends from England, Mary and her husband Ken, arrived about a week ago and have joined our Pickleball foursome! It's been a lot of fun!! Mary and Ken will be here a while longer. We are really glad about that!!

Roger and Linda's motor home is now repaired and they left this morning, heading for Las Vegas and points West!! We will surely miss them!! Last night (Thursday) we all decided to go out to Murphy's Grill for a farewell dinner for them! Here's our group around the table. Mary, Ken, Roger, Ken, Faye, and Linda.

We all agreed the food was great. You may wonder what I have in front of me. Tonight's Appetizer Special was $1 Sliders, so I ordered four for dinner. Never had a Slider before. They were delicious however I only ate two!! Center front is Linda's plate of Fish Tacos and sweet potato fries. My Ken and Mary each had the Reuben Sandwich. Roger got the Fettucini Alfredo. But we all decided the best buy of the night was the other Ken's Top Sirloin with all the trimmings!!

Anyway. We wish Happy Travels to Roger and Linda! See you down the road!!

This morning, as Roger and Linda hit the road, Ken and Mary joined Ken and me for four vigorous games of Pickleball!!

In the mornings, after Pickleball, Ken, Mary and I go to the pool for water aerobics. The pool is really refreshing after such strenuous games!! Another couple, Mike and Donna, have been joining us for water aerobics each morning, too.

SUNSET AT SCHNEBLY HILL VISTA, SEDONA, AZ

Aug 06 - Saturday late afternoon during Happy Hour with Linda and Roger, Ken and I pointed out that it appeared to be one of the few evenings that the Monsoon rains were not coming in -- it looked like promise of a clear evening. Would they like to take a ride to Schnebly Hill to watch the sunset. So we all grabbed a bottle of wine, piled into Roger's Hummer and headed for the Hill. We directed them North on I-17 to Schnebly Road and took the winding dirt road over to the Vista.

There were a number of other people there to watch the sunset, too -- Yellow Jeep Tours, Pink Jeep Tours, etc. Here we are just before the sunset.

Beautiful! Breathtaking!!

The scenic Red Rocks on the drive down off the Hill.

A fun evening that ended at Denny's for Coffee and Pie!

A NEW INVERTER FOR HIGHWAY RUNNER

Friday, Aug 05 - Today we took an impromptu drive to Phoenix. A couple of days ago we discovered our Inverter was out of whack! Ken was able to find a rebuilt one at Tekris in Phoenix (Gilbert), AZ. It was the only one they had so we had to make our move quickly. Jumped in the car and took off.

Turns out Tekris is a small company, named for the owner, Chris -- Tech and Chris -- TEKRIS. Every time we called the company Chris answered promptly. Sometime I would press 1 for Customer Service, sometimes 2 for Technical Service, sometimes 6 for Administration. Chris always answered. Turned out he was actually located in New Jersey and Robert was the representative in Phoenix.

Ken and Robert put the Inverter in the car.

A few days later Paul (Paul's RV) installed the Inverter. All is well -- with the Inverter, at least!

STILL FUN AT TT VERDE VALLEY, AZ

With one thing and another -- medical appointments and RV repair appointments, we are still hanging around at TT Verde Valley. It's a good thing we love this area, since we have had to stay for so long -- since the middle of April.

Pickleball friends, Roger and Linda, are still here, too. Their RV blew a rod, or something like that, and it's taking a couple of months to complete the repairs. They are renting a trailer at TT. So glad they are here!! We have enjoyed the competition on the Pickleball courts every morning!

Roger, Faye, Linda and Ken!

After Pickleball, I would head to the pool for some Billie Jo water aerobics. One morning I met Tina who has now been joining me every morning! Tina just happens to be the Arizona State TOPS Queen 2010!! I was thrilled to meet such a celebrity!! Tina told me that in 2010 she had weighed over 300 pounds. With help from TOPS, and proper diet and life style changes, she was able to lose 135 pounds!! Thus winning the title of Queen!! Amazing!! Congratulations Tina!!

Tina (in front) and another water aerobics participant.

While talking with Tina, her husband Ron joined us at the pool. Turns out Ron plays Pickleball!! He has been joining us at the Pickleball courts in the mornings!!

Roger, Ken, Ron.

We are certainly glad there are still a few RVers still at TT Verde Valley that we can play around with!!

