LAST STEAM LOCOMOTIVE CHUGS THROUGH INDIO, CA

Nov 17 - We read on-line that about 500 people gathered in Indio at the site of the future transit center in anticipation of the arrival of Locomotive No. 844, the last steam engine built for Union Pacific. The "Living Legend" was recently renovated and this was her maiden tour from Wyoming, through New Mexico, Arizona, stops in California, up to Las Vegas and Utah before, heading back to Wyoming.

Pickleball friend Roy and his wife Sandy mentioned they were going to go to see the last steam locomotive as it passed by. We asked if we could join them. And we were off on an adventure to see a piece of history. It seemed like a good idea!

We stopped at a small shopping strip across the highway from the train track, and started waiting for Old No. 844 to pass by. And we waited; and we waited.

Ken and I finally crossed to the median of the highway to be a little closer to get better pictures when the engine passed. And we waited some more!

We crossed back over the highway and waited a little longer. Finally, Sandy got excited -- "Here it comes!!" I jumped up, grabbed the camera and took my pictures!

The first one between the trees and the traffic, but you can see the steam rising!

The second behind a car and SUV, but you can see the Engineer at the window and another RR worker standing at the stairwell!!

My third picture - No. 844 had passed and Roy was in the foreground!!

Fortunately, Roy got a really good one!!

It was really nostalgic to see that old Steam Locomotive go by! Just took a little longer than we anticipated. We learned later that the train was an hour late getting to Indio, causing our long wait!

Thanks Roy and Sandy for including us!

TWO WEEKS OF FUN AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES!!

Nov. 16 - We have been a TT Wilderness Lakes for two weeks. It has been fun playing Pickleball every morning. The other day, we only had eight players, four couples!

Here are the girls: Pam, Pam, Julie and Faye.

And here are the guys: Chuck, Ken, Walt and Bob.

Walt and Pam are relatively new Pickleball players; just started at TT Palm Springs a couple of weeks ago. One day Walt mentioned that he and Pam enjoyed preparing Jambalaya. Did we ever have pot-lucks?? Do we ever??!! That is all we needed. A pot-luck dinner was planned immediately with everybody bringing something to serve with the Jambalaya.

Here we are enjoying dinner: Around the table: Pam, Bob, Ken, Nancy, Julie, Chuck, Mike, Faye, Pam, and Walt.

Looking the other direction.

The Jambalaya dinner was so successful, this is all that was left!!

Pam and Walt will fit right in with the Pickleball crowd!! Play Pickleball and eat!!!

Thanks guys!!

MORE VISITS TO THE DERMATOLOGIST!!

Our Dermatologist, Dr. Leslie Radentz had this warning in her Comment on our Blog in October:

Skin cancer is the most dangerous Cancer under the sun! You can still have fun and practice Safe Sun! Wear sun protection and avoid the mid-day sun.

It was very hard to include these unflattering pictures on our Blog (don't we look ancient), but I decided that the message from Dr. Leslie was important enough to share.

Actually, we were both very fortunate; our skin pre-cancer cells and Squamous Cell cancer

were found early and easily treated by our Dermatologist.

I, myself, had a skin examination and several pre-cancer cells treated by Dr. Radentz back on October 12, and then I had a Squamous Cell cancer removed on October 17 (previously reported on this Blog.)

After my experience, we decided that it would be a good idea for Ken to have a skin examination as a precaution too, and on November 8 he visited Dr. Radentz. She treated some pre-cancer cells and in one instance she did a biopsy. Fortunately, the result of the biopsy was benign.

On November 14, I had two more Squamous Cells removed -- one from my right thumb and the other from my temple!! Tissue evaluations showed the margins were clear. All evidence of the cancer had been removed. Thank God for that!

We hope you learn from our experience: Practice Safe Sun, Wear Strong Sun Protection, and have periodic skin examinations!

HONORING OUR VETERANS

Veteran's Day is this Friday!! A day to pay tribute to our Veterans past and present. Many of the restaurants in the area honor the Veterans by offering a free appetizer, dessert, or even a free meal.

All week Outback Steakhouse was offering Free Blooming Onions to Veterans. On Tuesday afternoon we sinned again by having the Blooming Onion but instead of ordering dinners, we decided to have the Seared Ahi Tuna appetizer. It was divine!! Thank you Outback for that treat!

On Veteran's Day, 11/11/11, Ken decided to go to TGI Friday's again this year to enjoy the buy-one-get-one-free dinner -- a repeat of Veterans Day 2010. Again we chose the Iron Steak, prepared to perfection!! Thank you TGIF for this honor!

Here I am saluting my Veteran!!

