CHILI HAPPY HOUR AT TT WILDER!NESS LAKES, CA

Jan 19 - Diane provided the hot Chili and Lois provided the site and fire pit; the rest of us pitched in with our own contributions and we were ready for another Pickleball happy hour!! We all had a great time sitting around the campfire eating Chili, Chicken Wings, Lemon Squares, etc.

Here are our hostesses and host Diane, Lois and Jack. Thanks guys for putting this together for us. What a perfect evening!

Linda and Roger.

A happy group - Jennie, Linda and Jim.

Mark and Lorrie.

Ken and Faye.

One of many uninvited guests!! The local fowl worried us to death. This one is on the RV roof but others kept landing on the food table and buzzin' us around the campfire!! Get out of here!!

Lois with Phil and John. Welcome John to your first Pickleball happy hour!!

Linda cutting up with Ken!! Ken seems to be enjoying it way too much!!

So I had to cut up with Phil! He's not enjoying it so much!! HA HA

Thanks gang. It was a fun evening! See you on the courts!!

BURGERS WITH DEL AND JERRY AT DESERT POOLS

Sat. Jan 14 - We moved from TT Palm Springs to Desert Pools in Desert Hot Springs, CA on Wednesday. Del and Jerry were already there, a few sites down from us. We cross paths with them a couple of time a year when we are out West. They invited us over for hamburgers on Saturday afternoon. Del's brother Jerry and his wife Sue were also at Desert Pools so they joined us, too.

The picture looks as if we were at our site -- an Allegro Bus similar to ours, our Suzuki in the parking lot!! And, if I had taken a picture of the grill, it's the same as our, too. But, we are actually at Del and Jerry's place!!

Faye, Ken, Sue, brother Jerry, husband Jerry, Del.

Thanks Del and Jerry for a fun afternoon and delicious burgers!! We'll see you again when we see you!!

SO LONG TO PAT AT BURGERS AND BEER, PALM DESERT, CA

Jan 14 - Pat will be returning to Michigan on Friday to attend to her father for an extended time. We wanted to say Good Bye to her and wish her well; and to assure her that Bill will be well taken care of!! HA HA

We met at Burgers and Beer late Monday afternoon for the occasion because they have Happy Hour every weekday afternoon and Sliders are the Monday special -- four Sliders with all the trimmings for $5.99. YUMMY!

Hayden (aka Bill), Pat, Bill, Faye, Ken and Gloria.

Don't worry about Bill, Pat!! You've left him in good hands!!!

TO OUR SENIOR FRIENDS!!

POLO MATCHES AT EMPIRE POLO CLUB, INDIO, CA

Sunday Jan. 08 - During Pickleball this morning, Gloria's friends Mary and Keith rode their bikes pass the courts and chatted with Gloria. When they were gone, Gloria said Mary and Keith had said they were going over to the Polo matches at the Empire Club in Indio. Matches started about 1 p.m. We all said Hey! Let's go!! We can take something for tailgating along side the polo field during the match. So we did!!

During a time break in the match, a gentleman tailgating near us gave Ken a polo ball. He said if the ball goes out of bounds, spectators may pick them up.

Here is Ken with the polo ball. Note the Big E imprinted on the ball; proof that it belongs to Ken!! But, Ken returned it. FYI polo balls are made of high-impact plastic and are about 3.5" in diameter.

Gloria, Bill and Faye after stumping divots following the first match.

The Opening Ceremony prior to the match. During the Ceremony the National Anthem was sung to the simple strands of a single guitar. It was so inspiring, and in this beautiful setting, it was just perfect!


Some of the exciting match action!!

After the match, trophies were awarded to the winners. The young man standing next to the official is actually a kid eleven years old!! He was given Sparkling Apple Cider in stead of the normal champagne!

Here's the group at the Indio Empire Polo Club!! Hayden, Gloria, Mary and Keith (we ran into them at the matches), Bill, Pat, Ken and Faye!!

That was a lot of fun on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in a beautiful setting!! And, it was all FREE!!