NATURE AT OUR SITE AT TT VERDE VALLEY

Jul 05-19 - We are back at TT Verde Valley for two more weeks. This time we chose site A39. We're at the end of the road, so there are no neighbors on our patio side. Sitting on our patio (which we don't do very often because it's too hot), or looking out of our window, there is beauty everywhere.

These beautiful flowering trees provide morning shade. There are four on the perimeter of our site -- three white and this one pink.

And the birds love to sit in the trees. Here is our finch feeder. We have seen as many as nine finch on this one feeder at the same time.

Hummingbirds love the hummingbird feeder; and we love the hummingbirds. They are fluttering around here all day long, just outside our window.

And our beautiful garden!! Ken planted some summer Vinca and other beautiful flowers. Of course, there is our Purple Shamrock, and a pot of basil for salads and cooking, and some mint for Mint Juleps whenever the horse races are on TV!!

A better view of the basil plant!! How it has grown!

It will really be hard to leave this site on Tuesday for our "week out"!!

JAVELINA REEK HAVOC AT TT VERDE VALLEY!!

We NEVER get to see the Javelina here at TT Verde Valley. We know they are here, but do you think we'd ever see one?? NO!!!

Well, this poor guy, a Thousand Trails member, had his trailer parked out on the free BLM Land outside the TT Verde Valley gate. Seems his wife had been in the hospital in Cottonwood for about a month, suffering with cancer. He, himself, was not in the best of health either.

The other day when he returned to his trailer, there was a ticket on the windshield. He had gone over the 14-Day limit for free parking on government land.

That evening he was moving the trailer to the Thousand Trails park for storage. Driving down the dark curvy road, a herd of JAVELINA darted out right in front of his truck. He swerved to avoid hitting one of them. His trailer jack-knifed into the ditch and turned onto it's side, causing the axle on the truck to break!! What a disaster!!

The next morning, Ken was on his way to town and saw the truck and trailer still overturned in the ditch. He talked with the ranger and learned the above story of the gentleman's bad luck.

Later in the afternoon Ken took me up to see for myself. We happened to arrive as a large flatbed trailer was across the road; workers were attempting to raise the trailer with a large crane and load it onto the flatbed.

And we never see the Javelina!!

VCU RAMS WIN ESPY AWARD!!

This is so Amazing!!!

On Wednesday this past week, the VCU Men's College Basketball Team won the ESPY Award for Best Upset due to their impressive run in the 2011 NCAA College Basketball Tournament!! VCU, seeded No. 11 capped a string of upsets by beating top seeded Kansas and went to the Final Four!

Back in March, I had posted several articles about the VCU Rams as our home-town team thrilled us as they upset one opponent after another all the way to the Final Four!! GO RAMS!!

TACO BELL AND THE DIAMONDBACKS HAVE A DEAL!

July 10 - Harold and Marion invited us to go with them for FREE tacos at Taco Bell this afternoon. FREE tacos!!??!! Seems the Diamondbacks and Taco Bell have a deal for the public!! Whenever the Diamondbacks score six or more runs in a game, Taco Bell gives three free tacos to its customers. All we had to do was purchase a large drink! Harold offered to buy the drinks for all of us!! We laughed and thanked him for his generosity!! Even a complete stranger joined in the teasing and commented on what a Big Spender he was!!

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our FREE tacos. The price was right!!

SUMMER AT TT VERDE VALLEY, COTTONWOOD, AZ

July 06 - 10 - Back at TT Verde Valley, after our "week out" in Prescott, AZ, we actually found some Pickleball players!! Harold and Marion (left) were still here. We had gotten together with them before we left (see article posted June 28). Another couple of players came in. Linda and Roger (middle) had blown a rod (or something really bad) in the engine of their motorhome, so they will be staying here for an extended period while repairs are made. We had met them at TT Chesapeake Bay and TT Forest Lakes in 2008. We invited the group over for Happy Hour on Friday. Here we are in front of one of the flowering trees on our site!!

Everyone was happy!!

A few days later, another Pickleball couple came in. We had met Mike and Ed at TT St. Clair, MI a year ago. Here some of the group gathers on the courts.

Later, Roger and Linda and Mike and Ed challenge each other to a match!

