Catching Up!

8-29-9-4 - Had our annual Pickleball Tournament at TT, La Conner. the group was smaller this year but had a good time. Played Women's Doubles on Thursday and Ione won gold in her group. Then on Friday we had men's doubles and I played with Mike Phipps, since this was the first time playing together we did good. Made it to the finals and had to play a 55 yr. old and a 62 yr. old. We played our first two out of three and just about won first game, like 11-9. Then ended up in the loser bracket and came back, had to play them again. We ended up the same way, one close game and lost second for second place.

Then on Sat was mixed doubles, I played with Vi Stockman and Ione played with grandson Colby. We both won our first games, then of all things had to play each other in the second match. Colby & Ione won first game and we came back and won the next two. Then played on until we ended playing for first. Ended up getting second.

This wasn't the same tournament, since our friends from Canada weren't there to organize it. So a person working for TT did it and it wasn't as nice, but OK. Again got to see lots of friends and met some new folks. HAPPY PICKLEBALLING!!

Abbotsford, BC - Rec Center

8-24-11 - We went north today with the Stockman's - Ron & Vi to play pickleball at the Abbotsford Rec Center. There were more friends we knew, Carol Haworth, Earl Hill and Kathy Parks. Also met some good players from the local area. This was all indoor play with the softer pickleball and was interesting to get used to indoor play. We played some good games and had a lot of fun.

Then after playing were invited to Barry & Carol's house near Chilliwick for a nice dinner. They have such a great view of the Frazer Valley from their home and had a very nice time with Friends. Also had Barry & Carol's was their grandson Curtis who is now 22 years and before a very nice gentlemen. Then Kathy's husband Brian also came over for dinner. He has had some health issues and can't play pickleball for about six more months.

Pickleball at Bob Unruh's Court!!

8-19-11 - We had a chance to go play pickleball at the Unruh's on Friday the 19Th. We had a Group of six players, there was Deon, Al, Bob, Ione, Bob Lanius, & Ron (me). We played for about two hours and had some great games.

It was fun to see old friends, and a bonus of having the Landius's here in our area for a couple of weeks. They will soon be heading back down South to Happy Trails, Surprise, AZ. So just another great day on the planet.

Rain & More Rain!!

8-22-11 - The weather man was right this time. They said rain was coming today and when we got up the clouds to the west were, like black. By about 8:15 AM we had rain and it has been coming down most of the day. They is a real blessing, for lawns, corn fields, potato fields, etc. as we can always use in a farming community is rain. So it has been a great day and have been doing inside stuff.

So looks like by tomorrow it will again be on the warm side. So there better be some more summer before fall sets in.

Northwest Washington Fair!

8-23-11 - It was a wonderful day in Lynden for the fair. We went in about 12:30 PM with my
sister Cheryl. Made it to the grandstand for the 1 PM show. They have a one hour show, with draft horses., the small ponies. Then the Nooksack riders do their thing, Ione's brother Doug rode in one event. It was called the rescue, where they ride down the track and pickup a person and race back. Well his person to rescue didn't make it on the horse so they didn't win.

Then after the show had to get our PTA Burgers which is always good. Then did a lot of looking around, saw horse, pigs, sheep, etc. It was a nice afternoon and evening and a fun day. We were bushed when we got home from all the walking. That's it for another year.

Alaska Cruise!!

We are in kayaks in Sitka Harbor. It was a wonderful two hr paddle in the harbor and had our friends, Ron & Donna Daly along in their kayak.

Here we are at Mendelhall Glacier after doing about a 1 mile hike in the area. Which was only about 5 miles from Juneau.

Our first stop and as far North as we went was to Glacier Bay National Park. We spent about 3 hrs. in the bay taking pictures, etc. The weather was OK with no rain and a few rays of sun.The ship you see in the picture was a small ship that was in front of us.

Summer still Struggles along!

8-17-11 - Well as usual we are behind with our blog postings. Not sure where the summer is going and the weather has been hit and miss. We seem to only get a day or two of nice weather and then clouds, wind, etc. I think we have had only a couple of dates in the 80's and the rest of the summer has been in the60, 70's. We are the only place in the country with a cool summer and I guess it could be worse.

We did manage to make it over to Keller Ferry Camping with our family. This is something we have been doing for about 35 years. This year the lake was really high from all the snow last winter. So that meant there were no beaches to go to without lots of looking. Still had a great time with a smaller group this year. We arrived on July 22 and then had to leave on July 28th to rush home. As we had a very important date to catch a Cruise Ship in Seattle on the 29th. The cruise will be in the next posting.