We're Fine - Thanks For Your Interest & Concern

Hi Everyone,

Well, it has been a long time since we've posted and we've received several emails of concern. Sorry about that. I suppose my excuse is that we've had a lot going on and after our amazing summer Alaska/Canada trip, everything we have experienced since seems rather mundane, thus I haven't been quite as motivated to write.

After leaving West Virginia, we stayed a few days in North Carolina in the Wilmington area visiting with friends. And I also started getting more involved in playing pickleball. Actually, I've become a little obsessed with that.

I played at the YWCA in Wilmington where the competition is quite good. It was my first indoor pickleball experience, and I learned I much prefer to play outdoors. However, I met a lot more really nice people and enjoyed the challenge.

After Wilmington, we headed to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where we spoke at the Myrtle Beach RV Show and had good turnouts for our seminars. We also ran into our friends Rush & Lola at the Myrtle Beach State Park where we stayed. And we connected with a few others at the RV Show.

Linda & I also played pickleball indoors at a local gym one night while we were there.

From Myrtle Beach, we headed south into Georgia where we stayed at Walkabout Camp & RV Park near Kingsland. I chose that spot because it was on our way to Jacksonville, and they have a pickleball court. The owner, Troy, also happens to be a pro pickleball player and an instructor.

We met a nice couple there, Rose & Daniel, who are new full-timers, and they were just getting started with pickleball. After they got an early morning lesson with Troy, Linda & I helped them with some game basics for a couple days.

Partly for my benefit, Troy set up some pickleball games at the Howard Peeples Park nearby. I got to play with and against several top-rated/pro players and, though I'm getting pretty decent, they are at a completely different level. That just motivated me to play more and get better.

After three nights there, we moved on to Jacksonville where we parked our RV in Linda's sister's front yard for a week. This was the first time we'd parked the motorhome there and the first time Karen & Jay had seen it. It was much easier getting the Class C in there than the fifth wheel.

I found a great place to play pickleball just about every morning, and one evening I ran into a couple of those top-rated players I had met a few days ago in Kingsland, one of which is the 22nd ranked women's singles player in the world.

I also met a lady who had just returned from the U.S. Open Racquetball Championships in Minnesota. She won the 60+ Women's Singles and the 55+ Women's doubles. She's been playing racquetball for years but only recently took up pickleball which she says is more fun. 

While in Jacksonville, Linda helped Karen out at her school where she now teaches first graders. And as I've mentioned in the past, Karen founded a mentoring program for at-risk kids. She coordinates over 50 volunteers who come to the school to spend one-on-one time with the children, and the results are pretty special. These kids are showing improvement in grades, self-esteem, social skills, and more.

On a different note, you know we have been following the Ketogenic eating lifestyle since May. Well, we both love it and Linda is quite convincing when she starts talking about the benefits we've experienced thus far. After she and I cooked Keto meals for Karen & Jay a few nights, and Karen did some research on her own, they started Keto as well. Linda gave them a shopping list and created a menu for the next week.

On Friday, November 1, we left Jacksonville, and made our way to The Villages in central Florida. Most of you know that we own a small house (villa) in The Villages that is being leased to a long-term renter and that Linda's Mom lives there as well. 

Our first stop was Adam & Zoa's house where we off-loaded our freezer full of Sockeye Salmon and plugged it in in their garage. It was nice to get that out of the RV. And we removed some big boxes of stuff they were storing for us to make room for the freezer.

The next stop was a storage facility. We rented a spot to store rally supplies and some excess items from our fifth wheel that we don't have room for in the motorhome.

And then we finally, made our way to Recreation Plantation RV Resort in Lady Lake which is just outside The Villages. We checked in to begin what is supposed to be a five-month stay for this winter. It's like a mini-Villages with lots of activities and - BONUS - fourteen pickleball courts.

We got parked and settled in to Site 868 in the new section of the resort. This park has a mixture of old and new with owned lots, rented lots, RVs, and park models. Our site is out in the open (which is what we prefer), but it is a grass site which we're not thrilled with. After setting up and connecting utilities, I quickly had to spray all around our area to kill all the ants. Hopefully, we got them.

In the days, since we've arrived, I've spent most of my time playing pickleball here at the resort and in The Villages. They play here every morning (except Sunday) starting at 8:00 a.m. And one of the most decorated senior pickleball players in the country, Deb Harrison (PicklePongDeb.com), holds lessons and clinics here at Recreation Plantation.

I had the pleasure of meeting her and playing with her on my first day on the courts. I've been trying to figure out what I might be rated in the pickleball world, and my self-assessment was that I'm a 4.0 out of 5.0. Deb concurred with that assessment after playing one game.

Now, Deb runs an official Ratings Clinic in The Villages the first Thursday of every month. They take 48 players that sign up a few days in advance and then she and her team of volunteers may take a couple of walk-ins on the day of the clinic. The one on November 7 was full, but there were a couple of no-shows, and I managed to sneak in.

We were grouped according to skill level, and went through drills and played a few points with different partners. Three top players rated each person, and I ultimately got an official 4.0 rating. That just let's me know for sure what divisions I should choose when signing up for tournaments, and it allows me to play with better players on a consistent basis so I can improve.

One of the guys that was rating our group made some contacts for me after the session, and by the time the evening had rolled around, I had received two phone calls and two texts from guys inviting me to play in their higher skill level groups. Awesome!

While I've been pickleball-obsessed, Linda has been working on a project in her Mom's house. She knocked out some drywall in her laundry room, and she is putting in some recessed shelving to provide her more room in that tiny space. That gal will take on just about anything.

On Saturday, yesterday, I played in my first pickleball tournament down the road in Leesburg. It was an AAU (Ameteur Athletic Union) event.

 

 

I signed up for men's doubles a couple of weeks ago since it was close and a nice, small tournament for my first one. I didn't know anyone in the pickleball world here yet, so I signed up without a partner. Eventually, a fellow named David contacted me to see if I wanted to partner up.

We met a week ago, and only got to play a few games together. He is a teacher at The Villages Charter School, so he couldn't practice during the week. He rated himself as a 3.5, but we had to play in the 4.0 division due to my rating. And because he is only 44, we had to play in the younger division. Having just met, having little practice, and having to play in a higher skill division and a younger age division, our expectations were fairly low.

The tournament had to combine divisions to have enough teams in the younger ages/higher skill levels, so we played a round-robin format against five other teams. Surprisingly, we managed to win three matches (and lost two), ending up winning silver medals. Actually, the way they did the medals, five of the six teams won medals so it felt more like a participation trophy. Anyway, it was a good experience and we did better than I thought we would do. 

 

We've gotten good response from our video during Full-Time Freedom Week last week, and our 2020 RV-Dreams Spring Educational Rally registrations have been picking up quite a bit. The "tiny houses" at The Ridge Outdoor Resort are sold out and there are only three "safari glamping tents" left. 

 

So, that pretty much is the short version of what we've been up to the last few weeks. Again, sorry for not posting for so long and for worrying some of you. And thanks for being a part of our RV-Dreams family.

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Comments

[Mrs Thompson]

Glad to be updated---was getting a bit concerned ☺️

[Paul]

If you go to the web site nutritionfacts.org and type "keto" into the search engine at the top of the page you will find a series of recent videos on the keto diet which you will likely find interesting.