A MONTH AT TORREY OAKS, BOWLING GREEN, FL

January 4 – February 4 - Torrey Oaks is a beautiful privately owned RV Resort located about seven miles north of the Thousand Trails Peace River Preserve where we spend part of the season in Florida. Torrey Oaks offered Thousand Trails members a good price to rent a month in season there. We decided to take advantage of the offer and rented the month of January.

The collage shows some of the amenities at the Resort.

The Swimming Pool, although it was too cold to get in it the whole time we were there. I did do water aerobics with Sally a couple of times. BURRRRRRRR!! The Shuffleboard Courts are very nice but we never played.. The Courtyard Patio where we enjoyed some nice Pickleball gatherings. The Pickleball Courts where we played with old friends and new friends. The Gazebo which just happens to be located next to the site of our friends Joe and Cis. The Chip and Putt Course which just happened to be located right behind our site!!



Here’s The Highway Runner in our site. We had a nice brick patio, a concrete table set, and the Chip and Putt Course right behind our site!!

ALWAYS FUN AT TORREY OAKS

There were a lot of activities going on at Torrey Oaks. Every Friday there was Happy Hour where we’d gather and bring nibbles to share, followed by Karaoke and some dancing. Here is our group at one of the Happy Hours.

Pete the manager, Diane and Jack visiting from TT Peace River, Stan, Ken, Rich and Donna also from TT Peace River, and Sally.

Faye, Georgia and Bill our neighbors, Joe, Burin and Marilyn our other neighbors, and Cis.
Sally decides to pose for the picture!
One of the attendees playing the Spoons.

Here we are dancing to “The YMCA”. What a group we are. You can see Donna and Sally forming the “Y”, I’m doing the “M”, and Diane is on the “C”, and a couple of others are somewhere in-between!! How did that happen?? We’re all supposed to be showing the same letter!!! We’re ALL a little too happy!!

And every Saturday there was the Pot Luck Dinner. The Resort provides the main entrée and attendees bring a side dish or dessert to share. Again this event was followed by Karaoke and some dancing. Here’s our group at one of the Pot-Lucks.

Joe, Ken, Cis, Faye, Sally, Marilyn, Stan and Burin

Our neighhbors, Marilyn and Burin, dance their way home!!

Stan acting like Stan. Don’t ask me what he’s doing!! I thought he was strumming the guitar on his shirt, but I see it is a boot, so I’m confused!!

In addition to the weekly Happy Hours and Dinners, there were planned activities every night of the week. On Sunday night we had Card Bingo and on Monday night there was regular Bingo. On Tuesday there was organized Euchre. On Wednesday night we went to Bunco. At our first night and again at our last night at Bunco, Ken won second high score and most Buncos!! We got our $$ back. On Thursday nights they had card games in the Rec Room. And, then we're back to the weekend!! Always something going on.

NOW MAYBE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHY I HAVE NOT MADE ANY ENTRIES IN OUR BLOG LATELY!!! SORRY ABOUT THAT!!

PICKLEBALL AT TORREY OAKS

Every morning there was Pickleball on the courts at Torrey Oaks. We really enjoyed it when we participated but often it was too cold and windy!! BURRRRRRRR!! Here is some of the fun!!

Me, Cis, Joe and Ken


The two Sallys



Buddy and Jean. Notice the two balls from the two courts arranged end to end. Look at the spectators in the background watching the balls.

The Other Sally, Cis, Joe and Ken


Diane, Karen and a couple of new players.


Pickleball Social with players from Torrey Oaks and TT Peace River.

LINE DANCING WITH FAYE

February 3 - On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, after Pickleball, I taught line dancing. We had about six regular dancers. It was a lot of fun -- at least for me. We learned about four dances each lesson. Now they are preparing for the Annual Torrey Oaks Follies scheduled for February 23rd. The dancers decided to do “Little Red Book” for the program. Now most of the time is spent perfecting that dance.

Unfortunately, Ken and I will be moving to TT Orlando on February 18th, so I will no longer be involved in the line dancing at Torrey Oaks. Good Luck and Good Dancing, ladies!!

MORNING EXERCISES WITH SALLY

Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, before Pickleball, Sally led an exercise program of stretching, yoga, walking, toning, etc. There were about 12 – 15 people every morning. I really enjoyed her classes, especially the Yoga.

Unfortunately, about February 3, Sally was going for a Pickleball shot and twisted her knee. She has been crippled since then. She saw the doctor who told her she has fluid behind her knee. He put her in a removable brace, gave her some medication and rehab exercises. She’ll be up and around in no time. (She is still able to lead the exercise classes.)

A TRIP TO HARD ROCK CASINO

February 1 - The Resort arranged a trip to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. The bus carried about 65 of us over to the Casino, leaving at 9 AM and departing the Casino at 3:30 PM. For $20/pp they gave us $10 and $15 gambling coupons for the slots and a $5 coupon to use for lunch.
A good time was had by all, but some were more lucky than others. We quickly discovered that we lose all of our complimentary $$ if we played until it was gone. So we would play until we had a hit that paid say $2.80. We would cash that out. Then if we hit for $2.50 we would cash that out, etc. until all of the original coupon was gone. We managed to win a total of about $20.
But our friend, Stan, was really lucky. He sat down for a moment and quickly played the $10 coupon and immediately won $15 so he cashed that out. Later, he sat down next to me and inserted the $15 coupon. Somehow he selected enough lines to lose $7.50, half of the coupon value. He decided to repeat the bet and just blow the rest of the coupon. But what happened was the Slot machine went crazy. He hit a 10 game X 2 bonus!! The reels kept rolling around and around, dinging and dinging! Stan ended up winning $124!!! He treated us to lunch (after coupons) for bringing him luck!!! Congratulations and Thanks Stan!!!