WINING AND DINING IN ESCONDIDO, CA

WINE TASTING AT ORFILA VINEYARDS AND WINERY

March 12 - Ken's daughter, Vickie and husband Steve from Florida, are staying at the Lawrence Welk timeshare resort in Escondido, CA. We are camping at Ramona Canyon RV ROD campground about 32 miles away.

Lawrence Welk Timeshare Resort


Vickie had mentioned that they would like to do some wine tasting while they were in California. I went on line to see what sounded good, at a good price. Were there any two-for-one coupons available?? Reading some of the reviews of the vineyards and wineries in the area, the first thing I learned was that wine tasting in Escondido could not compare with wine tasting in Napa Valley or in Temecula.

One winery that caught my attention was Orfila Vineyards and Winery. Reviews were good, even suggesting that you bring your own picnic or cheeses to enjoy while tasting the wines. The cost was $10 for six tastings -- and there was a coupon!! We told Vickie we thought Orfila would be the place to try. When I mentioned the coupon, Vickie said their resort had given them two coupons for Orfila, each one offering two FREE tastings!! That settled that!!

But, before leaving, we decided to browse the Farmer's Market that was going on in the Lawrence Welk resort parking lot. Maybe we could find some bread and cheese to take with us to the winery.

First Steve bought a hat because his head had gotten sunburned at the Wolf Center on Sunday.

We recognized some of the vendors from the Ramona Farmer's Market on Saturday, but Ken's lady friend from the Senior Center was not there!

There were several vendors selling baked goods but no one was selling cheeses! We decided to buy a loaf of Artisan bread with rosemary and cheese from this local bakery. We asked the owner if he would slice the loaf for us. "Of course. That will be a $5 charge!"

Then we asked if he would pose for a picture. "Of course. That will be $5!! We thought we should charge him for getting his picture in the Blog! HA HA

And then we went to the winery for our wine tasting!!

Steve and Vickie stomped the grapes!!

Ken and I entering the Tasting Room.

We presented our server with our FREE coupons. I still thought we would have to buy one tasting to get the free one. But, no! The server was pleased to serve us all at no charge!!


We took our wine and went out to the patio to enjoy the wine with our Artisan bread! It was a beautiful setting!!

Here we are enjoying our wine. Notice I'm wearing my new scarf!! I felt like it was choking me!! Strangling me!! Consuming me!! But, in the picture it does not look too bad!! HA HA


Ours was a delightful experience at the Orfila Vineyards. Not only were the tastings FREE, but they presented us with new Orfila wine glasses as mementos!

I have to say, wine tasting in Escondido does not compare with Napa Valley or Temecula. No. At Orfila it is even better!!



FREE LOBSTER BUFFET AT VALLEY VIEW CASINO

Ken's son Rich who lives in Chula Vista, CA, has been after us to go to the Valley View Casino for the FREE Lobster Buffet! We all decided to go later on Monday, after the wine tasting!! Rich and Marlo came over to meet us at the Lawrence Welk resort and after a bit of relaxing, we were off to the Casino!

When we arrived, we signed up for the Player's Card and were presented with tickets for the Free Lobster Buffet!

In the restaurant. Our picture thanks to a very helpful waitress: Vickie, Steve, Faye, Rich, Ken and Marlo seated.

The buffet was WONDERFUL!!! All the lobster, crab legs, shrimp, etc. etc. etc. we could eat!! And the lobster and crab legs were sliced down the middle and very easy to remove from the shell!

Ken's lobster!

My lobster!!

You know us!! We did eat All We Could Eat!!

Thanks Rich for insisting that we go to this Casino Buffet. It's one of the BEST we have enjoyed!!

ALERT! WE HAVE CHANGED OUR SCHEDULE!

We have had to change our travel plans so we can be at TT Palm Springs in time for the End-Of-The-Year Pickleball Tournament! Please check out the new schedule in the right-hand column.

END-OF-THE-YEAR PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT PLANNED AT TT PALM SPRINGS

We were thrilled to receive an EMail from Rick telling us about the End-Of-The-Year Pickleball Tournament that has been planned at TT Palm Springs, beginning on Thursday, March 15, through Saturday, March 17.

IF they follow the format of the 2011 Tournament the schedule may be:

Thursday: Men's Doubles and Women's Doubles Round Robin.

