End of the Winter Pickleball Season

Posted from Lajitas, TX

(Click on pics to enlarge)

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                        WARNING!                           

This post is all about Pickleball.  For those who don't care anything about this subject please feel free to move on to something else (truly, I won't be offended!)   If you would like to learn a bit more about the fastest growing sport in America please keep reading. Questions about the sport are certainly welcomed.

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We arrived at Palm Creek Resort, Casa Grande, AZ on October 15, 2015.  This is our winter home and this year we had the added bonus of co-hosting the USAPA National VII Pickleball Tournament with Robson Ranch Resort. For any pickleball player, this is the mecca of tournament play. (Just as a side note, Palm Creek Resort will be solely hosting the 2016 and 2017 National Tournaments.)

For those not familiar with the USAPA (United States Pickleball Association) rating system, a beginner is rated at 2.0.  Currently, the level of play increases by .5 steps (i.e. 2.0, 2.5,3.0 etc.) and the top level is 5.0.

The National tournament is divided into "Open" play in which you must be a 4.5 or 5.0 player to register to play, or register in an "Age Group" such as 18-35, 35-50, etc. When playing as partners, the team always has to play in the skill level of the highest rated player, or in an age-based tournament, the age of the youngest player on the team is used.

I state the "ground rules" so that it will be a bit easier to follow the rest of this post.


This season I played all but one tournament with Bill Pitzl.  It really is a lot easier to play together for an extended period of time versus picking up new partners for each tournament.  We entered the National Tournament in the 55-60 age group category with the goal of winning one match. Seems like an easy goal to accomplish until you consider that each age group can be comprised of any skill level from a 2.0 up to a 5.0. At this point in the season, both Bill and I were rated 3.5.

Prior to Nationals VII

I am very happy to say that we accomplished our goal by winning our second match of this tournament before losing the third match (in a double elimination format).







Our next tournament entered was the Voyager Open Skill Tournament near Tucson on 12/4/15.  We finished one round short of the medals, but we were generally happy with our play.

On 1/30/16 we competed in the 5th Annual Mission Royale Tournament in Casa Grande.  Again, we finished one round short of the medals.  Not as impressed with our play in this one, though.

In-House Tournament

Level 4.0, Age 50+

In early February, our Palm Creek Pickleball Club has an "in house" tournament in which only members can participate.  Because our play earlier in the season had been pretty good, the tournament director moved us up into the "4.0" level.  (Just for this tournament, as the member tournament is NOT a USAPA sanctioned tournament.) I played again with Bill in the 4.0 Skill Level division, but we failed to medal.  I also participated in the "Age Group" 4.0 Level with a different partner named Rick Deweerd.  Rick is definitely an up and coming player and we were able to take a Bronze Medal in the 4.0 Level, Age 50-65.

Duel in Desert

Level 3.5

Our first large tournament of the season was the 13th Duel in the Desert held at Palm Creek. We played on March 4, 2016 and I again partnered with Bill in the 3.5 Level.  We were able to win a Silver Medal in this tournament.  Our first-ever win as a team.




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Here's a short video clip of just one point in the Gold-Silver match for the Duel in the Desert.

(Best viewed in 1080p resolution)

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Fun in Sun Tournament

(Level 3.5, Age 50-64)

Bronze Medalists not pictured

We must have been on a hot streak as we also took a Silver Medal in the 6th Fun in the Sun Tournament up in Sun City West, AZ.  We lost to a very tough team in this one.

Robson Ranch Tournament

(Level 3.5)

Our final medal of the season came in the 4th Robson Ranch Tournament held on March 18, 2016. We again took the Silver Medal and were probably the happiest with our play in any tournament of the season in this one.  There were 31 teams in our division alone for this tournament.

Encanterra Country Club Tournament

"The Agony of Defeat"

The final tournament of the season was at an inaugural tournament at the Encanterra Country Club up in San Tan Valley, AZ.  We got off to a bad start by losing our first match, but managed to fall just one match short of getting into the medal rounds from the "losers bracket" in this one.

Bill and I were very pleased with our play for the season. We started the year wanting to medal in some of the larger tournaments for our skill level. We missed the medal round by one match in 3 tournaments, and won the Silver Medal in 3 additional matches.  We felt that our level of play progressed as the year moved along.  Apparently, the USAPA ratings committee agreed as we were both moved up to the 4.0 Level as of June 1, 2016.  (Good, and bad.)  Now we'll be playing against tougher competition in every tournament next season!

Medals won during the 2015-2016 winter season.

Prior to the Robson

Ranch Tournament

We weren't the only ones playing pickleball here this season.  I have to mention Karen and her partner Debi Pitzl (Bill's wife) who competed in their first tournament together at the Robson Ranch Tournament on March 16th.  Although they were both admittedly pretty nervous, they did fine together and hopefully will be playing together in future tournaments next season.  They both agreed that they had a good time together.  In the end, that's what playing pickleball is all about.

FUN!  FUN!  FUN!





Thanks for stopping by to take a look at this lengthy post.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Where Has This Winter Season Gone?

Posted from Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort at Casa Grande, AZ (Click on pics to enlarge)

Wow!  Our time here in Casa Grande has truly flown by this winter.  We've been here since October 15th and we'll be moving on on April 15th.  The mass exit of the "snowbirds" has really gotten underway since April 1st.

Palm Creek had a record year for filling spaces this winter and all of these now empty spaces you see in this picture were filled with RVs not too long ago.  It's sad really as we've seen many of our friends leave, but console ourselves with the knowledge that we'll see them again next winter.

It also means that the pickleball tournament season is winding down in this area as well.  I had the opportunity to play in several tournaments this season with my two partners Ken Hague and Bill Pitzl.  Thank you to both of you guys for putting up with me.  Aside from the one medal Ken and I won in our resident tournament, Bill and I were  only able to say that we gained valuable tournament experience for the future.  (I guess that's a nice way of saying that we lost!)

The largest tournament that we played in was hosted by our own Palm Creek Pickleball Club.  The tournament was held in the first part of March and it called "The Duel in the Desert".  For comparison sake, it is the third largest tournament in the United States (behind The Nationals and the Huntsman Games) and it is the largest tournament put on by a club.  This year's tournament drew 479 players who competed in 672 matches.

These tournaments not only showcase some of the very best pickleball players around, but we had many vendors selling everything from paddles to jewelry to ice cream.

More vendors over on the adjoining outfield of the softball field.

(Photo Courtesy of Palm Creek FB Page)

This past Saturday the park held a farewell party and called it the "Aloha Party".  It was another beautiful day here and was well attended.

A group of Polynesian dancers performed, a fire dancer gave a demonstration, food was available, and a good time seemed to be had by those in attendance.

We will certainly miss all of our friends, both old and new, here in Palm Creek, but look forward to good times together again next winter season.

We've had some great times during the past six months and the sunsets never disappoint.

Thanks for dropping by to take a look!

Finally Played Pickleball Again

Clinton, IN                  (Click on Pics to Enlarge)


Okay, it's now been 2 1/2 months since Karen and I played our last bit of pickleball at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ.  We knew that pickleball wasn't as popular on the east coast (with the exception of The Villages in Florida), but we thought we would run across a court to play on, or some friends to join us in a game or two, somewhere in our travels over on the right side of the country.

Well, it has just not panned out so far.  We had high hopes when we stayed at the Thousand Trails in Chesapeake, VA in April, but their courts were undergoing a renovation.  No pickleball!

We moved on to Elkhart, IN where we were told that there was a single pickleball court at the Elkhart Campground.  This turned out to be an old (really old) tennis court with huge cracks in the pavement, grass growing up out of the cracks, and no net equipment whatsoever.  (It was so bad I didn't even take a picture.) No pickleball!

Well, we are now at our current location at the Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes near Clinton, IN and had high hopes again of finding a court.  We did see that two courts had been painted on two old tennis courts and a single court on a multi-purpose court which doubles as a basketball court.   Still, no pickleball!

Ok, enough is enough.  We had to find some way to rectify the situation where the hard surfaces are intact, but pickleball is still not possible due to the lack of a net.  Solution:  Purchase our own portable net system and take it with us as we travel.  That's exactly what we did.  In a short two days after using Amazon Prime Shipping we had it in our hands.

The whole system can be broken down and carried in a 6"x6"x36" storage bag and weighs about 21 pounds.  Now if we happen upon a campground which has an already striped court we're ready to play within about 10 minutes.  Even without striping, a bit of tape and laying out a court, and we're ready to go again.

Ah, life it good again!








Although this post is intended to be a bit "tough in cheek", if you'd like to learn more about this rapidly growing sport (particularly among the 50+ crowd) take a look at the United States Pickeball Association's USAPA website.  They are the governing body for pickleball in the United States.

Thanks for dropping by to take a look!

TT Horseshoe Lake, Clinton, IN

Clinton, IN                       (Click on Pics to Enlarge)

After leaving the Escapees Escapade at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds on Sunday morning, we headed back north for a short stay again at Elkhart Campground.  On Monday we attended an inaugural seminar put on by Nick Russell (Gypsy Journal Newspaper) entitled "Publishing For Profit". This included subject areas such as blogs, books, website publishing, apps, niche guides, specialty tabloids, even weeklies and shoppers.  For a first time seminar, we thought he did a great job and we learned a lot.

