I haven’t posted for a week again – things have been pretty routine here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. This is our third winter here – we typically stay for the first three months of the year. Lately our day starts with pickleball. They have nine outdoor courts here now – four were added in the last year.
It almost seems like we’re at a pickleball training camp. I play four or five days a week and Donna plays two or three times. The level of play is fairly high. Courts are reserved for different levels of play – Donna and I play with the 3.0-3.5 group and the games are very competitive. Our skill level is progressing. Playing with others that are at the same or higher level improves your game. Playing against people that are less experienced or skilled tends to drag your level of play down. We’re enjoying the challenge and we’ll play in a tournament this coming Saturday. Donna has joined the Viewpoint tennis club and is taking tennis lessons a couple of times a week as well.
Other than that, our days are filled with mostly mundane tasks – shopping, normal chores and so on. After two or two and half hours of pickleball, I need some recovery time, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading and relaxing. I’m working through a couple of series of novels written by Barry Eisler that I’m really enjoying. The genre is international espionage and political action. Some readers may find the stories to be a bit slow as the author is very detailed in his descriptions of locales and also the characters often philosophize over their actions and the way of politics around the world, but I find the stories to be well-written and plausible.
We haven’t spent too much time grilling – the evenings are cool here and the temperature drops quickly around sunset – about 5:30pm. Donna has manned the grill a few times in the last week though. I’m planning to get the Traeger out of the trailer soon – we want to invite a few neighbors over for smoked babyback ribs.
Sunday night Donna grilled a wild sockeye salmon filet topped with caramelized red onions and served it over a mixed green salad. Excellent!
The weather for the past week was agreeable – highs in mid 60s to low 70s. Monday morning I was up early again for the pickleball round-robin and it was cold in the morning. Overnight lows have been in the mid-40s. We usually run the heat pumps for an hour or so in the morning while we have coffee and breakfast.
Today’s weather started off fine, but clouds moved in and it stayed cool – it reached the mid-60s but a breeze and passing rain showers made it seem cooler. The rest of the week looks good weatherwise – with a possibility of rain showers late Thursday or early Friday. We hoping the weekend forecast holds true with a sunny day predicted for Saturday’s tournament.