Friday: Round Robin Play

Saturday: Flighted Round Robin (A and B Flights) based on tallied scores from Friday's matches.

Pot-Luck: Saturday afternoon.

Hope this notice will give you plenty of time to make plans to be there!!

PICKLEBALL HAPPY HOUR AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES!

Sat. Mar. 03 - We hosted a happy hour for the Pickleball players this afternoon. A week ago, we really lucked out when we came in to TT Wilderness Lakes. We ended up with a huge beautiful site - the perfect place for a happy hour or a pot-luck, or something. But then it rained. It poured! Our site was completely flooded for several days, and I forgot all about having a happy hour or anything!

Yesterday, Tom was just kidding me and asked why I had not had a happy hour? or planned an eat-out somewhere!! It sounded like a good idea to me, now that our campsite was dry! So that's how the happy hour came about! The thing is, Tom and Marge are leaving on Sunday and I discovered several other Pickleball players were leaving either on Sunday or Monday! We had to do some really quick planning!! With the help of other players we were able to get in touch with almost everybody, and we had a great turn-out!

Tom and Marge.

A couple of the guys were playing in the Pool Tournament this afternoon and would be late. Here are the Pool Widows, Jeanie and Sis.
But the husbands did arrive in plenty of time. Paul and Sis.

Jeannie and Ray on their "bikes" - the kind you sort of lay back on and paddle. They work pretty good as chairs for happy hour, too!

Roger and Anne.

Judy's husband, Bert, was having back problems and could not come. Anne was Judy's date for a while!

Dick and Beverly.

New Friends -

Joe and Barb have been on the courts every morning. Really good players! This afternoon I asked Barb where they have been playing, because I have not seen them around the TT parks where we play. Her answer surprised me! She said they have only been playing for a couple of years; started playing at TT Chesapeake Bay!!! (Our home park where WE got Pickleball started a few years back!!) Small world!!

Max and Dave. Met Dave on the Pickleball courts this week here at Wilderness Lakes. Good player! Notice his "wine" glass. It's a mason jar on a stem!! The jar even has the screw-on top to keep the wine from spilling!! I heard him say you could go on line and find out what type of epoxy to use to glue the stem to the glass! Interesting!!

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Ken, Paul, and Dick!! Two hundred and forty years among them!!! Ken is the baby!! Glad we are not all that old!!! Discovered Paul and Dick were born in the same hospital in New York!! And now they are both out west, RVing and playing Pickleball!!

This is interesting! Paul was showing us his tennis shoes; how his foot doctor had built up his Court Classics ($15 at Costco). He said the doctor liked working with the Court Classics best because they have rubber in them, or something like that. We had never heard of such a thing.

Ken compares his Court Classics with Paul's. Notice how Paul's sole is much thicker!

It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon for the happy hour. It was lots of fun!! Thanks, Tom for suggesting that we do it!! And thanks everybody for coming on such short notice!!

See you on the courts!!

GREAT NEWS!! SURGERY WENT WELL FOR DENNIS!

Pickleball players at TT Palm Springs and Catalina Spa have probably noticed that Dennis has not been on the courts for the past few months. That is because Dennis has been suffering with frequent intense pain in his forehead caused by an artery pressing on a nerve. The problem was diagnosed as trigemital decompression, according to Barb.

It took quite a while for everything to be aligned before surgery to be performed.

Barb called on Thursday to say that Dennis had his surgery on Wednesday. In spite of the fact that the problem was far worse than anticipated (the artery had actually started to bury itself into the nerve), the surgery had gone really well. In fact, Dennis felt so good afterward, he said he was ready to go home!! Way to go, Dennis!

Dennis and Barb are currently at Catalina Spa. Look for him back on the courts real soon!!

PICKLEBALL IS ALIVE AND WELL AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES!

We are spending a couple of weeks at TT Wilderness Lakes. Of course, we spend almost every morning over at the Pickleball courts. There are now four courts here, but unfortunately, two of them have shadows from the trees and most of us prefer to wait our turn on the sunny courts to playing on the shaded courts!!!

It is so hard to get and edit action pictures that I decided to take group pictures. I discovered that is even harder because courts rotate and players get all mixed up, etc. etc. etc!!! Anyway, I think I got pictures of most of the players here this week. (Hope the names are correct!!)

Tom, Bill, Clint and Dave. Caught them coming off of one court!

