MARK AND CHRIS' PHAETON PLACE BLOG HAS MOVED

Some of you may have followed Mark and Chris' Phaeton Place Blog from the blogs listed in the right margin of our Highway Runner Blog. If s0, you have noticed the list indicates that there have been no postings for months!! WHAT HAPPENED!

I recently contacted Mark and found out they have moved their blog to Wordpress: www.phaetonplace.ca.

I am going to delete their Blog from my list of Blogs so you may wish to Bookmark the above site for future use.

PICKLEBALL HAPPY HOUR AT RICK AND LINDA'S

Sat. Oct. 29 - Rick and Linda invited us to Happy Hour at their patio on Saturday, following the Pickleball tournament. They had prepared Rick's hot and tasty Chili and the rest of us brought nibbles to share.

Rick and Linda.

I couldn't resist!! I caught Rick with his two "brothers"!!

Jim and Shirley.

Pam and Bob.

The odd couple -- Larry and Lynn.

Ken and Faye.

Another Pam and Walt. They had their first Pickleball lesson today.

A great time was had by all. Thanks Rick and Linda!!

ANOTHER PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AT TT PALM SPRINGS!

Sat, Oct. 29 - Every Saturday morning, Rick runs a Pickleball Tournament at TT Palm Springs. There were more participants for the tournament today, so two brackets were set up -- A Bracket for aggressive players and B Bracket for recreational players. Here is some of the action!!

Ken and Bob.

Dean and Linda.

Faye and Pam.

Dee and Larry.

Ken and I got to play together in one match. He made me a winner!!

Pam and Bob were partners for one match, too.

Rich and Rick. Rick ran the tournament and played as well.

Rich surprised me for this shot when he jumped from behind a palm tree!!

Ray and Val.

Bill (from our home town Richmond, VA) and Dean. The two of them are partners in Nationals in Buckeye, AZ in November!!

Jim and Bryan.

Lynn and Richard.

Bill and Jessie.

Judy and Rick.

Shirley helped Rick run the tournament and kept up with the scores.

Congratulations to the winners of the B Bracket!! Ken, Ray, Pam.

Congratulations to the winners of the A Bracket!! Rich, Jim, and Bill.

And Congratulations to all the participants!! Great fun was had by all!!!

TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS AGAIN: PAM AND JOE, PAM AND BOB

Wed. Oct 26 - Back at TT Palm Springs again for a couple of weeks --the first time we have been here since last April. It was fun to meet up with our friends Pam and Bob again, down from Washington. Other friends, Pam and Joe, who bought a beautiful home in Indio last fall, came over, unexpectedly, on Wednesday afternoon and we all had an impromptu Happy Hour!! Our first get-together as a group! FUN!!

Pam, Bob, Pam, Joe, Faye and Ken.

At the first Happy Hour, another was planned!! Pam and Joe invited the group over to their home for margaritas with munchies on Friday afternoon!!

Here we are again in front of their home in Indio. Joe, Pam, Ken, Pam, Bob, Faye

This is their home!! In the spring they changed the grass lawn to desert landscaping.

By comparison, here is the landscaping last April shortly after they moved in!!

At the Margarita party, Bob happened to ask where to get a really good hamburger in the area. Joe said the Elephant Bar had great hamburgers at their Happy Hour!! Thus, the next Happy Hour was planned. We chose Tuesday at 4:30 because Ken and I were leaving on Wednesday morning to go back to Wilderness Lakes and Pam and Bob were joining us there on Thursday morning. But, most important, Joe was having knee replacement surgery on Wednesday morning!! And so, our first Happy Hour this season at the Elephant Bar!!!

Joe, Pam, Pam, Bob, Faye and Ken.

GOOD LUCK WITH THE SURGERY, JOE!!

HOW FAST IS YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION?

An easy way to check the speed of your internet connection!!

Go to www.2wire.com, click on Speed Test. The following screen will appear, showing a speed graph of Mpbs. The speed of your internet connection will be highlighted and shown in the top left box (i.e. My Verizon Mobile Hotspot was 1.6 Mpbs -- not very fast!!)

WATER VOLLEYBALL IS A FUN TIME IN THE POOLS

There are a lot of people playing Water Volleyball at TT Palm Springs these days!! And, it is getting to be quite competitive!! November 10 - 12, 2011, Catalina Spa, a neighboring RV Campground, is hosting their 5th Annual Water Volleyball Tournament.

The event will be for Competitive Teams, with 8 players each, as well as Recreational Teams of 12 players. Teams will be organized in advance of the tournament. VB players at TT Palm Springs are getting ready for the big event!!

Ken and I do not participate in the Water Volleyball but it looks like so much fun!! Here is a group that played on Sunday. There are a number of Pickleball players who play Water Volleyball as well. I'll try to point them out. (Names are listed below the picture.)

(The Pickleball Players in the group, from far Left to Right): Linda; Nancy in white tee with up-stretched arms; Rob with back to the camera, reaching high for the ball; (don't know the next two men); Lee with outstretched arms; Richard near the rope with navy and red hat, and Mike with white tee and hat.

Lee has been instrumental in recruiting VB players at both TT Palm Springs and TT Wilderness Lakes. She said she already has her Competitive Team ready to enter the Catalina Spa Tournament. Good Luck, Friend!

