LASAGNA DINNER AT TORREY OAKS

Torrey Oaks is a very nice RV resort only about 12-15 miles north of our campground at TT Peace River in Wauchula, FL. We plan to rent a site there for the month of January. Friends Sally and Stan are renting a site for December and January. We all drove over there a few days ago to take a look around, talked to Pete the manager, rented a golf cart for January, etc. We noticed a sign-up sheet for their Lasagna Dinner on Friday night so we signed up.

The dinner was very good and plenty of it. Torrey Oaks provided the Lasagna and everyone brought a side dish to share. There were lots of salads, breads, and desserts!! My spinach salad was all eaten; Sally’s Bread and Bruschetta was all eaten; too. Jean (at our table) said the Lasagna was frozen, not made from scratch the way the chefs did it last year. Still, I thought mine was very good!! My favorite dessert was a wonderful pineapple upside down cake; Ken’s favorite was the monkey bread!


I took these pictures to send to friends Cis and Joe who own sites at Torrey Oaks. Then I thought, What the Heck, I'll put them in the Blog!!

Stan and Sally. I thought Sally was getting ready to take some pills (that's how I hold mine), but now I realize she is holding Chex Snacks in her hand!

Faye and Ken.

Our Table – Stan and Sally; Faye and Ken; Garret and Jean; Kathy.
We have known Jean for several years through Pickleball. She is teaching Pickleball at Torrey Oaks again this year. Kathy is an owner at the resort (we did not know her).

Pete the manager. He welcomed us to the resort.

Here I am enjoying every Mad Housewife's wine of choice. I found it at the Walgreen Winery!! HA HA They will probably never let me back into Torrey Oaks RV Resort!!! (Click on the picture to enlarge to read the label!)

DOWN BY THE PEACE RIVER

This afternoon Ken and I took a stroll down by the Peace River that runs through the Peace River Preserve. We went looking to see if we could find alligators!! We were in luck!! But we could barely see him!! You’ll have a hard time, too!! He’s a little to the right of the stick sticking up in the water. Hope we have better luck next time.

And, we found a big turtle across the river sunning himself on a fallen log.

But, most exciting was the hawk we saw sitting on a dead limb of a tree!! Ken loves hawks and can spot one a mile away!!

On our walk we happened to meet Clyde, 83 years old, taking pictures of the little butterflies, birds, and whatever else he could see. He had a beautiful camera and we thought Mark should get with him to compare notes on photography. We chatted with Clyde for awhile. He said he was baptized yesterday in the Peace River, right near where we stood. He said he lives in a condo where he can take pictures of birds and even some deer just outside his window. We told him where he could find our hawk. Hope he got a better picture than we did!!

Looks like Ken and Clyde arehaving a grand ole time!! Actually, he's trying to explain to Clyde that I wanted to take his picture. I wanted to put him on our Blog!!!

GROUP OUTTING AT CHINA BUFFET, WAUCHULA

Pickleball friends Donna and Rich had a craving for Chinese food. They invited us to join them at the China Buffet in the little town of Wauchula, about 2 1/2 miles from Peace River campground. When we were here last year, we partook of the Buffet quite often, so we were ready to go again. We were not disappointed!!

Ken slurping his Lo Mein. HA HA By the way – the window was down in the car on the way over. That’s why my great hair-do!! HA HA

Sally and Stan drove us to the Buffet.

Gena and Bruce joined us, too.


Donna and Rich – It was their great idea to meet at the China Buffet!!

Thanks Donna and Rich!!!

UNEXPECTED HITCHIKER!!

We saw this little guy clinging to Stan’s windshield wiper as we drove to the China Buffet. He hung on for quite a while before he went flying off. Must have been quite an experience for him!!

SHARING DINNERS WITH SALLY AND STAN

Sunday evening we enjoyed grilled chicken dinner at Sally and Stan at their place. Today, we had Sally and Stan over for grilled pork chop dinner at our place. What Fun!!

Stan acting like a squirrel after an ear of corn!! Sally being her nice self!!

Everyone enjoying dinner. (I'm behind the camera.)

PICKLE PINNING CEREMONY AT PEACE RIVER

Today we had a Pickle Pinning Ceremony for those players who had not been pinned in a ceremony before. Faye conducted the ceremony and presented pins to Travis, Doug, and Karen. With paddles over their hearts, they pledged to play and promote the game of Pickleball at every opportunity.




Congratulations to each of you. Wear your pins proudly!!!

PICKLEBALL POST-THANKSGIVING DINNER

Diane and Jack, relatively new at Pickleball, had a great idea for their new Pickleball friends. Since almost everyone had personal plans for Thanksgiving Day, why not have a post-Thanksgiving dinner for all the Pickleball players who are at Peace River campground. We all agreed! We’d be there!! Never turn down an opportunity to eat!!!

And so, on Saturday afternoon, Diane prepared a big turkey for us, and everyone brought a dish to share. I guess we had about 35 players, all enjoying Thanksgiving dinner together.

Here’s the crowd!

Every one cheered Diane for a great job of coming up with the idea, planning and organizing the event, and carrying it out!!!

John presented her with a gift!!

J

A really neat Dolphin hard hat!!

Diane loved it!!! Just what she always wanted.

But we're not finished yet!! It was also Travis' birthday!! We won't ask him which one. Charlotte and John presented Travis with a handmade bike seat cover! He loved that, too!!!

I'm certain a wonderful time was had by all!! Thanks, Diane and Jack!!

CHARLOTTE'S CREATIONS

Pickleball friend, Charlotte, has talents beyond the Pickleball court!! She is an expert at crocheting!!! Here is her latest design and creation.


A beautiful throw dedicated to Pickleball in Orlando, Florida.

Charlotte spends most of the winter months at the Thousand Trails Orlando Resort where she will be playing Pickleball and chrocheting. She told me she does do crochet projects for others and does take orders. Contact her by E-Mail: cjgonet@yahoo.com..

DETOUR TO FORT LAUDERDALE

I had an eye doctor’s appointment at Bascom-Palmer Eye Institute in Miami on Tuesday morning (11/24) to check the pressure in my eye and also to sort of get a second opinion as to the condition of my eye. We also planned to go to Ken’s daughter, Vickie and Steve’s in Pembroke Pines for Thanksgiving. Normally, we would have driven the car down and stayed at Vickie’s, but since it would involve four nights away from the RV, we decided to drive it down and stay in a Passport America RV Resort in Fort Lauderdale – Paradise Island. It was “An Oasis in the Heart of Fort Lauderdale”.

Good news, the pressure in my eye was good – that’s always a relief. The doctor changed my eye drops so that my eye is more comfortable, and I follow up with him again in early February.

We were just 15 minutes from Lauderdale’s beaches. We drove over Tuesday afternoon for about 30 minutes, thinking we would return the next day. But, it rained all day Wednesday!! We did get a few pictures.

And, we were only 20 miles (mostly highway) from Vickie. We all went out to P. F. Chang for dinner on Tuesday evening. We all had a wonderful dinner with their usual great service.

Then, of course, we had Thanksgiving dinner with them. Vickie and Steve prepared turkey and trimmings. Ken baked his specialties – pumpkin and minced meat pies. UUUMMMMMM Wonderful dinner.

Vickie and Ken’s son, Rich in Chula Vista, CA both have Skipe for talking with each other and seeing each other live at the same time using the computer. We used it ourselves to talk with Richard and his family and wish them Happy Thanksgiving. It was the neatest thing, that we could see Richard talking with us all the way from California. That was such fun!!

Thanks, Vickie, for a great Thanksgiving.