GERMAN DINNER WITH CHRIS AND MARK

Jan 08 – Chris and Mark are parked in the site next to us at TT Palm Springs. They invited us to join them for a German dinner on Saturday. They had other friends over also.

Here are the Guys! Ken, Bob, Mark, Brian, Olan and Dennis!!


And here are the gals!! Merrallee, Chris, Judy, Faye and Barb!!

Dinner was DeLicious. Chris made wonderful Schnitzel and Spaetzle and cucumber salad. Merrallee made Slaw.

I brought Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage. For dessert we had Key Lime Pie by Judy and German Chocolate Cake by Barb!!

Everything was Delicious!! Thanks so much Chris and Mark. It was Wunderbar!!!

A VERY BUSY TIME AT TT PALM SPRINGS!!

Jan 03 – 08 – We had a delightfully busy week here at TT Palm Springs. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! The next few articles cover some of the events.


OF COURSE THERE WAS PICKLEBALL!

We played round robin Pickleball every morning. Here is some of the action!


Ken shows his form!





Carol and Renate. Renate shows a new stroke!


Phil and Larry M.

Martin and Annie.

Linda and Larry P.

Roy and Larry M.

Dick and Rick.
Larry M. and Richard. Looks like everybody wanted to play with Larry!

Faye shows her bad form!! But it's fun!!

HAIL AND FAREWELL TO PRIM AND DON

Jan 04 – Long time acquaintances Prim and Don came to TT Palm Springs to visit mutual friends Renate and Heinz for a couple of days. Renate invited Carol and Bob and Ken and me to their place to welcome them.

Renate and Heinz join us in toasting Prim and Don with Champaign!

Carol and Bob.

Ken and Faye.

Ken and Bob enjoy Heinz's special Brandy!

The next day, Renate and Don played an exciting Pickleball Match before Prim and Don had to leave.

It was good to see them again even though it was a brief visit.

FRIENDS WAYNE AND NANCY VISIT US AT TT PALM SPRINGS

Jan 03 – 06 – We received an E-Mail on Sunday evening from our long-time friends Wayne and Nancy, letting us know they were stopping by TT Palm Springs for a few days to see us!!! What A Surprise!! Wayne and Nancy have a place in Happy Trails in Arizona so we never expected to see them here!!

Wayne and Nancy were among the first people we ever played Pickleball with. When we met them in TT Rancho Oso in April 2002 we had just learned about this great game. We heard the sound of Pickleball being played down on the courts and went down and introduced ourselves. Little did we know we had just met a couple of real Pickleball enthusiasts who just took us under their wing and became friends for life. Thank you so much Wayne and Nancy!! We consider that a very lucky day when we met you!!

This time, when we got together with them, there was some reminiscing and Pickleball of course!

Later in the week we went to the Cinemark Dollar Movie (turned out to be $2 except on Monday and Tuesday) to see Unstoppable. What a riveting movie!! We were all exhausted when it ended and felt like we ourselves had stopped the train!!

Then we took them to one of our favorite places to eat – Mariscos Mr. Cora’s Mexican Seafood House in Cathedral City. Everything is Mexican – everything is seafood. We had their lunch special of three fish/shrimp tacos and beverage for only $5.99. It was so good!!

On the drive home we passed the Elephant Bar and decided to go there for Happy Hour on Thursday night before they left early Friday morning.

It this a good Omen?? We followed this hot air balloon as it lifted off from behind these buildings.

At the Elephant Bar.

On the way, Nancy mentioned that Barb had told her to be sure to get the Senior Card – 20% off!! Here Nancy and I show off our Senior Cards. Problem: they don’t apply to Happy Hour!!

We all ordered something different from the Happy Hour menu and shared our selection. Everything was fabulous!!

Nachos. Not on the menu but available on request.

Fried Calamari.

The highlight of the evening - Quick Seared Tuna with Soy and Wasabi.

Here we are having a farewell drink with Wayne and Nancy!

Thank you so much Wayne and Nancy for stopping. It was so much fun being with you again!!

HAPPY HOUR WITH MARION AND TOM

Jan 07 – Good friends Marion and Tom called us a couple of days ago and suggested that we go to Happy Hour on Friday at Rockin’ Baja in LaQuinta. They had heard that it was pretty good – we had never been there. We have not seen Marion and Tom since the Pickleball Tournament at Catalina Spa in mid-December, so we were thrilled to see them again!

I can’t remember exactly when we met Marion and Tom, but it was sometime after we learned to play Pickleball in April 2002. It was probably on the Pickleball courts at TT Verde Valley, AZ. We became close friends with the two of them and their Retriever, Junior. Since that time we have played many games together, and have had many, many Happy Hours!!

The Rockin’ Baja was a rocking place with the interior décor depicting the casual life style of the Baja!


We all enjoyed their margaritas and complimentary chips and salsa. Later we ordered Mahi Mahi fish tacos which were quite large and very tasty.

The place was packed with festive locals!! In fact, when the club manager came to our table to apologize for slow service (which we had not noticed), and mentioned that the crowd was larger than usual tonight, both Marion and I thought he was going to ask us to leave to make room for other customers!! HA HA We had so much to talk about and mutual friends to remember , I guess we had a guilty feeling for lingering so long!!

I finally remembered to capture the exterior as we were leaving.

As Ken mentioned when we were driving home – the Happy Hour crowd at the Elephant Bar seems to be more sophisticated; this crowd was younger, but Rockin’ Baja was a lot of fun, too!