Joe, Ken, John, Bob. Stopped them coming off the second court!


The girls are much more cooperative in posing! Barb, Faye, Judy, Anne and Sis! We certainly look good!! I love the aqua intermingled with the white. What a coincidence!!

These guys arrived the next day! Jim J., Roger and Richard.

Ranger Al, here at Wilderness Lakes, is reluctant to have his picture taken, but the next day I caught him and new arrival Paul on the courts!! There is no escape, Al!!

Dick (in red) just arrived, and I was finally able to get a picture of Jim P. at the courts.

Sidebar: This is the first time we have seen Jim P's real nose at the Pickleball courts!!! Usually, he covers his nose with Zinc Oxide to protect pre-cancer cells from the sun. He told me today that his/OUR dermatologist Dr. Radentz told him about a magic cream they sell that heals the pre-cancer cells. Cost is $200 + but it works!!! The cream has cleared up places on Jim's head, his nose, and even more!! That's amazing!!!

Pickleball has been lots of fun at TT Wilderness Lakes!! See you on the courts!!

ELEPHANT BAR HAPPY HOUR!

Feb. 23 - We will be leaving the Palm Springs area tomorrow, and we had not seen our friends Marion and Tom for quite awhile. We called to see if they could join us at the Elephant Bar on Hwy 111 one more time!


I love the jungle look of the interior!


Ken and I ordered the Nachos and a couple of large beers.


We have been friends with Marion and Tom since we met on the Pickleball courts at TT Verde Valley in the fall of 2002. We created many memories together. One such memory is finding the Elephant Bar together years ago!

Another happy Happy Hour at the Elephant Bar!! See you guys in a few weeks!

A WEEK AT RPI CATHEDRAL PALMS RV RESORT

Feb 17 - 24 - We wanted to stay in the Palm Springs area this week so we could enjoy going to the 2012 Palm Desert Senior Games (see previous articles). Cathedral Palm RV Resort, an RPI Resort in Cathedral City, CA was the perfect location.

Shortly after we checked in on Friday morning, Lorraine, one of the activities leaders at the park, knocked on our door and invited us to join a group that was going out for Mexican at La Tablita Restaurant on East Cathedral Canyon . Here is most of the group.

Around our table: Bobbie, Ken, Faye, Bruce the Resort Manager is standing, Lorraine's husband John, another Ken, and Lorraine.

Most of us chose to have the Mexican Seafood Buffet rather than order from the menu. It consisted of a lot of dishes Ken and I have never had before -- not the usual fare of taco fixings or the Tex-Mex we are used it!

When I saw what was offered on the buffet, I had no idea what to choose or how to eat it! I noticed the gentleman in front of me seemed to know exactly what to do. I asked for his help.

He said to start with a bowl of soup and put rice and the other dishes around the edge. I started with fish soup. Added rice, peel and eat shrimp in a sauce, octopus, and I don't know what else!! On my plate I took a few familiar items - fish, chili relleno, enchilada and bar-b-q beef.

My new acquaintance told me about the Ceviche - succulent shrimp "cooked" in lime and tomato juices and served in a cocktail glass. Now that was very good; the entire table decided to try it!

But, the most unique item was the garlic fish. My friend told me how you just sort of chew on it as you might chew on a chicken neck!! I tried it!! First, I turned the eyeball away from me so I did not look the fish in the eye as I picked at it! The fish head had a crispy, garlicky coating. It was quite flavorful!

Lorraine conducted a short meeting to make future plans for activities at the resort. We were asked if we would help with Pickleball? The first session was set it up for Monday morning.

The restaurant seemed to be very popular, judging from the crowd and rave reviews on line. But, we can't really recommend the buffet! We noticed that, except for our group, not many other people eat the buffet.

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We knew Bill and Val were also staying at Cathedral Palms. I bummed a ride from the office with Bill in the big yellow truck! HA HA

We asked if they would help with the Pickleball on Monday morning. Here we demonstrate to the few interested "residents" what Pickleball is all about.

Ken is showing Lorraine how to serve.

The first match. Faye and Doug

Take on Lorraine and Ken!

We had a couple more sessions during the week. Bruce is so anxious to get Pickleball going at the resort. Hopefully more potential players will show up.

We leave on Friday to move over to TT Wilderness Lakes. It was fun being here!