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Sarasota, FL       High:   85     Low:  69

It's getting hotter, thank goodness there's a breeze...The weather is a little wacky in a lot of places. Sparky's daughter in D.C. says it was 30 degrees there just a couple of days ago and in the eighties today and going to drop back down in the fifties in another day or so...Very inconsistent weather there.

What did we do today? Not much...Sparky hung out at the pool for a bit...We drove around looking at neighborhoods for awhile. Cranes are everywhere. They are a protected species in Florida and don't they know it!

Eldy is thinking about waxing the rig...He started thinking about it last week. He's still thinking about it... :-) Sparky is still thinking about what can she cook for dinner, but that's been an ongoing thought process for months! So we ate out tonight... At mi Pueblo, a TERRIFIC Mexican restaurant with three locations in Sarasota....It's been highly recommended by several people, so Sparky finally convinced Eldo to take a shot at it, even though Mexican food is not his favorite. Sparky loved the decor, especially the pierced tin lighting. The wait staff was EXCELLENT, nice waiter, the service was quick, we hadn't even been seated for three minutes and chips and salsa were on the table.

SCORE 1 for Sparky! Eldy really liked it!  For starters, he tried a Dos X Lager for the first time and really liked that. :-) And, it was Happy Hour, two for the price of one... $1.88 a beer...can't beat that.

By the way, for you beer drinkers and craft beer lovers, there's a cool app called Untappd. It's a beer lover's app sorta like Facebook. You can check in at a local brewery or restaurant, pick the beer you choose to drink, rate it, and share with friends and take a photo of the beer while you are at it if you want to remember what it looks like. You can see your friends' recommendations, what they have to say about it in the notes section, and what they rated their favorites. It's a great way to keep a log of all the different beers that are available all over the country, especially if you are an RVer and travel a lot. Kinda fun to see all the weird names of beers. One of Eldy's friends has sampled Snake Dog IPA, Raging Bitch Belgian IPA (wonder what the story is behind THAT one!), Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning (yes, that really is a beer), Mana Wheat beer, brewed with pineapple juice, and more. It's a fun way to communicate with your beer drinking friends....Sparky will stick to wine, she thinks they need a "wino" app, complete with the slogan, "wine a lot, you'll feel better!" They probably have one. Sparky doesn't drink enough different types of wine to even begin to rate any of them.

Back to the food....Sparky had Tacos Sudados--soft corn tacos with shredded beef, onions and lots of cilantro. Rice, beans and green tomatillo sauce...YUM! Looks kinda gross, but it was very delicious!

Eldy had a shredded beef burrito with sour cream sauce. Delish! We'll definitely be back...Yay!

It was a battle to get him to try it, but he knows how much Sparky likes Mexican food.  Once he was in, he enjoyed it very much...Until tomorrow.....

Grocery Shopping, Etc., Ho Hum

Sarasota, FL      High:  77     Low:  61

Boy, it was an exciting day today! HA! Read blogs all morning, wrote a couple so Sparky can have something to post while she visits her sister tomorrow in Matlache, FL. Went grocery shopping ALONE, which is not always a good idea for Sparky, because she's an impulsive shopper. "Hm-m-m-m...this looks good, that looks good. Maybe we ought to try this for supper..." (One can always hope, prays E.) He says that because Sparky HATES to cook. So, she came home with some new stuff to try-roasted chicken and mozzarella ravioli which reminds her of Carrabba's mezzaluna pasta, but she forgot the sauce. (And she forgot my popcorn...reminds E.) Back to the store she went to pick up a couple more things....Back home again....

Eldy's at Happy Hour at the bar at poolside...and Sparky joined him after a bit....

Sparky is back to crafting today. After playing at least TWELVE games of pickle ball yesterday, half in the afternoon, and half in the evening. Sparky's butt is SORE, and the legs are SORE, so it's time to relax today....Eldy played at least six games himself last night, so it's a take- it -easy day today for everybody! Sun 'n' Fun is really promoting pickleball with many opportunities to play socially during the week, both mornings and evenings. During the socially scheduled times, the park provides lots of extra paddles and balls, so if you don't have equipment, no worries. You can still come out and learn the game. Everybody is really nice here about helping newbies learn. The sport is really growing here. It is so much fun!

You serve underhand, which takes away the problem of trying to do an overhand serve like you do in tennis. The court is shorter, so you don't run so much. You usually play doubles but you don't have to have a partner. You just show up, wait your turn, and they cycle four players off and on the courts just as soon as one court becomes available. The partnerships get mixed up as people come on and off the courts, some rest awhile longer, so your partner in the game usually changes from game to game. Sparky has been the only female to play in a doubles match sometimes, and other times, it's Eldy and me against the rest, or we get split up and go play all night long. You can rest as much as you want, but most of us who play LOVE to get right back out on the court. Our games are really sharpening up with all the playing we've been doing this week.

Because it's a shorter court than a tennis court, and the net is a little lower, you don't run as much but you get plenty of exercise stretching to get those shots. If you've never tried it, you owe to yourself to give it a shot. (yuck, yuck) All kinds of people play pickleball, VERY heavy people to ultra thin, people with bad knees, bad backs, and all kinds of physical problems can play pickleball and have fun while doing it. You don't ever have to have played tennis or any racquet sport to pick this game up and start playing. We just love it! Sparky's water aerobics have kind of gone to the wayside, she's having so much fun playing pickleball and Eldy is getting a lot more exercise now playing pickleball, too.

A nice pickleball racket runs about 50-60 dollars, but you can buy one for less if you are just trying out the game. They sell bundled sets of rackets and balls on Amazon for one possibility...Balls are about 2.50 each....

A night at the bar and grill listening to some GREAT karaoake singers and it's back home to watch some of the basketball tourney. Even Sparky is watching the last couple of minutes of Georgetown vs. the Florida Gulf Coast team, hoping the underdog wins. They did! Woo-hoo! What an upset! Number 15 seed beat the Number 2--amazing! And that's all you'll hear from Sparky, the non-sports fan. But she's ALWAYS for the underdog! :-)

Tomorrow, Sparky heads for Matlache, to see her sister, Lyle and her husband John for the day. Eldy is going to stay home and mind the fort.  Bye for now!