Archive for "Travel"
Mom and Dad’s First US Open Trip
Posted on April 29, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
Mom and dad traveled with us to Florida this year to check out the Minto US Open. Here are a few pictures from our trip.
With Kevin Coccetella at the kick off event.
Mom had fun tracking down and getting pictures with some of her favorite pros that she enjoys watching on Facebook and YouTube.
With Brendon Long.
With Parris Todd.
With Susannah Barr.
With Tony Roig and CJ Johnson.
With Megan Fudge.
With Salome Devidze.
With Wes Gabrielsen and Joey Farias.
With Jenny Marcos, Filipino senior pro who lives in Oklahoma City.
Had to get pics of mom and dad with some iconic US Open signage.
Will share some more pictures (food pics, etc.) from our recent trip in future posts. Until then, GNG.
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Roosevelt’s in Tulsa
Posted on April 5, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
In case you are curious, this is what Roosevelt’s looks like outside the holiday season. Finally got a chance to eat there. You might recall, I was there with friends over the Thanksgiving holiday but they were too busy (two-hour wait for a table) so we ended up eating elsewhere. They are far less busy and much less festive outside the holiday season but the place is still super cute. It’s kind of a nice place to meet friends and eat brunch.
We met Katie’s friends James and Liz for brunch there while I was in Tulsa a couple of weeks ago. We were super late though, because I busted my left big toenail when I got to Katie’s house and my toe was bleeding profusely. We had to deal with that first before we could go. By the time we got to the restaurant, they were just about finished with their food. We at least got to hang out and visit for a bit, though. That was nice. I met James and Liz at Picklemania in Oklahoma City back in January so it was great to see them again. They are a lovely couple and we had a nice visit.
Katie had the breakfast burger without the egg. So I guess it turned into a regular burger – LOL. I had the Cherry Street hash, which is probably one of their signature dishes. I saw several walk by. I think someone at each table ordered it while we were there.
I was worried about the red sauce at first, thinking it might be Sriracha. I don’t really like spicy foods all that much. As it turns out, it’s their own special red sauce and it wasn’t spicy so I survived. I should really pay more attention to the descriptions when I order food.
Anyway, super great brunch and even better company. I always have a wonderful time in Tulsa. Who knew the day would come when I’d be fond of going to Oklahoma? Until next time, GNG.
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How Far Will You Drive to Pickle?
Posted on March 30, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
I answered this question recently when I drove six hours round trip to play some practice games with my friend Parker Ward. To be fair, Parker isn’t just “any” friend. He’s my Minto US Open Pickleball Championships mixed doubles partner, who I have never played with and it was important for us to get some court time together. We are playing Mixed Doubles Age 25+ on Tuesday, April 18, and Mixed Doubles Skill/Age 4.0 19+ on Friday, April 21.
I made the mistake of looking up all the other teams and there are some seriously skilled players, specially on Tuesday since it’s an open skill event. I really enjoyed playing with Parker and I felt like we had good on-court chemistry and communication (and I absolutely LOVE playing with lefties) so I am optimistic and have high hopes that we will do well together regardless of the tough adversaries we might face at the tournament.
Anyway, I honestly don’t make it a habit to drive several hours for recreational or practice play but Parker and I had originally signed up to play a DUPR Waterfall event that day. However, there were only two teams in our division so it got canceled. I could have played in the lower division but they wouldn’t allow Parker to play down and the whole point of it was for us to play some games together so we didn’t end up playing in the Waterfall but they did have an extra court for us to use for practice. That was nice.
I didn’t mind driving up because I had originally planned to be there anyway. Also, it gave me a chance to watch and cheer for some friends who were competing in the other levels. Also, I finally got to meet Carolina Mayorga-Perry who I am huge fan of — she is the cousin of one of our Wichita players, Diego Mayorga, and she happened to stop by to watch him play.
Here’s a pic of my “baby” partner, Parker. Funny thing is he showed up that morning with the same pickleball backpack as me. We didn’t realize it but we bought the exact same bag around the same time. We might be 20 years apart in age but we might have more in common than we realize. As they say, “Great minds think alike!” If this isn’t a sign of chemistry, I don’t know what is. Anyway, I’m taking it as a positive omen for a successful tournament next month.
