Rochester MN #14 - Go west young (uh, old) man


 June 19 2020

This was the summer we were to go to France with our daughter Emily and her family. Covid-19 put a stop to that. So when our other daughter Andrea invited us to go to Yellowstone National Park with them, we felt that would be an excellent replacement, and with all the states we would drive through, we could add 7 more states to our Pickleball the States endeavor. Instead of traveling with our daughter and her family, we decided to meet them at various points along the way. That provided them with family time and us with flexibility to fit pickleball into our trip. The first stop was Rochester MN where we stayed with college friends Karl and Martha and met up with a couple that evening at Cook Park to play pickleball. In our conversations with our contact, we learned there were Covid restrictions in place. Partners had to be from the same household; each team used their own ball for serving; the other team was not to touch that ball; and the tapping of paddles at the end of a game was not to occur. We could adapt to these rules. There were six dedicated pickleball courts with fencing around each court. The courts were very nice although some did have standing water issues, but it wasn't a problem since there were plenty of courts available.


Our contact person arranged for us to play with Dick and Joanne whose skill level was similar to ours. They also like to travel and are cyclists. They had used vbt.com to book some cycling trips. Dick and Joanne are a wonderful couple and gave us some competitive play. It would be enjoyable to play them again and even do some cycling together.


Our friends Karl and Martha came along with us to the courts and when we were done playing with Dick and Joanne, we played a few games with them. They were excellent hosts and Martha made us feel like we were staying at a premier Bed and Breakfast with a wonderful dinner and a breakfast that was delicious and bountiful.

This stop had it all...friends from college, dedicated courts and a pickleball couple that had so much in common with us. Thank you Rochester Pickleball.

Location: 810 7th St NW, Rochester, MN 55901, USA

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