Week 224-225 - Pickleball Mania - 12-05-2010

It's all about Pickleball,

Okay, we give up, we're hooked on Pickleball. After the month at Phoenix Christian School project, we rewarded ourselves with a little Pickleball. "A little Pickleball?". Okay, a lot of Pickleball. First, we spent a week at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort. Below Ellen plays with Elizabeth, her partner for the Voyager RV Resort Skill Level tournament. We know a lot of the players at Palm Creek. Our friend Jeanne stops to watch Ellen attack the ball.

Ellen uses her long reach to play the "front line".

1) Ellen slams the ball back to the opponents. 2) Oops, a ball is lobbed over Elizabeth and Ellen's head. Can't win them all.

On to the Voyager Tournament. Referee Chuck introduces the players in the match and explains the USAPA.org rules.

Ellen and Elizabeth gave their all but lost their second match and were eliminated from the Woman's Doubles event.

1) Pete tries his hand at singles. His first match was easy as he was paired up with Walt who was new to the sport. 2) Our friend Ron (who was one of our teachers two years ago, shows how to score points in singles. Pete will play with Ron in the Palm Creek Tournament in March, 2011. Ron is twenty years older than Pete and Pete is still learning from him!

Pete and his partner Bob (Elizabeth's husband) played the Mens Doubles in the 3.5 skill level. They played well together and managed to get a Silver medal! Bob looks lost in this photo, but Pete competed and got the "I can look goofier than you" award.

1) It is nighttime in Tucson and the sky is gorgeous. 2) But, the matches in Pickleball go on. A typical Pickleball game takes about 20 minutes. There is a common saying among PB players, "One more game?". And what better time than tonight?

The Voyager RV Resort is very nice. 1) The RV sites are very wide. Many are replaced as park residents buy Park Models as their winter homes.

1) There are 16 high quality Shuffleboard courts, 2) and two Volleyball courts.

1) Pools? Two outdoor pools, two outdoor spas plus an indoor pool and spa. 2) The Fitness Center.

1) A nice courtyard amongst the various activity rooms. 2) The Sunday morning church service was very large.

After the last day of the tournament, the local residents who did not play in the tournament, get a chance to get back on their courts.

So, we head out of Tucson and on to Desert Hot Springs, CA for the Catalina Spa Pickleball tournament. On the way, between Tucson and Casa Grande, is Picacho Peak.

At the Huntsman World Games in October, we met Pickleball players, Eddie and Jim. They live in Yuma. So we diverted our route to pass through Yuma on the way to Hot Springs. This added miles to our trip, so why would we do this? . . .

"One more game"!

Love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Dec 2010