Speaking of traveling far and wide, I drove almost three hours South this past weekend for another DUPR “Double Dip” — Caroline Luelf was hosting a special women’s doubles DUPR event at La Fortune (Tulsa) on Saturday and I knew that Tanner Rice usually had a Friday night DUPR at Hidden Trails (Oklahoma City). Tanner’s events are usually pretty flexible so I talked him into doing a mixed ladder so that me and my APP Cincinatti partner Eric Bunch could get some practice games together. He’s another player who I am playing with for the first time. It’s not quite a blind date because I’ve seen him at tournaments before and we’ve actually played against each other at least twice but we’ve never been on the same side of the net. Anyway, this is my life because I don’t have a set/permanent doubles partner for either mixed or gender.
There were some pretty good pickleball players who came out that night so we got some good games in. Overall, I think we performed as expected but I thought it was good considering it was our first time playing together. He was super nice, very patient, and he didn’t get mad at me. I think we communicated well with one another. I actually quite enjoyed playing with him and am adding him to my “Yes” list (should he ask me to team up in the future — though this is doubtful because he has at least two regular partners from his hometown: Mia Dunagan and Genevieve Eskridge — I just happened to luck out that neither were available for the tournament). I also lucked out that we had previously met at tournaments and had generally good rapport because he got hit up by at least four other women to partner up for the APP Cincinnati tournament. He said one even wrote a very lengthy email about how he should pick her if he wanted to win (complete with a listing of her many accomplishments). So now, besides my goal of earning my “golden ticket” at this tournament, I also have the added pressure of making sure that I deliver so that I can prove the he made the right choice.
I played with Eric on Friday night, spent the night in OKC, and then drove to Tulsa for Caroline’s DUPR event the next day. Caroline hosts these massive DUPR match sessions and this one was no exception. There were 56 women who participated, and I think 9 teams in our group. It was really good practice for me and my friend Katie Merrill who is my women’s doubles partner for the US Open. We are playing in Women’s Doubles Age 35+ on Monday, April 17, and Women’s Doubles Skill/Age 3.5 35+ on Thursday, April 20. I’ve know Katie a while but this is also our first tournament together.
Anyway, I didn’t want to drive home at night and Katie graciously let me spend the night at her house on Saturday so I got bonus play with Will Chiang (aka Pickleball Will) and his friend Carlos Vreeland at the Tulsan Athletic Club the next morning.
I have been a huge fan of Will’s since I first met him almost two years ago so this has got to be the highlight of the trip. I watch the Pickleball Studio all the time on YouTube and Brian was surprised to see him in the pics. I explained that he is good friends with Katie and I just lucked out that morning that they needed people to play with. I got to be their 4th!
Sometimes it pays to be at the right place at the right time. As for me, I think I am exactly where I’m meant to be, playing pickleball, and making new friends.
Until next time, GNG.
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Missouri Work Trip
Posted on February 12, 2023 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink, Travel.
Made a trip up to Raytown a couple of weeks ago for an in person team/staff meeting and also we had a surprise baby shower for Alex. Here are some of the pics from that trip.
It was so nice to have everyone together to celebrate Alex. Specially, since many of us haven’t seen one another in person in such a long time.
After work, a few of us got together for dinner after work. Alex took us to this cute place in Lees Summit that’s only six minutes from our hotel.
Originally, it was just going to be me, Carmen, and Alex but as luck would have it, Alicia was meeting Julie and Nikki at Third Street Social too so we ended up with all six of us hanging together at dinner.
We were there in time for the tail end of happy hour so we got to enjoy some happy hour food and drinks. Here are some pics.
They made a fun, tasty mocktail for Alex.
They had $5 burgers on Mondays!
Julie ordered these cookie sandwiches and they were so good!
Anyway, Third Street Social is super cute. Food and drinks were great. I would highly recommend it to anyone who happens to find themselves in the area. I’m not sure when I’ll ever be back that way but this is a spot I would likely visit again.
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Picklemania at the OKC Life Time
Posted on January 28, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
When Chris Wilson asked me to play 50/50 with him in Picklemania at the Oklahoma City Life Time location, I said yes without hesitation for several reasons.
- Chris was my first ever tournament partner and I love playing with him.
- I love tournaments in Oklahoma because they are so well-organized, well-run, and they always provide snacks. Picklemania even included lunch.
- I welcome any excuse to travel to Oklahoma and hang out with all my OK pickleball friends because they are fantastic.
