Pickle ball friends and fighting the wind

In the early days of our time here at Cypress Trails RV Resort in Fort Myers (we arrived here January 1), we attended a Pickleball session to learn more about playing this game since we have only watched you tube or read online of the rules and played a little on a tennis court with Pickleball court lines painted over top.  We were lucky enough to be 2 of four attendees, so had the instructor all to ourselves.  Dave and Melissa were our partners in the session, and boy was luck on our side.  We not only learned the rules and strategies of the game, but have gained some great friends.  After the instructor’s session, we stayed and put our new learning into action by playing the game with Dave and Melissa.  Then as the weeks have gone by and finding them super fun Pickleball partners (although none of us are taking the game or scoring seriously), we have made more plans for more and more games, and have played with them 3 out of 4 days so far this week.

As we travel, we have found several kinds of people living the RV lifestyle.  People on short vacations which usually just keep to themselves or friends and family they are vacationing with, people who are taking a longer vacations with limited time and are busy with their planned time but will stop to say hello and chat briefly, people who are traveling for extended periods of time but still have a house to return to who may be new to rv living or more experienced and more than willing to compare destination ideas and compare notes on rv equipment and experiences and make a few friends along the way, snowbirds (which we have become this year) who have been doing this seasonally for years, and those who have sold their house and taken the plunge to embrace the entire rv living experience and community and easily form friendships and bonds wherever they travel for as long a period a time as they are at a location and sometimes beyond.

Dave and Melissa fall into the last category.  Bill and I would love to also fall in the last category, constantly debating the merits of cutting ties with our home base of 24 years, but still waiting for it to feel completely ‘right’.  Dave and Melissa have been an inspiration and just downright fun to be with.  We have had such great laughs while playing Pickleball with some shots that would have us winning on America’s Funniest Home Videos if we had been filming.  Fighting the wind, which easily carries the lightweight plastic ball with holes in it (like a whiffle ball) wherever it chooses to take the it has made us all better players as we teamed up with Sandy and Dave playing against Melissa and Bill.  Bill and I both agree that playing with Dave and Melissa have made us better and stronger players.  I’m getting better by trying to hit the great shots like Dave, who has serious tennis skills in his background.

Dave and Melissa have a blog, which includes quotes that inspire them. One of them is:  “When you stop laughing, you stop living”.  Boy, have we been doing a lot of living with Dave and Melissa.

Jan 23, 2019
By Sandy