Where was everyone ???

At first we were just three--

...then Patrick showed up.

Starting to puddle a little bit.

Gail, Shirley, and I started play with just the three of us in a light drizzle yesterday at Miller Park. After a few ends, Patrick arrived to even out the teams.

The rain was intermittent for the first hour or so, but it became steady and the courts started to have a little standing water here and there. Still, not too bad due to the gravel we have added on top of the packed-dirt surface of our oldest Miller Park terrain.

Nevertheless, Shirley and Gail started to whine some--despite the club motto that explicitly prohibits same--and we called it quits after just a couple of games.

I can't remember now whether it was the girls or the boys who won both games.😀

Finally-- good weather for Greensboro play

No rain, and temperatures climbing into the high 60s, allowed us to get a good crowd out for Greensboro play at Tanger Gardens. I think I counted 13 players and there were also quite a few walk-ups who stopped by to find out a little more about our game,

We're really looking forward towards growing the number of regular players there when spring and summer arrive.

Bob&Kaye, Tracie, Marc&Kathy

Kaye and Bon

Kathy w/ Preston and Tracie

Tracie down from Valdese

Great to see Barb again!

In addition to our Miller Park regulars, we had Bob&Kaye from Raleigh, Tracie from Valdese, and Marc&Kathy from Hickory for Sunday play in Winston-Salem. It's always a treat for everyone when some of our far-flung members from other Carolina locations are able to stop by and play.

Also, we were very happy to have Barb (Rom) out for the first time in quite a while as she has been recovering from a surgical procedure that has required her to take a little time off from playing.

Bob&Kaye had news that a grant has been submitted to Raleigh Park&Rec for construction of the city's first public petanque terrain. Great news, with details to come.

I was talking with Kathy, and she said that Marc had a fall from some scaffolding-type racks in his warehouse recently and dislocated his left shoulder. Of course, Marc being Marc, he hadn't told us a thing about his accident, but it's good to see him out on the courts again as he continues towards a full recovery.
--Gary

More play in Morganton

Tracie Jeffries

Tracie and Mike Vail

Jeff Stark

Since we had played in Morganton on Thursday afternoon, we traveled back to our Lincolnton second-home (former home place of Shirley's mom and dad) in the evening and stayed over for a couple of nights in order to play in Morganton again on Saturday afternoon.

Thursday play in Morganton

Lance (far left) and Michelle (far right)

After playing in Charlotte on Saturday, Winston-Salem on Sunday, Greensboro on Monday, and W-S again on Wednesday, we made our first trip west to Morganton, NC, on Thursday, January 30, 2020. It's about a 90 mile drive from our home in Lexington, NC, so we don't get over as often as we would like.

The Catawba River Sport Complex has four terrains, each with room for four courts, and is to be the site of the United States (Federation of Petanque, USA) national championships, for men and for women, on July 25-26 of this year.

We hope to do some sprucing-up of the terrains in late spring / early summer to get ready for the event.

Nice again

After the drizzle and cold in Greensboro on Monday, we returned to clear skies and sunshine on Wednesday at Miller Park in Winston-Salem.

As you may be able to see in some of the pictures, the combination of rain and warm days has caused the resurgence of a little grass on our "winter" courts. For anyone who may not be familiar with Miller Parks layout, the terrain you see in these pictures allows play on four courts that are devoid of any natural shade-- just right for cool-weather play.

Our other two terrains, each large enough for four courts, are located against the treeline and are our strong preference when days are warmer.

Greensboro with Dan and David

After such a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem, we had hoped for more of the same a s we made the journey over to Tanger Gardens (1105 Hobbs Rd) in Greensboro on Monday.

But no. It was cold and drizzly so our turnout consisted of just four players-- Dan Fechner, son David, Shirley, and me. Still, we had a lot of fun. It was especially good to see Dan for the first time in a long while. David had come throughout the fall season, but he was accompanied by his mom, Anne Fechner.