While having a taste of wine yesterday at the Fonda wine store, I ran into a nice lady from Burnaby, BC. – Eileen Floyd. She mentioned that she played pickleball here in Cotacachi and invited me to join the online group. I did so and found out they are starting to play at a brand new location next to the Stadium in town.
I woke up this morning to the sounds of church bells and sunny skies. It was shaping up to be a nice day for a walk to check out the pickleball courts. I had some coffee and readied myself for a walk over to the stadium which is on the other side of a creek that cuts through town.
I arrived about half an hour early and met Stacy Loesch who was setting up nets in preparation for the day’s games. After introducing myself, he took it upon himself to get me a paddle and teach me some basics of play. Thanks a ton Stacy for being so kind and helpful!
I was pretty much beat after about 20 minutes of practice. The elevation here caught up to me very quickly and I started feeling a bit wobbly in the legs. I took a seat and watched as many players started arriving and warming up for play. They have 3 full courts now with room to put another one in between the current two on the large basketball court. It is a HUGE improvement from their older location.
After about an hour, there were tons of people gathered to play on the three courts. Expats from around the world and locals alike all having a great time playing. This is a group I hope to associate with and look forward to playing with in the coming weeks.
After catching my breath I headed out to get some much needed nourishment. I headed over to Subs Station to partake of their German Breakfast special. It is a very filling meal that includes juice and coffee for $5.00. I was the only person in the restaurant. I think the rest of the town was over playing pickleball. 🙂
