PICKLEBALL HAPPY HOUR AT TT PEACE RIVER

Thur, Dec 04 - Early this week Tiffany and I were talking about the Pickleball happy hours we enjoyed when we were out west.  Have not had a happy hour for a long time since we have been back east.  So guess what??!!  Let's have a Pickleball Happy Hour!!!

Ken and I have a large site, shaded in the afternoon.  So invited all of the Picklebaiall players to join us on Thursday afternoon for Happy Hour.  Everyone bring chairs,beverage of choice, and a snack to share.  We had a great turn out and a great time!!

This is Tiffany and Wade.  Love their drinks!!!

Buddy and Dianne recently bought a park model at Lazy Acres about a mile from TT Peace River.  They drove over to join us.  I was disappointed that Buddy did not bring his guitar, but found out later that Wade also plays guitar.  So, he will be joining Buddy and Dianne at some of their jam sessions.  Neat!

Tracy and Jim.  They are the ones who made our first Pickleball paddle name pins!!

Rocky and Tamarra.  She said they had just started playing Pickleball last Friday at Orlando.  Tiffany and Wade taught them.  Love the game!

Tom and Marge.  They bought a house over in Sebring last season but Tom rides his "bike" over frequently to play.  Great to have them join us this afternoon.

Sally and Stan our long-time friends.  They own a site in Torrey Oaks about 5 miles away.  We went bowling with them and th eTorrey Oaks group on Tuesday and always love having them join us.  Especially when Sally brings her home made wine!

Pat and Keith.  She said she still has the little Heinz pickle pins we gave them years ago at a "pickling ceremony."  It was fun to get to know them better.

Marie and Keith.  So good to see them again this season.  Had not seen them for years until now.

Lance and Bonnie and Grandson.  Bonnie reminded me that they had played in the Ken and Faye Ewbank Pickleball Tournament at TT Chesapeake Bay on Labor Day weekend.  Lance said they did well until them came up against a couple of women who hit the ball too softly!

Jen and Dan.  Said he is new to Pickleball.  Lance and Bonnie introduced him and their young son to the game.  Love to play!!!

Chuck and Dee.  Chuck works at TT Peace River but it happened he is scheduled off on Thursday afternoon and weekends.  Dee is a character!  Always having a good time.

Host and hostess, Ken and Faye.  Didn't have to do much.  Just extend the invite and the players did the rest!!  Great fun!!

BOWLING AT BOWL OF FUN!!

Tue, Dec 03 - This afternoon we went bowling with Stan and Sally and a group from Torrey Oaks at Bowl of Fun bowling alley in Wauchula, FL!  We have not bowled in years and were thrilled just to break a hundred!!!

Stan.

Sally.

Ken.

Faye.

Ted.

Ellenor.

Cathy - the only one of the group to bowl a TURKEY!!  Congratulations, Cathy!!!

Fun afternoon at the bowling alley!!

PICKLEBALL AT TT PEACE RIVER, WAUCHULA, FL

Mon, Dec 01 - We are back at TT Peace River and guess who we ran into!!  Marie and Keith R.!!  We have not seen them for years and it was so good to see them again!!

Here we are at the Pickleball courts on Monday morning.  Marie and Ken and I did not play today because of physical issues but we enjoyed watching Keith play with the other players who were there.

I have to tell you this funny story.  We were talking with Keith and Marie on Saturday afternoon when I asked Keith if he had played Pickleball that morning.   He said that he had gone to the courts that morning and no one was there so no, he didn't play.  Later I ran into the another Keith pickleball player (of Keith and Pat).  He said he had gone up to the courts that morning and no one was there.  Still later, Tracy stopped by to say HI.  She said she and Jim and gone to the courts that morning but no one was there so she told Jim he had to play tennis with her!  Sally called later on Saturday afternoon and mentioned that Tom (of Tom and Marge) had come over to Torrey Oaks to play Pickleball that morning because no one was playing at TT Peace River!!!

What!!  All of these playerswere at the courts and they never ran into each other!!!  So - I walked around the campground and arranged for all of the players to be at the courts Monday morning at 9 AM!!  And so here they all are!!  We had a great group!

Tiffany played with Keith.

Against Tracy and Art.

On the other court, Hedy and Jim took on Wade and Tom.

Hedy and Jim

Wade and Tom

And later Keith and Keith teamed up together!

Funny thing about candid shots.  You never know where the ball might show up!!  This time it looks like Keith has it in his mouth!!!

A great morning of Pickleball at TT Peace River!!

VISIT WITH KEN'S DAUGHTER TRACY

Thur - Nov. 13 - This afternoon we drove to Stanford to visit Ken's daughter Tracy.  She had just bought a Ford Focus and was anxious to show it to her Dad!

