My First Shot at Pickleball

While we were at the Racoon Creek FamCamp at MacDill AFB, I got my first shot at playing pickle ball.  I've been hearing about it for years and was ready to give it a try.

It was great!  I loved it.

Years ago, Pam and I would play a lot of racket ball together.  But we haven't played in quite a while.  We've got some first hand information from Steve and Karen when we toured their winter place at the Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande AZ a couple of years ago.

It looked like fun and they have a pretty fantastic facility there.  On the more modest end of things, the base gym as a couple of courts lined in one half of the basket ball court.  Jim invited me to join him a couple of times.

Volunteers from the FamCamp set up the nets and the hour - 90 minute session is made of campers.  So it is a great way to meet other folks in the campground.

It was really a lot of fun.  The plastic ball reminds me of a wiffle ball we used to play with as a kid.  And the paddles remind me of wooden racket ball rackets.  It works out well as the ball doesn't fly around so fast as a racket ball or tennis ball.

But we still get a little bit of exercise and have fun doing it.

The rules are a bit confusing and the scoring takes some time to get right, but by the second time we played I felt a lot more comfortable with both.

The good news is that these folks (guys and gals both) don't take it too seriously.  They make it easy for a novice/beginner to get the hang of it.  And its all about the exercise, fun and camaraderie.  They were competitive to a point but no one was over the top.  No one was taking this too seriously.

As a complete beginner, I was glad for the help and instruction and casual level of play.

Many times I have said, "I don't care who wins as long as I do." -- but this wasn't one of them!  :)

One thing I heard was that the guy who invented the game named it after his dog "Pickles".  Anyone else heard that?

Its a fun game and I look forward to playing more often!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Hosemasters

Wednesday morning was my second visit to the United States Naval Academy (USNA) Alumni Association, Hampton Roads Chapter Networking breakfast meeting.  I was particularly interested in going because Guy Zanti and his wife Kathleen Murray (USNA alumni '81 and '83 classes) were speaking.

They are entrepreneurs who own the only franchise in North America of Hosemasters.  

And they have an RV.

The meeting was similar to last time with a number of folks meeting each other before the proceedings got underway. (After all it is a networking meeting...)

After introductions and announcements, Guy and Kathleen began.  I was interested to see how they conducted the presentation.  They began with, "We do not believe in death by PowerPoint" so will both be speaking.

And they were good.  Very good.  Engaging, interesting and educational.

They spent most of their time talking about their concept of wealth, finances and money and how Rich Dad, Poor Dad had changed everything for them.  They are avid readers and had a partial display of their business books.  They had all of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series and some others including E-Myth.

Their style was very good because they offered information to others about how they started investing and moving toward their financial goals.  They have followed the Rich Dad, Poor Dad philosophy for at least 7-8 years.  I don't remember when they both started reading and being committed to it.  

More than their specific businesses (which include the Hosemasters franchise and owning a 39 unit apartment complex and an anti-rust [RSDW Metal Guard] solution they sell to marinas), they spoke of how to create wealth and view money.

I liked their audience participation questions:  "How many of you have read Rich Dad, Poor Dad?"...."How many of you have not read Rich Dad, Poor Dad?".

They brought a copy of CashFlow 101 which is a boardgame that is a popular teaching tool.  They were recruited by a nearby college to take some students through it.

The 30 minutes went by way too quickly!  

Afterwards they hung around a few minutes and talked with the audience.

Their presentation made me think of Amway.  Or Dave Ramsey.  I know of people who got into Amway and made a go of it.  Other friends have gotten into the teaching and financial precepts of debt-free living with Dave Ramsey's materials.  I say -- good for you and I hope you do well.

It was an interesting and motivating morning with my Habitat friend Dennis who invited me to the breakfast meeting.  I am glad I went! 

Another reason we love this RV lifestyle:  we get to meet folks like Guy and Kathleen!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Hope it is warm where you are or that you have a place to stay warm!

Merry Christmas!

Golf, Bakery and More Golf

The last couple of days we have been watching or playing golf and spending time with the Bakers at their cottage.

On Thursday it was an early day since the British Open Golf Championship was on at 4:00 AM.  I got up at my usual 5:00 AM ish and was surprised as anyone to see John Daly at the top of the leaderboard.  By the end of the day it was great to see the record setting 63 by up and comer Rory McIlroy from Scotland.

We went out to the cottage in the late afternoon and stopped at a bakery along the way.

The local shop had some good looking cinnamon cookies and an apple pie we couldn't resist.  It was a rainy, drizzly day for the most part and we remembered Meghan on what would have been her 29th birthday...

Bill got back from Petrolia and we called another golf course for a tee time on Saturday morning.
Then, he was at the campground promptly at 7:00 AM and we drove to Wiarton Golf Course about 40 miles away.

It was a nice course and priced right.  We teed off without any trouble and made our way around the front nine in about 90 minutes.

Then we got caught in a backup at the turn for the second nine and is was slow going rest of the way.  But the scenery was nice, we hit a few good shots, had a couple birdies.  I was pleased with my 79 but have to temper that with the fact that it is a really short course.

