I made the decision to attend a pickleball camp in a moment when I was deeply grieving the loss of my dog. It was just the two of us for fourteen years and my heart was broken. I needed to escape.

Pickleball has been good to me the last few years as it is fun, social and good exercise. I play with a regular group who have become fast friends. But the sadness was overwhelming and affecting my physical well-being. I needed to escape.

I found a camp online that had good reviews and the site was a direct and non-stop flight from San Diego to Atlanta. Nevermind that it would be in late September where summer was still stifling. There was availability so I immediately booked the flight, the hotel, and transportation between the airport, the hotel and the courts.

Two days before departure as I packed for the heat, I gathered all my bookings and confirmed them. Much to my surprise the online camp program now listed the venue at a country club about 40 miles away. I frantically called the camp phone line and emailed them more than once. No one got back to me. I then decided to email the club and ask if they had it on their schedule. Lucky for me the tennis pro immediately confirmed that it was now in Duluth, GA. I panicked, I swore, I jumped around a bit. Lucky for me I had booked a refundable rate at the hotel. I don’t always do that and have lost money in the past. I checked and I still had 5 hours to get my points back, Whew!

Transportation was now a concern as I’ve heard about the traffic in Atlanta and as someone in her late 70’s I don’t like to drive in places I’m not familiar with or in heavy freeway conjestion. Uber to the rescue? I bought a $3 Marta pass and went to the end of the line. From there I paid $37 for a ride to one of those freeway hotels without a restaurant. After a quick check-in I hiked to the nearest gas station to buy water and other snacks: $10 for a gallon and 2 candy bars! There was a Chili’s within walking distance so that became my go-to when hungry. We were told that we needed to bring our own lunch and water to camp.

The next morning I was up early, ate one of my “protein” bars with the complimentary coffee and ubered to camp…only $11. My luck changed! The other campers were good, delightful, friendly and considerate and the instructor was both funny and exemplary. The next 7 hours went quickly even though my feet were miserable. One of the campers actually went to the Club restaurant for lunch even though it was a private club and told us that he was welcomed. Needless to say, the second day of camp I sat inside the air conditioned Clubhouse and enjoyed a “club sandwich”!

One other camper had the same experience as I did with the site move not being announced. He was not as fortunate to change hotels and had to do the hour+ drive each way both days. I never did hear from the camp director or staff…and if it wasn’t for the expertise and commendable job of the “coach” I would have written a scathing review.