LATE NEWS, GOOD NEWS...

A few days ago I was notified that my partner Dee and I won the Gold in the Nevada Senior Games in our age group.  We played with a group of  women 70-79 year olds… spans 2 age groups.  Within that  they had two categories, Q for those trying to Qualify for the Nationals in 2015 and those just playing age group 70-74 and 75-79.  We had entered Q division because the players would be better skilled.  We didn’t realize that all the people we played against were either in the younger age group, or were playing Age Group Skill Level only, not Q.   So Dee and I came away with the GOLD.

The days were hot and long, about 1 hour between matches at the Huntsman World Games in St George UT.  Dee and I played Skill Level 3.0 and Age Group 75-79.  No medals but felt I played good.  On Wed, Hank and I played Mixed Doubles  75-84 and had about 6 matches.  Once you loose 2, you’re out in the double elimination format.  We made it through about 6 matches and ended up 4th place with a loss by only 2 points.  Play was good and hot as we started about 1:15 and finished about 5.  After the 1st 2 matches we only had about 5-10 minutes between matches, which I really enjoyed…  hate that sit and wait scenario.  My friend (hiking and kayaking buddy from home), Sharon Klotz (age 70), won the Bronze in women’s doubles with her partner Claire and a Silver in Mixed doubles (age 65-69) you can play down, but not up!!!  Then on Friday she captured the Bronze in 70-74 age group SINGLES.  Way to go Sharon.

Dee and Nancy await the serve...

Loved this guy in front of the Best Western
in St George UT

A DAY OF PLAY... not Pickleball

Well, too much practice isn’t good either, so after about 1 hour today, Don and I headed off to the beautiful Snow Canyon State Park in NW St. George.  We’d been here before, but didn’t see all the sites so once again it was a  “revisit” tour.  The park opened in 1962 and has an elevation of 3200’ to 4100’ making it ideal for hiking and biking if you’re there on a beautiful day like today… only 75 degrees.

Navajo sandstone makes up the predominant rock in the park.  Between 1.4 million years ago, and as  recently as 27,000 years ago, nearby cinder cones erupted and capped sandstone ridges that were once canyon bottoms.  Fantastic…  A quick lunch “could be dinner” and we headed back to the Best Western. 

Beautiful sandstone formations guided us into the park...
check out those green trees!!!

And a relative of Casper guided us to

Jenny's Canyon

A narrow slot canyon where 

we posed and then took photos of
people who photographed us.

And a few wildflowers were still in bloom.
I don't know the name of this 

but this one is called Datura.  In 1980 Don
picked some for me one morning while

we were houseboating on n Lake Powell.  I wove a tapestry
that represented images from that trip,

and the 4' x 5' tapestry hangs in our new vacation home
in Gold Canyon AZ, next to a burnished copper and glass
mirror that I also created.

Then it was time for a little geocaching

as we wandered the wash

and Don located his first geocache that contained a travel
bug "flipper" so we took him with us...

Some famous movies were also filmed here.

This is a shot of a sandstone mountain covered with volcanic rock!!!

Once again, lots of "Kodak" moments invited us to
stop and visit.   And look at all those wildflowers
still in bloom and it's mid-Oct.

Don continued clamoring around on a variety of rock piles

and located a couple more geocaches.

This friendly fountain greets guests as they arrive
at Best Western - Abbey, St George UT, our
home away from home till Thursday Oct 16.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT...

We’re now in St George UT, for the Huntsman World Senior Games.  When I picked up my registration packet yesterday I was informed that there were 10,400 “senior athletes” age 50+ participating in this years “games”… and 500 were here for Pickleball and there even was another Nancy Harvey (but I don't know for which sport).   So my partner Dee (for Women’s Age Group and Women’s Skill Level) are busy practicing at least 3 hours per day.  I’m also playing Mixed Doubles with Hank Winawer - a resident of Sun River, a Del Webb community here in St. George.  He and his Men’s Doubles partner are meeting up with Dee and myself at 8:00 each day to practice.  Of course a whole lot of other people are doing the same thing on the 20 pickleball courts.  I’ve added a few photos of our 4-day fun, frolic and oh yes, practice before the games begin on Monday Oct 13th.

YES...

Nancy & Dee with the Senior Pickleball Player Athlete Poster

In the vendor area... someone had a good personality!!!

While catching up on laundry at the Best Western Abbey Motel
(someone's got to do it)...

The views weren't  all that bad.

And things looked good as we strolled to dinner.

Practice

more practice

Dee takes a turn.

Don shot some video, hope it will play for you.   I'll be back after the games...

GET READY... MORE RED ROCKS!!!

Today was an “in-between pickleball”  day, so Don and I ventured off to Red Rock Canyon only about 18 miles SW of our hotel.  It was a lovely day, about 80-85 degrees with a gentle wind.  This is a small BLM facility located just off State Route 159.  It was designated as Nevada’s first National Conservation Area in 1990.  It includes a 13-mile scenic drive, more than 30 miles of hiking trails and is a world renown rock climbing area.  In addition, Tortoise, wild horses, desert big horn sheep and burros roam here.  Even though we kept our eyes “peeled” the only wildlife we saw  were  homo sapiens!!!

However the Visitor Center was world class as it combined indoor and outdoor exhibit areas with extravagantly creative, and unique artwork backdrops which visually enhanced and blended successfully with the environment, all of which made learning even more delightful. We’d both go again, just to re-explore the Visitor Center. Our summation:  The Best of the Best, another Gem!!!

Once again, the vivid contrast between green grass, red rocks
and blue sky was stunning.

Not a bad sign either!!!

Never saw a "hairy" scorpion before - glad this one
wasn't moving anymore.

Each of four major exhibits representing Water, Earth, Air & Fire
were depicted in a similar manner.

Each was unique and outrageous to say the least.

Fire - what a view in the distance.

And many display boards like this.

The massive sandstone formations

that were created 180 million years ago

were from the largest sand dune that ever existed
on earth.

Wouldn't you like to be the researcher
whose job it was to research this stuff?

What else can I say...

except they got the "scenic" right on this scenic drive!!!