MEETING UP WITH PICKLEBALL PLAYERS AGAIN AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES

We are back at TT Wilderness Lakes for a couple of weeks. On the Pickleball courts we ran into some new friends we had met in the spring at TT Verde Valley -- members of the 10-Pack, or 8-Pack, or 6-Pack, depending on how many of the group are present at that particular stop! They have been playing a lot during the summer and it shows in their game!

Some other good friends were at Wilderness Lakes, too, as well as a couple of new players. We have so much fun playing every morning.

We got together for "Drinks and Nibbles" one afternoon. It was fun sitting around learning all the scuttlebutt about our fellow players!! HA HA.

Here's the group: Front row: Paul, Clyde, Sue, Jeannie, Pam, Bob.

Second Row: Faye and Ken; Sue's husband Jack; Clyde's husband Jeff; Jeannie's husband Don.

MARK AND CHRIS' PHAETON PLACE BLOG HAS MOVED

Some of you may have followed Mark and Chris' Phaeton Place Blog from the blogs listed in the right margin of our Highway Runner Blog. If s0, you have noticed the list indicates that there have been no postings for months!! WHAT HAPPENED!

I recently contacted Mark and found out they have moved their blog to Wordpress: www.phaetonplace.ca.

I am going to delete their Blog from my list of Blogs so you may wish to Bookmark the above site for future use.

PICKLEBALL HAPPY HOUR AT RICK AND LINDA'S

Sat. Oct. 29 - Rick and Linda invited us to Happy Hour at their patio on Saturday, following the Pickleball tournament. They had prepared Rick's hot and tasty Chili and the rest of us brought nibbles to share.

Rick and Linda.

I couldn't resist!! I caught Rick with his two "brothers"!!

Jim and Shirley.

Pam and Bob.

The odd couple -- Larry and Lynn.

Ken and Faye.

Another Pam and Walt. They had their first Pickleball lesson today.

A great time was had by all. Thanks Rick and Linda!!

ANOTHER PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AT TT PALM SPRINGS!

Sat, Oct. 29 - Every Saturday morning, Rick runs a Pickleball Tournament at TT Palm Springs. There were more participants for the tournament today, so two brackets were set up -- A Bracket for aggressive players and B Bracket for recreational players. Here is some of the action!!

Ken and Bob.

Dean and Linda.

Faye and Pam.

Dee and Larry.

Ken and I got to play together in one match. He made me a winner!!

Pam and Bob were partners for one match, too.

Rich and Rick. Rick ran the tournament and played as well.

Rich surprised me for this shot when he jumped from behind a palm tree!!

Ray and Val.

Bill (from our home town Richmond, VA) and Dean. The two of them are partners in Nationals in Buckeye, AZ in November!!

Jim and Bryan.

Lynn and Richard.

Bill and Jessie.

Judy and Rick.

Shirley helped Rick run the tournament and kept up with the scores.

Congratulations to the winners of the B Bracket!! Ken, Ray, Pam.

Congratulations to the winners of the A Bracket!! Rich, Jim, and Bill.

And Congratulations to all the participants!! Great fun was had by all!!!

TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS AGAIN: PAM AND JOE, PAM AND BOB

Wed. Oct 26 - Back at TT Palm Springs again for a couple of weeks --the first time we have been here since last April. It was fun to meet up with our friends Pam and Bob again, down from Washington. Other friends, Pam and Joe, who bought a beautiful home in Indio last fall, came over, unexpectedly, on Wednesday afternoon and we all had an impromptu Happy Hour!! Our first get-together as a group! FUN!!

Pam, Bob, Pam, Joe, Faye and Ken.

At the first Happy Hour, another was planned!! Pam and Joe invited the group over to their home for margaritas with munchies on Friday afternoon!!

Here we are again in front of their home in Indio. Joe, Pam, Ken, Pam, Bob, Faye

This is their home!! In the spring they changed the grass lawn to desert landscaping.

By comparison, here is the landscaping last April shortly after they moved in!!

At the Margarita party, Bob happened to ask where to get a really good hamburger in the area. Joe said the Elephant Bar had great hamburgers at their Happy Hour!! Thus, the next Happy Hour was planned. We chose Tuesday at 4:30 because Ken and I were leaving on Wednesday morning to go back to Wilderness Lakes and Pam and Bob were joining us there on Thursday morning. But, most important, Joe was having knee replacement surgery on Wednesday morning!! And so, our first Happy Hour this season at the Elephant Bar!!!

Joe, Pam, Pam, Bob, Faye and Ken.

GOOD LUCK WITH THE SURGERY, JOE!!

HOW FAST IS YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION?

An easy way to check the speed of your internet connection!!

Go to www.2wire.com, click on Speed Test. The following screen will appear, showing a speed graph of Mpbs. The speed of your internet connection will be highlighted and shown in the top left box (i.e. My Verizon Mobile Hotspot was 1.6 Mpbs -- not very fast!!)

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: