Rexburg ID#18 - Covid Cancel

 

June 27 2020

After playing in Billings MT, we met up with our daughter and family in Yellowstone National Park for a few days of enjoying God's creation. Our next stop was to be Driggs ID where we would play outside at the elementary school on a basketball court with lines for pickleball. We had just checked into a room north of Driggs when I remembered that we were to confirm with my contact about play. When I contacted her, she asked if we had been in ID for 14 days. They were requiring anyone playing to have first been quarantined for two weeks before playing. I was hoping that maybe we could get around it by observing some other precautions like only playing with someone from our own household, only touching the ball for our team and each team serving with their own ball, no touching paddles at the net at the end of the game. Their group of seniors were adamant about their quarantine requirement. What do we do now? My contact put me in touch with another individual with courts an hour west of Driggs in Rexburg ID. They were playing there and did not have the restrictions. In fact, they were having a tournament the next morning. Kevin and I texted that evening and the next morning and went beyond my expectations in seeing that we would get some play. We did not play in the tournament. We watched the tournament and then played the mixed doubles winners skill level 4.0-4.5. Sal Alvarado and Kehau Galeai Molifua had not lost one of their eight games in the tournament prior to playing us. After playing us, they still had not lost a game. We did score some points in their very generous play against us. 

The dedicated pickleball courts at Nature Park in Rexburg are excellent.  There is fencing between the courts and I particularly liked the color scheme of the courts, blue and gray. The players were friendly and welcoming. I give Rexburg a 5.0 rating. This was much better than my original plan to play in Driggs.

We also had the opportunity to play with Kevin and his wife Teresa. We enjoy playing other couples. We didn't win, but we did give them some good play. A fantastic family oriented couple who love pickleball. I'm indebted to Kevin for turning my Covid Cancel into a Pickleball Victory in our Pickleball the States endeavor. We would be sure to stop in again if we are ever in the vicinity.

Prior to ID, we had spent a few days in Yellowstone National Park. Here at Old Faithful a buffalo enjoys a snack. We were a little underwhelmed by the magnitude of Old Faithful on this visit, but glad we were able to see it. The roaming buffalo, colorful hot springs, drowsy bear, Little Grand Canyon, boiling mud pits and family made this a memorable trip. It would be impossible to spend a few days in Yellowstone and not be amazed.