The course is on the side of a mountain and the scenery up from the Georgian Bay was beautiful.

Meanwhile, Pam and Kelly went in to Tobermory, picked up some postcards and some bread and we all met back at the cottage for dinner.  Marg fixed a fantastic meal of fried bass the her brother Chuck had caught and we topped it off with Yellow Label tea and apple pie.

Then we play three games of Skit/Skat.  I was happy to take the first two and Marg took the last.  We don't play cards that much but always have fun when we do.  We usually have some good laughs and we had everyone around the table.

Then it was back to the campground where we found a lot of new neighbors.  The place really fills up during the weekends but all were very well mannered and no issues.  I love the 'no outside music' rule!  We have lots of tent campers here with only about 10 RVs.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles today!  Hope you are having a great weekend.

Sunday, Friends and 4th Celebration

Pam and I got up at our usual Sunday time and made it over to the 9:15 AM service at Oakpointe Church in Novi.

Then we made the 45 minute drive to Rod and Lisa's to see them and Jon and Barbara again and to celebrate the 4th of July:

We had a barbeque scheduled and Annie, Steve's 2nd daughter, made the patriot dip for the chips.
(We got to meet Steve and his three daughters:  Gracie, Annie and April).  It not only looked great, it also tasted great!

We talked a lot on the back porch and

managed a few games of ladder ball before the grill got fired up.

Steve is a big fan of the matchless starters and it took a while, but mission accomplished and Rod got chicken and brats going.

After the great food, we had to get a couple of pictures of Barb, Pam and Lisa.
One with the sunglasses

and then without and the subsequent sun grins...

We left a little after 7:00 PM because Pam had an early flight out to Dallas the next morning.  Before we left, Steve's three daughters (Annie, April and Gracie) showed us the poodle carriage their mom has.  She wasn't able to join us because she has had some tooth and pain issues the last couple of days.

We got home before the sun went down but it was hot in the coach so we turned on the air conditioner.  After things cooled down we went to be in time for the fireworks to start.  :)

Hope you had a great 4th of July and thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Games We Play

There are a number of things I do as a full-timer and I thought I'd share them.  While you read the list, please consider responding as I ask the question:  

What games do you play?  What kind of things do you find your self doing on a regular basis?  ~ Thanks!

Track expenses.  In a strange sort of way I guess, I love finding out at the end of the month what our expenditures are. I love to see where we were under budget.  I love to see how we did on 'guessing' how much it would cost us each month to live.

Try to increase readership.  Another game I play is trying to figure out how to get more blog readers.  I guess there is supposed to be some shame in that because it is kind of an ego thing.  Be that as it may, I am blown away that folks would be interested in what we do every day.  To me it has been fun and encouraging to know that some how, there is something interesting enough in what we do and how I say it that hundreds of people read the blog every month.

Solitare.  I don't know why, but I recently started playing solitaire with a deck of cards again.  I started at the Bradley cottage in Canada last week and have played a few times

Blood pressure checks.  I usually look for the blood pressure cuff and chair near the Wal-Mart Pharmacy when we go there.  And we go to Wal-Mart alot.  I have this inbred goal of seeing it at 120/80 or below. Surprisingly the last few months it has been creeping upward.

Miles per gallon.  When we started with our 40' Allegro Bus, I was planning on about 7 miles per gallon.  I have finally learned how to reset the gauge on the dash for each 'trip'.  For months I watched as our mpg didn't change much because our 'trip' was being calculated from a long time ago.  Things improved when we got our fuel filter changed.  Now we hover around 8.5 mpg.

Mexican Train.  Not so much really.  We learned how to play from new friends and fellow full-timers Mike and Gerri.  We have also play with fellow Habitat for Humanity friends Bill and Marty, but we rarely find ourselves pulling it out and playing.

Links to other blogs.  From time to time I really enjoy adding comments to other friends' blogs.  I know the the best way of all to increase readership is to have others include a link to your blog in theirs, so I do that sometimes, hoping others will do the same.  One of the biggest days of readership was when Howard Payne of 'RV-Dreams' put a link to our in his blog in his.  Sometimes if I remember, I look at new 'Followers' and see if they have a blog and either Follow their blog and / or put a link to it.

Finding more space.  I don't know why but we are always looking at things we haven't used very much and clothes we never wear and we love to clear out the coach to find more space.  Somehow we got the bug when we downsized and got rid of most of our stuff.  I love clearing a drawer or a cupboard or a bin in the basement and get more space.

Visiting states.  Early on we loved to add another state to the places we have visited.  But lately we have not been to new states so that has taken a back seat to our priorities at hand.  We look forward to visiting the Northwest but probably won't head that way until after the first of next year.  We will see.

Cooking smaller portions.  Pam is great at coming up with great meals.  I am amazed at the variety she comes up with all the time.  She is always thinking about how to cook smaller portions for the two of us and how to store leftovers in the small refrigerator.

Boondocking.  Also know as dry camping or as Adam says, "dry docking".  We really like camping out somewhere with no hookups.  It's fun to see how long we can go and how we can avoid using power.  It helps when you have a 100 gallon fresh water tank, a solar panel on top and a 7500 diesel generator.  We like the idea of saving some $$ and 'roughing it' so to speak.

Click on ads I find in other peoples blogs.  Yup -- I figure they are doing that to generate a little income (and I do mean a little) so sometimes I spend a few minutes and click away.  And I hope it adds a little bit to there account.  Try it!

That is all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  We love it that you stopped by and hope that this week is a great one for you.

A Beautiful Easter Sunday

It was another beautiful day in Maynardville yesterday on Easter Sunday.

We started out with pancakes for breakfast, then got cleaned up for the 11:00 service over at Ball Road Missionary Baptist Church.

Here's a picture of Michelle and Jeremy with their two, Kayla and Noah.

After church we got another picture that included Mike and Joan.

We went for a drive and stopped by Tennessee RV but they were closed on Sunday.  Mike's works for ESI (Erection Specialists, Inc) and is a crane operator.  It was nearby so we drove past that as we took the back roads home to their house.

Mike and I washed the cars and we spent most of the afternoon outside.

Michelle and Kayla and Noah came over for a while and played more ladder ball and then we enjoyed the afternoon chatting.

Michelle works for Knoxville Employees Credit Union and she gave Pam a picnic blanket that we will put to good use.

We also found out we could join the credit union for $5 and apply online, so we will have to take advantage of that.  It was very thoughtful of Michelle and a very nice gift.  She must work for a great place!

We talked some more, then went back to the coach for the evening and saw some MLB with the Opening Game of the season.  I cashed it in when it was 7-7 in the top of the 8th.  Gotta love the Red Sox vs Yankees!

That was our day--hope you had a nice Easter too!  Thanks for viewing and we look forward to your comments.  And we look forward to getting to 100 Followers soon...  :)

Weekend Out and about Near the Beaches

Over the weekend we had the chance to have friends and family come by the Roadrunner while we are at Camp Pendleton's Del Mar beach recreation area campground.Leslie and Ben were able to stay a couple of hours and then Reid and Amy came by. We got in a couple of games of 'ladderball' before they headed up to Whittier, CA.

After they left, Rob and Chris (with her friend Allison), Elena and Marty, and Matt came by. We had a few more games of ladderball and lit a campfire.We had enough left overs from New Year's Eve and had dinner in the Roadrunner.On Saturday we took it easy in the morning, filled our small propane tank, then went over to Chris and Rob's. It was a nice afternoon, so we walked from their house down to Del Mar for some coffee and then on to the park.
We watched the sun set and got some good photos.At the park above the beach at Del Mar looking down the coast...
Another beautiful sunset.

It got a little cool after the sun went down and we made our way up the hill from the beach to Rob's house.
Del Mar is a very pretty little town on the Coastal Highway.

We had dinner, played a couple of rounds of 'Apples to Apples' and then went back to our campsite before it got too late.

It was another great day seeing family and friends. Hope you are having a good holiday too and thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Sky Harbor and Tanque Swap Meet

Adam and Kelly flew in on Friday night. It has been a couple of months since we have seen Kelly and almost four months since we have seen Adam. He lives in Michigan and Kelly lives in Dallas.
They got the cheapest flights available and arrived within 20 minutes of each other.

But--- Kelly flew into Phoenix on US Airways and Adam flew into Tucson. Yikes! Fortunately, Bill and Marty (friends here at Desert Trails) offered take Pam to pick up Adam while I drove to Phoenix.

I may have mentioned I went to Arizona State in the early 1970's but I did not recognize Tempe or Phoenix. The signs were easy to follow and I got to Sky Harbor International Airport a couple of hours before Kelly's plane landed. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get there with the traffic on a Friday night.

I met friends (Art and Winnie) at the airport. We have known each other for years and they live in Maricopa, outside of Phoenix.We had dinner together at the airport and got caught up. Their son Josh is in California and daughter (Tonya) is in South (North?) Carolina.

It was nice to talk with them and to hear all that has happened over the years. We all lived in Albuquerque and attended Grace Church 20 years ago.

Kelly's flight was on time and she spent a little time waiting for her bags and talking with Art and Winnie. It was great to see them. I have said often that one of the best things about this life style as full-timers is that we get to see more friends and family than we have seen in years.

Kelly hadn't eaten dinner so we had to stop by In-N-Out burger. That is always a highlight.

We got back to the campground about 11:15 PM (after a couple of wrong turns). After catching up some, we went to bed.

Yesterday our main event was the Tanque Verde Swap Meet in Tucson. We didn't find much except for some stocking stuffers.

Later, back at the Desert Trails RV Park campground, Adam and I played some ping pong, minature golf and pool while Kelly took a nap and Pam read. After that, we went for a short hike out in the desert on one of the many trails near the campground.

We grilled some chicken for dinner and watched the Cowboys beat the Saints. They had a good run. After that, we called it a night.

Thanks for checking in on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Hope your weekend is going well.