More pictures of the fun:

SATURDAY PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT AT TT PALM SPRINGS

Sat Oct. 22 - As reported in a previous article, we checked into TT Palm Springs on Wednesday, October 19. We have not been here since early Spring!! We were delighted to discover that Rick is having the Saturday morning Pickleball tournaments again this season. The tournament today was Round Robin Luck-Of-The-Draw, in which everyone draws a card and is assigned the number of the card drawn. Then according to a set format, players' numbers are put with other players, changing for each match. We still enjoy participating in the Saturday Tournaments!!

Pictures of some of the action. Hope I included everyone.

Linda and Rob.

Judy and Mike.

Bob and Ken.

Nancy and Brian.

Richard and Larry.

Judy and Brian.

Linda and Pam.

Lynn and Faye.

And, the Winners! First Place, Judy. Third Place, Brian. Rick who ran the tournament. Second Place, Linda.

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated. Thank you,Rick. It was a lot of fun!! Look forward to next Saturday!!

PICKLEBALL AT TT WILDERNESS LAKES AND TT PALM SPRINGS!!

Oct. 20 - We have spent two weeks at TT Wilderness Lakes, located off I-215 between Los Angeles and San Diego. We left there on Wednesday morning for two weeks at TT Palm Springs. The picture below is the group of Pickleball players who were there in the morning as we were leaving!! A whole group of great players came in yesterday!! Just as we were leaving!! Oh, Great!!

From left to right: Rich, Dee, Dean, Val, Bill, Bob, Phyllis, Ron, Ede, Jessie, Ray.

Have a lot of fun you guys!!!

Now we are at TT Palm Springs, off I-10 east of Los Angeles, about 65 miles from TT Wilderness Lakes. We arrived Wednesday afternoon, got set up, went to Costco and Home Depot, got our flu shots and pneumonia shots at Walgreens, then went to the $2 movie (saw "The Devil's Double"), picked up a pizza on our way home, and collapsed!!

It's early in the season here, nevertheless they have a number of Pickleball players here already!! Captured these guys on the courts this morning!

Left to right: Ranger Linda, Rick who runs the Pickleball program, two new players Nancy and Mike, Roy, Ken, Ranger Larry, Richard, Lee who inspires the Water Volleyball program, and long-time friend Cowboy Paul!

Later this afternoon friends Pam and Bob arrived at the park. We had not seen them since last spring so decided to have an impromptu get-together with them and a few others!!

Seated: Faye, Ken, Pam, Bob. Standing: Brian, Judy, and John. Great fun!!

It's great to be back!!

IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR FRIEND JOHN DAVIS

October 18 - Many of you know our good friends Carolyn, an excellent Pickleball Player, and her always supportive husband John.

This morning we received the very sad news that John died suddenly last night while sitting in his favorite chair, after talking on the cell phone to their daughter.

John and Carolyn had just been here with us at Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes. We had enjoyed Pickleball with Carolyn in the mornings and John drove over to the courts every day to say Hello to the group.

They had just left Wilderness Lakes a few days ago and were camping in their motor home in the middle of the desert at Quartzite, AZ, an area of the West that John loved, when he died. We were very relieved to learn that Carolyn is currently staying with their friends Rich and Lynn in Yuma, just south of Quartzite.

For your information, Carolyn's address is 154 Bandit Lane, Bailey, CO 80421.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Carolyn at this very sad time. We will miss you, John.

SKIN CANCER DOCTORS RADENTZ TIMES TWO!!

Oct. 17 - If this were not so serious, it could be pretty funny!!

Before leaving Arizona, I had seen a dermatologist and had three biopsies performed on areas on my face and on my right thumb. The result of the biopsies showed I did indeed have some skin cancer and needed additional procedures. By the time we got the biopsy results, we had left Arizona and were in California at TT Wilderness Lake. Our Pickleball friend, Jim who had lived in this area for years, recommended his dermatologist in nearby Murrieta. He said it was a husband and wife team. Jim's wife Shirley went to Doctor Leslie, and Jim went to Doctor Bill. I called and was able to get an appointment with Doctor Leslie the following week!

I told Jim I was going in on Wednesday afternoon to determine how the doctor would proceed. Jim said he had an appointment that same afternoon. Later, I told Jim I was going in on Monday afternoon for a procedure Doctor Leslie said was called Mohs Micrographic Surgery. Jim said he was going to see Doctor William that same afternoon!!!

On Monday afternoon, my surgery was complete and I was having the dressing applied when I heard, "Hey, Faye!!" from the hallway. Jim had just arrived for his surgery across the hall. "Hey, Jim. Good luck!"

I asked Doctor Leslie if it would be possible to get a picture of this most unusual happening! Two friends visiting two doctors at the same time. The doctors were wonderful and agreed to my request!

Picture: Doctor Bill, Jim showing the area on his hand pending surgery, Doctor Leslie, and me showing my nasal surgery.

Doctor Leslie told me she had excised sections of skin surrounding my skin cancer and tissue evaluation showed the margins were clear. All evidence of the cancer had been removed. I have two more surgeries to go.

May I take this opportunity to encourage everyone to have a skin check-up with their dermatologist!! Skin Cancer is Serious!!