On Tuesday morning I gathered with a few others for an informal discussion of blogging using Blogger and Wordpress. The session was led by Chris Guld of the Geeks on Tour. I always learn things at their seminars and classes, and today was no exception.

Photo taken from SeeingtheUSA.com

Tuesday evening we got a chance to go to dinner with Bill and Kris Osborne (writer of SeeingtheUSA blog).  Hopefully, we'll see Bill and Kris again at the Thousand Trails CG where we're currently staying.  Since I didn't have my camera with me, I'm stealing this picture from Bill's recent blog.

Wednesday morning we left Elkhart CG and headed south for a 4 1/2 hour drive to the Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes preserve near Clinton, IN.  I'm not sure what Indiana is doing with the money they collect for road maintenance, but they sure aren't using it to repair the roads.  Several very rough stretches encountered along the way.

This is our first visit to this preserve. It is very large and could really be a nice preserve with some maintenance. As we've seen at several TTs recently, the main gate is seldom manned.

The large draw of this cg is the layout of the preserve around several lakes.  All very pretty.  This is the view from our site immediately across the road.

We came in mid-week, a few days before the Memorial Day weekend, because we expected it to be busy.  The great disappointment here (and at many other TTs) is the great number of annual lease holders occupying the prime sites, and at this preserve, the majority of the sites in general.  We were lucky, however, and got a nice site with 50 amp service.

The preserve looks as though it's short on employee help.  This is the official beginning of the "camping season" and there's still a lot of work to be done here.  Notice the pavillion chairs and tables.

The pool looked clean, but again, no loungers around the deck. Hey folks, the holiday weekend begins today!

Of course we had to look for a place to play pickleball.  The basketball court looks as though someone has marked off two pickleball courts, but that was about it.

The preserve is good for bike riding and it looks as though this site is ready for quite a few camp fires this season.

Many of the sites are positioned along one of several lakes which wind throughout the preserve. Boating and fishing are allowed, but no swimming.

The roads inside the preserve are in pretty good condition, although the "A" section does include some hills and curves which might be difficult for larger rigs.  We are parked in the "B" section and it was easy to enter the site.  All are back-ins.

Our next blog will include a small project on the rig. Stay tuned.



Thanks again for stopping by to take a look!

Chesapeake Thousand Trails

Gloucester, VA     (Click on Pics to Enlarge)

With our time up at the Prince William Forest CG and with my Father-in-Law now at home and seeming to be doing well, we've moved south for a bit.

Just a short 2 1/2 hour drive to the southeast and we arrived at the Chesapeake Thousand Trails (TT) last Friday.  We've been Thousand Trails members since 2008, but have never really used the preserves enough to justify our initial and annual expense.  Once we began FTing in 2013, we have started to use the preserves more.  I'm not going to talk about the decision to join TT here, but in Bill Osborne's blog Seeing the USA he does a nice job of addressing the costs and use factor associated with making an informed decision concerning this matter.

We have been to this preserve several times throughout the years and chose a site in the open this time.  We knew it wouldn't be that hot yet and we wanted to be able to pick up a satellite signal.

Apparently, these folks like their satellite TV as well, but were forced to group their dishes together (away from the trees) to pick up a signal.




Another reason we decided to choose this preserve was because we knew that they had Pickleball courts.  We saw them on our last visit back in 2010, but had never played at that point. We are still having "withdrawal" pains from our nice courts in Arizona, so we were anxious to get in some playing time.

   CLICK ON "PLAY" BUTTON ABOVE

 

Does anyone here remember the feeling that Chevy Chase and his family had when they reached Wally World in the original National Lampoon's Vacation movie?

 We went over to the Pickleball courts and saw this.

The Pickleball courts are currently under renovation for the upcoming season.  No fences, holes in the concrete, and no nets.  Not something we were happy to see!

This TT's preserve also has two separate swimming pools.  The same work was happening to them.  Oh well.






I guess we'll just have to get out and do some additional walking and bicycling.  The following pictures around the preserve are of some of the amenities.



Boat launch into the Piankatank River

Under Roof Lodge Area

Indoor Hot Tub



Aside from regular RV sites, the preserve also has different classes of cabins for use. Here's a few of the "regular" cabins positioned beside one of the lakes.

 

Here's one of the "Getaway Club" cabins overlooking the Piankatank River.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't end the blog without a photo of a sign posted down at the end of the fishing pier. Now I'm certainly in favor of not jumping into shallow water, but I'm not sure if I can avoid "swiming" near the pier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thanks for stopping by to take a look!