Tracy lives on a ranch in Sanford where she helps Chuck the owner raise Royalty Puppies for sale.  She told us that recently Evel Dick the winner of Big Bothers season 8 came by and scooped up their Aussie Angel..Apollo 

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Evel Dick the winner of Big Bothers season 8 came by and scooped up our Aussie Angel..Apollo yesterday.

 — at Royalty Puppies.

Later we went inside where we prepared some of our Garden Bloody Marys with V-8 juice, Vodka, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, celery, olives, pickled okra, and Pepperoni.  UUUMMMMMM!  We have really enjoyed our Bloody Mary cocktails!!

Tracy prepared a delicious dinner of Chicken Piccata with lemon sauce and capers, wild rice and string beans.  We are going to have to learn to cook that delicious Chicken Piccata!!

ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE TO HIGHWAY RUNNER!

Tue - Nov. 11 - We were leaving TT Peace River early this morning.  Apparently, when driving to the exit, Ken drove over a speed bump and one of the storage bin doors popped open.  Unfortunately, we were unaware that this had happened.  As Ken drove around the curve out to Highway 17, the open storage bin door hit one of the steel pools lining the circumference of the curve.  That knocked the door half way off so we could not drive.

Before leaving, we had to remove the damaged door completely.  Here is a picture of the damage taken after we arrived at the TT Orlando campground.  If it had to happen, this is the best door for it to happen to.  As you can see there is not much stored behind this door.

Now we have to decide where to have the repair work done.  We would like to go to the Tiffin Factory in Red Bay, Alabama but that is 635 miles away and we would not go until Spring.  Guess we will have to look around this area to see whom we might get to do the job.

Always something!!!

PICKLEBALL AT TT PEACE RIVER, FL

Nov 01 - 10 - Finally playing some Pickleball again!!  We have not been on the Pickleball courts for quite a while.  Just did not feel physically strong enough to play.  But here at TT Peace River we are feeling a bit stronger and anxious to get back on the courts.  There were at least four or six of us players who have been playing two or three games each morning.

Chuck and Heddy.

Ken and Art.

Faye with Chuck played against Heddy and Art.

And then one morning Tom drove over from Sebring to play.  Tom with Ken.

Buddy and Tom.

Travis is back at TT Peace River and he played us this morning.  Travis and Heddy.

 That made eight players this morning!!  We had enough players for two courts!!!
Heddy, Travis, Chuck, Art, Buddy, Tom, Faye and Ken.

Diane rode over to the courts in the golf cart with Buddy.  It was she who took the picture above.

Thanks everybody for playing Pickleball with us!  It has been so much fun.

NEW TIRES FOR THE HIGHWAY RUNNER!!

Thur, Oct. 16 - We left TT Chesapeake Bay yesterday, heading to Florida.  We had made arrangements with Love's Truck Stop in Dillon, SC to purchase six new Michelin tires from them for our motorhome, Highway Runner.  UGH!!!  We had explained to them the type and size tires we needed and set an appointment for Thursday morning, October 16.  Love's arranged to have the required tires on hand.  .

Love's Tire Center, Dillon, SC

We contacted FMCA regarding their Michelin FMCA Tire Advantage Program and Love's submitted our bill through that program.  Guess we saved a few $$$ using the discount program!

Anyway, it's done now and we feel a lot more secure riding on six new tires!!

FREE BOAT RIDES AT DOWNTOWN DISNEY!

Sun, Oct. 19 - We got to Florida at our TT Orlando campground on Friday, October 17.  I called my brother Nelson to see if he was in Florida at his home in the Villages, and maybe we could get together.  He drove over to our campground on Sunday morning (about 70 miles) to spend the day with us

We started out with Garden Bloody Mary's.  I call them that because along with the Vodka we added V-8 juice, lime, celery, olives and pickled okra.  We learned how to make these really good Bloodys at the Bloody Mary Bar at Wallaby's anniversary brunch!!  UUMMMM!!  A little later we enjoyed our own brunch of sticky ham rolls and spinach salad.

Ken wanted to watch the NASCAR races that afternoon, so Nelson and I went to Downtown Disney (about 12 miles) and took the FREE Boat Rides!!!  FREE!!

Actually, the boats were a fleet of "taxis" or "ferries" that transport guests from the various Disney resorts located on the man-made Sassagoula River to Downtown Disney Marketplace on Lake Buena Vista (also Disney-made). It was not real exciting or thrilling as some boat rides, but it WAS very pleasant and relaxing.  A nice way to spend the day with my brother!!!

