{"id":24915,"date":"2021-09-24T15:16:27","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T20:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=24915"},"modified":"2021-09-21T16:35:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T21:35:35","slug":"road-trip-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=24915","title":{"rendered":"Road Trip Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51443814825\/\"  title=\" \"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51443814825_7b6fa041a5_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\" \"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>My friend Ramon Lozano invited me to play with him in a tournament in Lenexa on Saturday, September 11. It was the same weekend as the Kansas Senior Games so I decided to take that Friday off work and make a pit stop in Topeka to check on how my friends were doing. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51442761697\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51442761697_2dda9624dc_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While at the park, I bumped into a former coworker, Denise Fundis, who retired from Westar Energy a few years ago. I was surprised to hear someone call out for &#8220;Cherrie&#8221; because everyone I know from pickleball knows me as &#8220;Ching&#8221; and when I turned around it was Denise. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51444260974\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51444260974_367557f06a.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are some pictures of some of my favorite picklers. Can you believe these guys are seniors? <em>Pictured above:<\/em> Matt Conrad, Kim Blackmon, Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance. <em>Below:<\/em> Chris Wilson and Janelle Lindeman.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51444260984\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51444260984_4855d7e3c8_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After watching a few matches at the Kansas Senior Games, it was time for me to head to Mary Ann&#8217;s house in Shawnee to drop off my stuff before we met some of our friends for <a href=\"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=24902\" >dinner at KC Daiquiri Shop<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51446473846\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51446473846_5be2932069.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The tournament I played in was held at Bois D&#8217;Arc Park in Lenexa. It&#8217;s a great park with eight spacious, dedicated, and lighted pickleball courts. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51447215109\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51447215109_cced257363.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The tournament had a great turnout and was very organized. Jeremy Reimer and his team of volunteers did a fabulous job. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51447215174\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51447215174_082d7afb5c.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Devon Fuller and I unintentionally reverse matched in the morning.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51445772752\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51445772752_aaa4a0a984_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51447492970\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51447492970_27f329b535_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ran into Aaron Trost at the tournament. That was such a nice surprise.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51448321093\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51448321093_f928d8e029.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mary Ann took her mother Judy for a walk and they came by the park and watched a few games. I think I might have convinced them to try it. Hoping to see them play at the next tournament. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51448824314\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51448824314_cce93b9981_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was Michelle Dreilling&#8217;s birthday that day so we took a birthday selfie.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51448828144\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51448828144_d358d8d901_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ramon found me an awesome women&#8217;s doubles partner, Karly Williams, for the 4.0+ women&#8217;s doubles division in the morning. After being nearly flawless in the round robin pool play (losing only to Rachel Chai-Wise and Suparna Garinger), we ended up not performing as well in the single elimination bracket and took fourth place. Not bad for our first time playing together, though. <\/p>\n<p>Ramon and I struggled a bit in pool play (we were 4 and 3) but managed to take second place in 4.0+ mixed. The joke was that we were saving everything for the single elimination bracket which, in the end, is what really matters. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51449813067\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51449813067_a7de7123ee.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m glad we medaled because I didn&#8217;t want to let Ramon down. I felt like this was my audition and I had to perform well to be invited to team up again.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51475349816\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51475349816_9d8ab152d5.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"439\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Of all my medals, this is my favorite one. First, because it actually says what event it&#8217;s for on the back and none of my other medals do. And secondly, because it is my first one with my friend Ramon. I&#8217;m hoping there will be others.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ching\/51457498902\/in\/photostream\/\"  title=\"Untitled\"><img src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/51457498902_00ba844063_c.jpg\" width=\"500\" alt=\"Untitled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, the tournament was super fun. I&#8217;m definitely going to try and play in it again next year (or whenever they have another). I&#8217;ll try to bring some more people from Wichita next time too. Until then, GNG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My friend Ramon Lozano invited me to play with him in a tournament in Lenexa on Saturday, September 11. It was the same weekend as the Kansas Senior Games so I decided to take that Friday off work and make a pit stop in Topeka to check on how my friends were doing. While at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2304,21],"tags":[3392,3215,140,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24915"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24915"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24937,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24915\/revisions\/24937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}