We came out OK in the lottery for an uptown site. There were 16 sewer sites available, and we scouted them all. When our name came up, we got the third site on our list. We like to get the shady sites when we can, and did so this time. Unfortunately during most of our stay here it was unseasonably cool and a sunny site probably would have been more comfortable. I usually played pickleball each morning and each afternoon, sometimes four and five hours a day. Dorcas' primary activity was walking the trails with Matilda and finding Matilda playmates. There is a small fenced puppy playground where the dog folks would gather and let their dogs loose. Dorcas and Matilda made many good friends there.
I worked very hard on a particularly frustrating project that has baffled me since we left home. Faithful readers will know that I recently installed new digital TVs in the coach, front and rear. Since the day I installed the TVs I have been very disappointed with the reception on both TVs. Neighboring coaches drew in many more channels than I did. Something was definitely wrong, but since both TVs received the same channels, I knew it was not the TVs themselves, but rather the antenna or cabling. I didn't worry too much about it when we were at Rally Park, because we had cable TV service there, but at Peace River we had essentially zero digital reception, and we were getting bored on those cold nights with no TV to watch. Our TV antenna has a built-in amplifier and our video switch box provides 12vdc to the antenna via the coax. Or at least that's the way its supposed to work. When I climbed on the roof and checked the power at the antenna head, it read only 5vdc. OK, that is the problem, but why? My coach is equipped with a video switch box that routes input and output signals to and from the TVs, VCR, antenna, DVD player, etc. That video switch box is designed to provide 12vdc to the amplifier in the antenna head, but it wasn't working now. That was disappointing because a year ago I had replaced the original switch box for the same reason. Now I had no power supply for the antenna amplifier. When the first switch box failed I had installed a supplemental power supply to replace the one from the original switch box. When I replaced the defective video switch box, I took that power supply out, and left it at home. I made some calls and found out I would have to drive over 60 miles (TTPR is in the middle of nowhere!) and pay almost $50 for a supplemental power supply. Being rather frugal and patient, I called my friend Jim, who went by my house, retrieved my spare power supply there and mailed it to me. It arrived two days later, and took about 10 minutes to install. WOW!!! We are now getting over 25 crystal clear digital HD stations, even though we are over 60 miles from Tampa and Orlando, the likely origin of most of the transmissions. Digital TV is GREAT!!!
Today I played in a pickleball tournament at Torrey Oaks RV and Golf Resort, just a few miles up the road from Peace River. First the men (about 14 guys) played a total of five games, switching off partners after each game. I never did understand the scoring system, but it may have involved some computation of points scored and opponents' points scored for each game. Apparently I didn't place. After the men played, the women's tournament began. Since there were not enough women (only four) to have a meaningfully tournament, some men also played in order to fill out the brackets. In addition to the women's results, this round also produced a mixed double result. My team won every game in this round, but I was awarded only a second place ribbon. Go figure.
As I said previously, it has been unseasonably cool here, as it has been across much of the US. Early in our stay here evening lows were typically in the 30s although we had a few nights in the 20s. Farmers have been fretting about their crops, particularly the strawberries and vegetables. Highs were generally in the 50s or low 60s. The worst of the cold is now passed and temperatures are more seasonable. We certainly can't complain about the cold. Temperatures have been in the teens with even a few single digits back home. We'll take this relatively mild weather any time.
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