TT PLAYERS COMPETE IN MISSION HILLS PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT

Jan. 06 - A number of Thousand Trails Pickleball players had registered to play in the Second Annual Pickleball Tournament at Mission Hills Country Club community about five miles away. They were all excited about playing!

We missed the women's doubles tournament on the first day but went the second day for the men's doubles. Here is some of the action we saw:

Jack and Roger were playing when we arrived. These two ended up winning Gold in their level. Congratulations guys!!


Rick and Jim P. were in their first match.

Paul makes a great volley. Don't know his partner.

Spectators enjoying the tournament. Ken, Bill, Hayden, Pat, Gloria.

Dean and Rich in their first round.

Frank was not competing today but he made a great referee!

Following the men's doubles, there were the women's singles matches.

An acquaintance Rosie. She is amazing!

Rosie's opponent Sue. She's great too.

Here we are enjoying the matches. Note the preppy shirts with collars appropriate for the Country Club venue! HA HA

Chuck and Jessie rode with us. Jessie participated in the tournament but today she is enjoying the men's doubles!


On Saturday, the third day of the tournament, they featured the mixed doubles matches.

Jack and Diane participated but we missed pictures of them in action.

Rick and Linda in a close match. They ended up winning Silver! Congratulations guys!!


Rich and Dee won this match.


My special, special Pickleball student; my claim to fame!! Ken and I taught Judy to play and enjoy Pickleball. Now, she is a great player and competes in lots of tournaments!! You go Judy!!


We had a great time at the Mission Hills Pickleball Tournament!! Congratulations to all the participants and winners!! Loved it!!

TOM AND MARION TOM COME FOR MARGARITAS AND TACOS

Jan 05 - We have been special friends with Tom and Marion for years; ever since the fall of 2002 at TT Verde Valley on the Pickleball courts! We have had so many good times with them in the past. We don't see Tom and Marion at Thousand Trails very often any more since they have a place at Quail Valley in Desert Hot Springs. And we miss them!!

Today we invited them to our place for margaritas and tacos! Brought back good old times!!

It was such fun having dinner with you guys again!! Thanks for coming.

NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY AT TT PALM SPRINGS!!

New Year's Eve - TT Palm Springs actually had two New Year's Eve parties. One was in the Family Lodge for everyone who was not able to purchase tickets to the real New Year's Eve party! Tickets were only $5 with everyone bringing appetisers for the food table to share with everyone.

A group of Pickleball players decided to go and bought our tickets early. It's a good thing because tickets were gone in a couple of days! That evening we had two tables together, 13 people. Diane sort of spearheaded the gathering. She suggested in addition to bringing food to share with everyone, we could have a few snacks to have at our table. You know, nuts, pretzels, little nibbles like that.

Well, here is a look at our table!!

The party got started early. Ken and Jack already acting silly. Ken has a "sweet" tiara; Jack has one tiara on his hat and made a beard with a second one!

Rich was not to be outdone. The table center piece makes a good hat!! Diane is beautiful with her tiara.

Here is a picture of one table. Diane's mother Mickey, Margie, Dean, Bill, Delores, Dee, Rich. That's Matt with his Biker shirt to the far right!

Close up of the Biker shirt!! Matt really knows how to dress for New Year's Eve!! The shirt made us immediately think of our friend, Bee Jay back home!! He'd love that shirt!!

Later in the evening, the crazy guys had a Wasabi challenge with the Wasabi from the Sushi platter!! Matt started by eating a dab of Wasabi off his finger. "Do that!" he challenged Dean and Rich. They kept the table in an uproar trying to determine who could handle the largest dab of Wasabi!! I don't know who won the challenge! They were all crazy as far as I'm concerned!!

We missed out on the big table picture, so here are Faye and Diane with Jack.

Friends of ours, Bob and Muriel, to the right, and another friend of theirs at the far left. They said later that they did not make it until midnight!! Party Poopers!!

This is the band. Not real good dancing music, but at least they were lively.

Well, most of our group did make it until midnight and danced the last song!! The party was a lot of fun!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!