Obviously, I like to make the most of my trips so I didn’t want to play in just one event so I had to secure partners for women’s and mixed doubles also. I originally asked my friend Ramon Lozano but he turned me down because he didn’t think the competition would be worthwhile (because at the time I asked him, I think around November time frame, none of the upper divisions players had signed up). He encouraged me to find another partner because he didn’t want me to miss out. Luckily, I met this guy named Casey Dominguez in Tulsa when I did my DUPR #DoubleDip during Thanksgiving weekend. Casey is from Arkansas but happened to be at La Fortune for the DUPR event also.
Anyway, Ramon was looking at the men’s group and decided he could team up with Casey and play in the 5.0 division. So then he needed a partner. He asked our friend Katie Merrill several times who I also asked to play with me in women’s but at the time she was thinking she would take a break in January. Anyway, while the three of us were in Kansas City for the DUPR Teams event at Northland Racquet Club, Jenny Marcos asked Katie to play also. Jenny is amazing and one simply does not pass on an opportunity like this one so obviously it was a sign that Katie was meant to play. So the two people I had originally asked to play who didn’t plan on playing actually ended up playing and together.
Honestly, this could have caused a lot of drama but, because I am me, it wasn’t a big deal. I managed to find other partners to play with and so it all worked out great for everyone. There were no hurt feelings or damaged friendships and, as far as I could tell, everyone had a great time.
Chris and I both took the day off because were were playing on Friday afternoon. I ended up riding down to OKC with him since Brian had to work. Once Brian got off work, he picked Saki up from the house and headed down.
Here are a couple of pics from Friday.
We didn’t do great but I always have a great time playing. The one thing I’ve learned about myself is that my game continues to evolve. Now that I am working on offense, I am less patient and sometimes initiate speed ups prematurely. I think the key is being patient when needed and starting firefights at the appropriate times. I’m learning and growing so I really can’t complain.
Also, side note, the teams we played against were pretty amazing so I really don’t feel bad for how we performed. I think we did well, all things considered.
I mean, check out these DUPRs.
I feel like we played in the correct division but were definitely out-gunned.
Saturday was gender doubles day. I teamed up with my friend Cindy Egan. We didn’t do as well as we’d hoped but wasn’t really out of the norm for me because I always struggle in women’s doubles. Also, we had to play against some young, very athletic women. It was a tough pool. Oklahoma players are legit.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from Sunday, mixed doubles day.
This is my friend Antonio Lares, who I first met about a year and a half ago when a group of us went down to the Oklahoma City Chicken N Pickle for Patrick Smith and Lauren Stratman’s pickleball clinic.
Katie and Ramon on mixed doubles day, with me and Casey in the background. Katie and Ramon played in 5.0 division while Casey and I played in 4.5 so we didn’t have to play against one another.
Here’s a close up of me and Casey in the background.
I had so much fun playing with Casey on Sunday. There were five teams in our group and we lost to only one team and only by one measly point.
I was having such a great run. I hit several inside outs (five in one game). I usually say “Yup!” whenever I hit a winner and Casey said I was saying “Yup!” so early, not even before the ball lands but sometimes as I am actually hitting the ball.
I honestly think we could have medaled (maybe even won Gold), we just got a little over confident. And then, we didn’t realize we were still in it so Casey went to the locker room and took a shower a little prematurely. Tanner had to go get him back out so we could play for bronze.
We ended up losing that match against Deana Holman and Isaiah McAllister.
This is my friend Tanner who came to hang out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday even though he wasn’t playing. He gets the credit for a lot of these photos. He’s was a true MVP actually because he took care of EVERYONE.
Tanner looked up DUPRs for all the teams in the various brackets, refilled my water several times, tracked down gum for Katie when she needed it most, took pictures and videos for all of us so we could have some awesome clips from the weekend, and even took one for team and went into the locker room to get Casey back out for our bronze match. He truly went above and beyond.
Ramon, Casey, and Casey’s wife Kayla.
One last selfie with Katie as she was getting ready to fly back home to Tulsa.
Anyway, no pics of Brian because he was tied up on Saturday helping his dad replace their hot water heater and then, on Sunday, we had to check out of the hotel so he and Saki went and hung out at his mom and dad’s house until I was done. Of course, we ended up taking a little bit longer than I thought because we ended up playing one more game which we didn’t realize we had to; thus, Casey ended up having to shower twice. Oops!
Ironically, I told myself I didn’t want any more medals (except for some specific ones that are on my list for this year — US Open and Nationals) so I pretty much achieved my goal. LOL. I did come away with a few new friends which are more valuable than any medals I could bring home.
I guess that pretty much catches us up. Until next time, GNG.
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