CHINESE BUFFET AT PAK INN, RANCHO MIRAGE, CA

When we were in Palm Springs five - six years ago, a group would get together and go over to Pak Inn for the Chinese Buffet at least once a month. We were not really planning to go out to eat today, but while we were at the Pickleball courts this morning, Paul invited us to join him and Carla Jo at the Pak Inn Buffet. Of course we couldn't say "No".

We had met Paul on the Pickleball courts when we wintered in Florida. We ran into them each winter for the past several years. It was unexpected that we would see them out West!

So here we are at the Pak Inn. Around the table, left to right: Roger, Paul, Ken, Faye, Carla Jo, Annie.

The only regret we have about this gathering is that it was the last time we will see Paul for a long while. Tomorrow morning they go to TT Wilderness Lakes for a week, and then will be heading back to Florida. But, a few months ago I taught him about Blogging, so we'll keep up with them on his Blog!

Thanks, Paul, for the invitation. Safe travels!!

PICKLEBALL IS ALIVE AND WELL AT TT PALM SPRINGS!

e arrived back at TT Palm Springs on Monday, March 07, for two weeks. The first thing we noticed was that the Pickleball Courts were full of players with other players waiting to play, as usual. We found a site across the road from the courts, so we were able to see when players were out on the court. We were not able to play on Monday but of course we were over there on Tuesday morning. There was plenty of action!!!

Here's Bernard and "Flash" Gordon.

Ken playing with Ed whose making a fantastic overhead!!

Bob and Larry.

Jerry and Dennis both want this one!

Tom and Barb. Barb took today off and I wanted her picture.

Dennis and Jackie. Jackie does not play Pickleball but she is a fantastic Line Dance teacher!! She came to a few of my classes and gave me some music and step sheets. I was very fortunate to have a chance to meet her.

Bert is trying to win a Pickle for being the "Most Athletic"!

Norby playing with Judy.

Bernard and Jeannette. Jeannette just made a winning shot with her new ZZT Sports paddle that she bought from Spike at the Palm Desert Senior Games. I told her I thought she bought the paddles for the Grandchildren and here she is playing with it!! She said they bought two more paddles so she and Flash could have one!

She wanted to make certain I got a good picture of the ZZT Sports paddle!! It's a WINNER!!

Tom with Gloria who is stretching for this overhead.

Frank and Flash cutting up in their Muscle Shirts! WOW! Wish I could whistle!!

Ed and Larry wait for the ball. (That's our motorhome behind them!)

Ken lunges for the ball. Bob watches in the background.

Brian taking his dogs on their daily walk.

Jeannette with Norby reaching for the overhead.

This is our table umbrella at the courts!! It's "deco shred art"!! Amazingly, it does provide a little shade from the sun!

This is another day at the courts -- Tuesday the 15th.

Jessie and Bert playing together. I understand Jessie won numerous medals at the Catalina Spa Tournament this past weekend! Congratulations, Jessie!!

Ed and Richard watching and waiting for the high ball.

Here's the group after the match -- Richard, Ed, Jessie and Bert.

Players from another match. I missed the action shots. Roy, Larry, Ranger Larry, and Chris.

Richard and Bob.

Rick and Jim P.

Fred and Norby.

Jerry and Gloria.

Jessie with Judy.

Bert and Ken are Jessie and Judy's opponents! They had a super game!

At the net after the match. I wanted to get into the picture since I can't take my own picture when I'm playing!!

And now Bert is playing with Chris!!

Ken and Ranger Larry were their opponents. At the net after the match.

Jessie playing with Gloria.

Larry and Norby.

Richard and Ed.

Judy and David come to the net. David is from Hawaii and this is the first time we have met him.

I saved the best for last!! Norby (right) and I had just won a match over Fred (left) and Ed. In an earlier match Ed had also made me a winner!! I wanted to have a picture between these two guys -- My Heroes!! They can be very proud -- that was no easy task to make Faye a Winner!!!

A fun time was had by all who play PICKLEBALL!!

AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES AND DINNER AT THE OLD CREEK HOUSE CAFE, PALM SPRINGS, CA

Mar 14 - We had decided to go to see the movie, The Fighter, based on the true story of "Irish" Micky Ward, staring Mark Wahlberg. It was playing at the Cinemark10 Movies for only $1.25 each on Monday.

We both thought the movie was great and very well done, particularly the fighting scenes. I read that Mark had to go through grueling training, actually got punched a lot, to make the fight scenes realistic -- they were! We highly recommend this movie -- especially at $1.25 - $2.00 a person!!

A couple of months ago, I clipped an advertisement for the Old Creek House Cafe in Palm Springs! Daily Happy Hour and Dinner specials. Since the Monday special was 8 oz. Prime Rib for $9.99, we thought it would be a good idea to go there after the movie (we would already be half way there). Joe and Pam skipped the movie but joined us for an early dinner.

The Old Creek House Cafe in Palm Springs is the former Cedar Creek Inn. It has the look of a beautiful old Inn.

Here we are enjoying our Happy Hour Margaritas before dinner on the patio.

The view from our table. Beautiful!!

We all agreed the Prime Rib today was not the best we'd ever had, but dinner was very good and it was an afternoon delight!! Will probably try it again for a different Daily Special.

ANOTHER SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE POLO MATCHES, INDIO, CA

Sun, Mar. 13 - Since we are back in Palm Springs, we wanted to go to another Polo Match at the Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA. This is funny! I Googled "Polo Match, Indio, CA" to make certain they were still having Polo Matches on Sunday and to check the times. Right there on the first page of the Google Search List was our BLOG -- HIGHWAY RUNNER!! I clicked on it and up came our Blog at the article I had written about going to the Polo Match a couple of months ago!! HIGHWAY RUNNER made the big time again!!!

We picked up Pam and Joe at their new house late Sunday morning and headed for the Tack Room Cafe for lunch before the polo matches. The weather was beautiful so we opted to dine on the patio.

After lunch we drove the short distance to the matches. This time they were playing on a different field, so things were set up differently with tailgate parking along the dirt road. There was no space available in that area so Ken convinced the Parking Attendants that we had eaten at the Tack Room and THEY said we could park on the other side (VIP Parking for Box Seats)! We drove to the far side and watched the remainder of the 12:00 match. Ken and I soon discovered we had forgotten everything we had learned about Polo at our first outting!! But
our memory gradually came back!

Some of the action!

After the first match, spectators were invited to "Stomp the Divets" to get the field ready for the second match. Here are Joe and Ken stomping!!

Now we are ready for the 2:00 PM Match!

Before the match started, there was a parade.

Some more action.

Near the end of the match, there was an accident across the field from us! Players were racing down the field when suddenly a player just tumbled off his horse. I saw him fall!! But I could not see what caused him to fall. He lay still on the ground until the medical team came to help him. (He's sitting on the ground in front of the cart.)

AND, only a few plays before that accident, a player at our end of the field scored a goal. However, his horse could not stop and ran between the goal posts. I think that's a penalty. But not only did he run between the goal posts, he hit one of the posts and knocked it down!! That caused the horse to trip and the rider tumbled head over heel over the horse's head!!! The rider promptly jumped up and raised his arms to show he was OK; he grabbed the horse and went back on the field, ready to play again!! Anyway, the goal did not count!!

This picture is not of the accident but this is a good picture of the goal posts. They are not heavy; they are plastic tubes that fit over a stake driven into the ground. So it really did not injure the horse when he it it.

It was another fun day at the Polo Matches!! And it's FREE!! (Plus the cost of lunch at the Tack Room).