Donna and I were getting ready to head out for a bike ride Monday morning when I remembered she said pickleball was scheduled at the recreation center next to the fairgrounds. We changed our plan and decided to go play there. We’d last played at the end of July in Springfield, Illinois.

While we were at the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs, I mentioned the Monaco Windsor motorhome behind us that was part of the shuffle as we had to reposition the big rigs in the lot. The Monaco moved to a site with water and electricity. The license plate on the Monaco read “PIKLBLL.” After the move, I met the owner, Ken Porter. We talked for a while and I found out he was a certified pickleball referee and also a rep for Paddletek, a supplier of pickleball paddles. He and his wife also carry a line of pickleball clothing and make pickleball themed jewelry.

Ken was having trouble with one of the slides on his Monaco. He suspected the circuit board controlling the slide was bad. To get to it, he needed to remove the chassis batteries. He told me he hurt his back and asked if I could help. The two chassis batteries weighed about 50 pounds each. I pulled the batteries so he could check out the circuit board. It was indeed faulty – a solid state relay on the board was bad. He said he had this problem once before and the boards were no longer available, but he thought he could repair it. I told him to let me know if he needed any help and I would re-install the chassis batteries.

The next day, he told me the board got damaged when he tried to de-solder the solid state mini-relay. A couple of traces on the board burned. Ken is a pretty sharp guy and he showed me a circuit he had drawn up to replace the circuit board. The purpose of the circuit was to reverse the current to the slide motor so it would extend the slide when the DC motor ran in one direction, then he could reverse the current with a switch to retract the slide. His circuit hard-wired two conventional Bosch 12-volt relays to accomplish this. I looked his drawing over and it looked good.

The next day, he had the parts and he wired it. It worked like a champ. While we were at it, we talked about pickleball. I found out he had several paddles that were demo models he used at pickleball events. Most of them were very lightly used. He also mentioned that he custom wraps the grips on the  handles to fit the size of your hand. He said that a grip that was too large or too small in diameter can cause elbow pain right where the top your forearm joins the humerus. I’d been having this issue.

He checked the grip on my paddles – they were too small for my extra-large hands. I asked him if we could check out some of his Paddletek paddles. He set up a small single-wide net so Donna and I could try some paddles. I ended up buying new paddles for Donna and me. I liked the Paddletek Tempest Wave and Donna liked the Paddletek Bantam TS-5. I checked online and the Wave was going for $130 and the Bantam was $100. He gave me a package deal – both for $100. Can’t beat that deal. He re-wrapped my grip to fit my hand – Donna’s was just right for her.

We were anxious to try out the new paddles and this was our first opportunity. At the rec center, they had three indoor courts. We hadn’t played at all in several weeks and hadn’t played indoors since we left San Diego. The group we played with were intermediate level. Donna and I started off a little rusty. Plus, we found the new paddles to be more powerful than what we were used to. I think the thin air here at 6,500 feet above sea level also caused the ball to fly longer than we expected. We soon settled down and played several close matches and had a lot of fun. My elbow didn’t bother me at all.

I should mention Sunday’s dinner. Donna made a favorite with a new twist. She served beef ragu over spaghetti squash presented in the squash shell. It was a nice presentation and an excellent meal with fresh corn on the cob we picked up at the farmers’ market in Montrose Saturday morning.

After a couple of hours of pickleball, my left foot was sore. I have pain near the ball of my foot toward the center, so no more pickleball for a while. Last night, Donna made pan seared salmon with ginger scallion topping, garlic cauliflower mash and fresh green beans.

This morning I got my Specialized Crave mountain bike and Donna’s knock around hybrid out of the trailer. We rode the Animas River Trail – a paved multi-use trail – to historic downtown Durango. We visited the train depot and museum. The museum is free and well worth the time.

The museum had much memorabilia – not all of it train related. They had restored old automobiles along with several rail cars and a Curtiss Model D airplane hanging from the ceiling.

Train rides usually leave the depot to go up the narrow-gauge rail along the Animas River to Silverton. However, a mudslide a few months ago damaged the rail line, so if you want to ride the train you can get on a bus at the Durango Station. The bus takes you up to Rockwood Station where you can board and make the round-trip to Silverton, then catch the bus back to the station. We opted to pass on shortened route – it costs $89/person for a coach class ride.

The Animas River Trail is a nice bike ride. It was about three miles each way to downtown and back. It follows the river and rail line.

The temperature is in the low 80s this afternoon – about the same as it’s been all weekend. We’ve come to expect a passing thundershower in the afternoons. I’ll load the bikes and straighten out the trailer as we plan to move on tomorrow.