We boarded the ferry at Downtown Disney Boat Dock West near Cirque du Soleil and Hard Rock Cafe.

We took the "Local" Taxi to stops on Lake Buena Vista.

Fulton's Crab House is a replica of a riverboat.  We'll have to come back for crabs sometime!

We took the ferry to the Disney resort Old Key West.  The resort looked like some of the old building in beautiful Key West.

Another cruise took us to The French Quarter where the resort buildings resembled Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

A little further on we arrived at Port Orleans.  Here the resort was made up of a number of majestic  southern mansions.

There were some restaurants and shops at the Dock in Port Orleans.

It was a very enjoyable day cruising around the Disney resorts.  We did not even know all these resorts were back there!!  Something we will have to do again!!

Sidebar:  Our boat captain said that Downtown Disney is in the process of expansion.  By 2016 it will have double the number of building and restaurants!

RACK OF RIBS AT MILLER'S ALE HOUSE, KISSIMMEE, FL

 Mon, Oct. 27 -  On our way home from the FREE boat rides at Disney Downtown, we noticed the crowd parked at Miller's Ale House on Hwy 192 -- a VERY popular place!  Gotta be a sports bar!  I checked out their menu on their website.  Turns out every night they have a different special entree.  The Monday night special is a full rack of ribs for $10.99.  Sounded good to me!!

In the past we have always gone to Oakwood Smokehouse and Grill in Clermont for their full rack of ribs special, but we decided to give the Ale House a try this time to see if their deal is as good at that at Oakwood.

Entrance to the Ale House.

As we suspected, The Ale House is a sports bar.  TV's with various games playing covered every wall of their large dining area.

The rack of ribs was quite large and delicious (with the addition of extra sauce).  We were not given a choice of type of Bar-B-Q we wanted -- dry rub, mild, spicy.  But that was OK; we were happy.  The ribs were served with a garnish of coleslaw and one side.  I opted for a side salad and Ken ordered the sweet potato fries.  (Most of the sides were included in the price of the ribs but there was an extra charge of 99 cents for each of the sides we selected.)   And, we each had a 16 ounce beer for just $2 each.  We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and had enough left over for dinner another night at home.

Picture from the Ale House website.

On Thursday nights Miller's Ale House has a prime rib special.  Since we were favorably impressed with our rack of ribs dinner, we will likely give the prime ribs special a try when we get back to TT Orlando.

BACK AT TT PEACE RIVER, WAUCHULA, FL

Tue, Oct. 28 - We called Barb and Mitch a couple of weeks ago to talk to Mitch about the Michelin FMCA Tire Advantage Program because we knew they had bought motorhome tires under that discount program.  We discovered they had been traveling extensively and were now in Texas.  They said they were going to be at TT Peace River at the same time we would be there.

I called them again this afternoon to see if they were still at Peace River and let them know we were coming in today.  Barb said they were still there but leaving the next day.  She immediately invited us to come over to their rig tonight for dinner!!  How nice!!  That's just the type of people they are!!

Mitch is a Chef by hobby and loves to cook.  He prepared a delicious Chinese pork dish served over brown rice!!  Wonderful!!

As we were finishing dinner, other friends, Rich and Dee came by to say "Hi".  They had heard we were in the park.  We were surprised to see them because the last we heard, they were still out West!

It was so much fun to get together with these pickleball friends again!!

Thanks so much Barb and Mitch for your hospitality!!!  Keep on having fun and we'll see you again soon!

FUN WITH OUR TORREY OAKS FRIENDS!!

Mon, Nov. 03 - We are now at TT Peace River in Wauchula, FL.  We knew that Joe and Cis (PA) were planning to be down at their RV site in Torrey Oaks, about five miles up the road, on Monday.  So I called and told them that Ken would be cooking up some of his Chile Soup on Monday and we would like to bring it by and share with them for dinner, if they were available.  She said they would love that, and she said that mutual friends Stan and Sally (MI) were also arriving at Torrey Oaks on Monday.  So, we called and invited them to join us for dinner, too.  It was so great to get with these friends again!

After dinner picture:  Faye, Joe, Cis, Ken, Sally and Stan!

Thur, Nov 06 - We joined friends Sally and Stan and Cis and Joe at Paul's, a local restaurant favorite here in Wauchula, FL.  And Paul's does offer a great meal for your money!!

A picture of my calf's liver and onions with rice and green beans.  And you don't even see the chicken and rice soup, salad, bread, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cup of hot coffee!!!  All for less than $10!!  Do you wonder why Paul's is a favorite!!??

Here's the group around the table after enjoying our dinner.  Joe, Sally, Stan, Faye, Ken and Cis.