Last week in Mesa

John came back up for another visit, with the plan that I will drop him off in Tucson on my way east,m so this is the second week of his stay.

After watching me play pickle ball, he decided to give it a try.  With his natural athletic ability and past experience with racket ball, tennis and baseball, he caught on very quickly.  We played as a team as well as against each other in the usual round robin format they follow in the park.  His height and reach help him cover quite a bit of the court. It was a little more strenuous than he though.  

We played a few more rounds of golf as well.  We played at Bear Creek:

Bear Creek Mascot

Well put message for golfers to note.

 

On the 10th tee we found this very friendly roadrunner.  I didn't take me long to figure out it was looking for food.  It took a piece of bread right from John's hand and followed us for a couple of holes looking for more but we didn't give in.

Bear Creek had some interesting features including this piece of fence, which created a challenge for John trying to reach the green after a drive hit slightly off-line to the left.

We also played the Sadie Hawkins/pre-Valentines tournament at the Arizona Golf Resort. 

Their rules played into our hands as they didn't care about handicaps.  It was a two person scramble, with the women playing from the red tees and the men playing from tees according to their age, which allowed John to play from the shortest men's tees.  We played with a nice couple who were younger than us.  We shot 10 under par and won by several shots.  With our winnings we got to play the course again, I selected a new pair of shoes and John got golf balls.   

In preparation for moving on we (mostly John) thoroughly cleaned the truck and trailer, inside and out.  We also picked a few additional oranges and grapefruits to enjoy in the days ahead. 

When I checked out, I was thanked for my stay and was invited back next year.  Although I did enjoy my stay at Orangewood Shadows, I didn't really enjoy my time in Mesa, other than the week at the Waste Management Tournament.  The traffic was heavier and everything seemed more expensive than Tucson.  The weather wasn't as nice either.