ADDENDUM TO: OUR "WEEK OUT" IN PRESCOTT, AZ

4th of July - We were still in Prescott on the Fourth of July, so we celebrated with Ofe and Chuck and friends of theirs. We had Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and Corn-On-The-Cob at Ofe's home followed by home-made Ice Cream and Red Silk Cake, brought by her friend.

After dinner we drove over to a hill top in a residential neighborhood close to the Fourth of July Fireworks. A good location to watch the Fireworks. A number of other locals had the same idea. That was fun!!

There was thunder, lightening and heavy dark clouds all around us, but we lucked out. No rain over the Fireworks!!

Here we are in our Fourth of July tees from Walmart - $3.50 each!! What a deal!!

Thanks, Ofe and Chuck, for entertaining us royally during our week in Prescott, plus a very nice Fourth of July celebration!!

OUR "WEEK OUT" IN PRESCOTT, AZ

June 28 - July 05 - Time for another week out of TT Verde Valley. This time we went only about 45 miles to Prescott, AZ (the locals say "Pres'cutt"). It's a beautiful area up in the mountains. We are actually in the valley -- Prescott Valley. We are staying the week at the Elk's Lodge which has about 12 sites with full hook-up. It is quite a nice set-up. (We're the coach at the far end.)

Our Pickleball friends, Ofe and Chuck, live in Prescott in a 55 Plus mobile home community in the middle of a National Forest. The area is really nice and their home is beautiful!! Ofe and Chuck invited us for a morning of Pickleball, followed by Mexican lunch of tacos with Ice Cream for dessert. It was a lot of fun!!

In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we went for more Pickleball the next morning.

They have solved the problem of too many players and not enough courts!! They play with three on each side!! They have tweaked the rules a bit to accommodate six players. For instance, each team only gets one serve. The server serves until he looses serve, but always serves from the right court. When he looses serve, the other team rotates players and serves (the previous server moves to the center, the center player moves to the far left, and the left player moves to the service position). They usually play that the two outside players get to net while the center player stays back. It was different!! And fun!!

Ru and Pickleball players at TT Chesapeake Bay, notice the net pole stand above!! The wheels make it a lot easier to move for setting up and taking down!! They painted narrow red lines to mark off the Pickleball courts at each end of the tennis court.

It was great seeing Ofe and Chuck again. The plan is to tailgate with them for 4th of July Fireworks.

THE WORLD'S OLDEST RODEO, PRESCOTT, AZ

On Friday night we went to the World's Oldest Rodeo. We waited too late to buy our tickets and did not have much selection. We could have sat up high but at the extreme ends of the arena. We chose the Arena Section, more in the center and closer to the action. I asked if there was anything to block our view!! She said, No, nothing to block our view!!

Well, not if you don't count the chain-link fence, the white fence, the red fence, and all the advertisements!! HA HA!! Anyway, it was a beautiful evening and we were close to a lot of the action. All of the riders entered and departed through the gates to our left! And, the area behind the rider without a flag was the Roping Chutes for Calf Roping and Team Roping. That was exciting!! Unfortunately, all of the bucking events - Bareback Bronco, Saddle Bronco, and Bull Riding - were closer to the other end of the arena. But, thinks to the big screen across from us, we could see all the action up close!!

There were numerous participants in the Opening Ceremony!

The presentation of the Flag!

It was a most enjoyable evening at The World's Oldest Rodeo!! A very special event!!

CORRECTION: HAROLD AND MARION COME TO TT VERDE VALLEY

Mon, Jun 27 - We were on our way to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Old Town Cottonwood when Ken noticed an Overland motor home in one of the sites. He remembered that our friends Harold and Althea had an Overland just like that!! We knocked on their door to say "Hi".

Harold welcomed us with open arms, but when we went inside we saw an attractive lady who was not Althea. Harold told us the sad news that Althea had died from cancer a few months earlier. We were dumbfounded!! Althea and Harold had just come to Wilderness Lakes to see us in February! Then Harold introduced us to Marion who is his neighbor in Mesa and traveling companion. (Note: Her name is Marion, not Marilyn as I had stated earlier.)

She was so friendly and easy to talk to. They asked us to join them for a before-dinner drink and we invited them to come with us for Tacos at Conchos.

Here are Marion and Harold at Conchos, voted the Most Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Cottonwood. Nothing fancy but the Tacos are really great and the price is right! (Sorry the picture is so fuzzy!)