Monday-Tuesday

Tuesday, June 21 - We sent J and B back to work on Monday, and we had the day to ourselves.  Joe's cold has made his treadmilling difficult, but he has been putting in his time when he can - he was up to 40 minutes, but last night he had to quit at 30, I think. I guess we have to have the Claytons bring back our elipitical when we get home so he (and I) can try to get on an exercise program. He's done well here, but I haven't even tried since I am still coughing so much, especially when I get hot. But he usually has entertainment when he walks -- John playing ping pong on the Wii, or Bridgette boxing. I'm not exactly sure what he is going to expect from me when we get home. We did venture out shopping today for a while, just to get out of the house. Found our first Panda Express since we left Arizona, so we had a nice lunch there. Walked through part of the mall, Costco, and Bed Bath and Beyond, then called it a day.

Tuesday John left for a 3-day trip to Puerto Rico for a meeting, and Bridgette was going out on the UT boat to collect samples with some of the UT students, so we decided to take a drive, but I had to have help getting Joe out of bed. 

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Once Annie gave him a good licking, the other dogs assisted and he got up.  They were ready, though, in case he had to have more assistance.

We headed over to Alafia State Park, which is on the Alafia River.  It had a nice campground, but it is a really mountain biking park, with challenging off-road trails.  Once the site of a phosphate mine, the topography offers some of the most radical elevation changes in Florida (which is a pretty flat state).  The reclaimed mine altered the landscape here and created new landforms such as several small lakes, and steep grades which made it popular for bikers.
 

The bike trials were built by volunteers from a Bicycle Club, and the park even provides a bike wash rack.  We did not do any hiking here, believe me (it was 95 degrees, with 60% humidity), but Bridgette and John have, and Bridgette said they run a marathon here too.  Bridgette has not tackled this route yet, but just give her time.

The river runs along the edge of the campground here (we did NOT go swimming), and there were some small lakes right at the campground too, but they were moss-covered and very low. 

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We looked for wildlife of any kind, especially gators.  We did see an osprey on a tree limb pretty close (Joe spotted it), but an nosy squirrel scared it before I got the camera ready.  We had seen some osprey nests on the way into this park, and there were even 2 ospreys in one of the nests.



The trees here were laden with Spanish moss, and this would make a good movie setting for jungle scenes.  On a cooler day, this would be a good place to spend some time (maybe November).

There were 2 other entrances to this park, one right by the river, so we drove over to it.  The river was really shallow here, but there were a couple of people fishing out of the back of a pick-up truck.

We headed north, with no specific destination except that it was lunch time.  We found a local restaurant in Plant City to take care of that, then we started working our way a little bit east, with no particular destination in mind.  We did see some wild pigs alongside the road, and Joe even turned around so I could get a picture, but they spooked before the camera decided to click, so I only caught their foraging area in my picture.  There was a litter of 5, I think, but you have to use your imagination on this one.


Joe is always interested in the agriculture of the states we are in, and Florida has a pretty wide variety of that.  We passed through huge citrus groves, acres and acres of tomato fields (the tomato season is just over here, so the vines are now dead, and the tomatoes are dying on the vines).  We have been watching the fields near J and B, and they are taking up the tomato stakes and stacking them at the ends of the fields.  We also passed some pepper fields, and we came upon this one field with probably 100 or more pickers, with lots of vehicles out there.  Joe pulled in to see what was going on here, and it was a pickle field.  It looked like they filled baskets, then dumped the baskets into wooden crates.








We headed on down the road and came upon Lake Manatee, another very low lake with the boat ramp out of the water.  There is a Manatee River and a Little Manatee River here, and we don't know if both of those rivers feed into this lake, but there was more evidence here of how badly Florida needs some rain.




Our last stop was at the Rye Preserve.  We have seen several "preserves" but not driven back to any of them, so we decided to check this one out.  There was also a Sheriff's Youth Camp back here, as well as trails to the river, camping, restroom and shower.  On our way in Joe spotted a turtle chomping grass right beside a parking area.  It was a very cooperative turtle, so we got a good turtle picture. 
The Manatee River runs through this preserve, and we met a couple of kayakers who stopped here (they had not seen any gators on the river).  The Lake Manatee Damn releases into this river, and there was a warning sign about sudden changes in its depth.  It was a pretty setting.

The blog web site is having some problems today and I've had a lot of trouble trying to get my pictures in the right place, so I hope it all makes some sense, and I really hope blogspot gets its problem fixed.  Some of the coding may also appear, which I tried to delete but it keeps reappearing, so I am giving up on that.   I had to consult with my expert, Cathy, to get my pictures to load at all, so Cathy, thank you again.

Clearwater Beach

Saturday, June 19.  Our colds have definitely slowed our pace down, but Saturday we did have an outing -- J and B won't let us sit too long.  Bridgette wanted to go over to Clearwater area to see if she could get some information on diving sites in that area because she is going to be the faculty representative for the dive club at UT in the fall.  Joe and I had planned on making this trip sometime during the week anyhow, but instead we stayed home and coughed.    Anyhow, the beach here, like the other Florida beaches, is beautiful.  This one is very popular, crowded, but there is always room for more.  We took our suits with us but did not get in the water, we just walked out on the pier.  There was a lot of sea grass at the water's edge, and the water was a little murky.  Surprisingly, the murkiness was due to the influx of water coming down the Mississippi from all the flooding in the Midwest.  I had not connected those dots!

We  walked down the beach, then crossed over to the shops/restaurants area and found a place to have lunch.  This was sort of a boardwalk-type area, across the street from the beach itself. 

It doesn't take Joe as long to shop as it does me.
Then we walked over to the harbor.  This is a busy harbor, lots of boats moving around, lots of dolphin-watching and para-sailing boats, some fishing charters, some tour boats.  One fishing boat was showing off today's catch.


There was only one dive boat at the harbor, but Bridgette talked to the dive master on board and got a phone number to call.  The waters around here are shallow so diving is not readily available, but there is a wreck that they dive about 10 miles out.  It was hot walking around the harbor, so we finally headed back to the car.



As soon as we got home, J and B loaded up the dogs and took them to the dog park.  Joe and I stayed home and cooled off.


AND THEN, as soon as they got back from there, it was off to the motocross races at Dade City again.  I opted out of this trip, but Joe braved the heat and went with them.  I was just not up for sitting out in the bleachers in the heat, although a little rain shower went through up there and they said it wasn't too bad (when they got home at midnight).

Sunday Bridgette had to go into her office for a little bit, to get some plants and mealworms ready for Monday's lab students, so she and John took off first thing to get that trip out of the way.  Since Joe wasn't even out of bed yet, we allowed them to go off by themselves.  It was Father's Day, so we met Doug and Barbara at Golden Corral for dinner.  Then we played Mexican Train dominoes for a while before we called it a day.  We survived the weekend, and we can send them back to work tomorrow so we can get back to resting and coughing.

Summer Colds

Friday, June 17 - Joe and I have just been chillin' out all week, since we came down with summer colds on Monday.  We are now at the coughing stage, so that consumes our days and nights -- just coughing.  We ventured out for breakfast yesterday, and to the grocery store, but otherwise have just stayed in, resting and reading, although that doesn't seem to be helping any.  We are hoping to feel better tomorrow because Bridgette wants to drive over to Clearwater, and I'm sure they both will have activities in mind all weekend. 

We do have our departure plans in place.  We are leaving on Sunday, June 26, heading to the Everglades and then the Keys.  Florida has not been getting much rain, so it's hot and humid here, but it did rain Wednesday night.  It's good beach weather, though, and the beaches here are great -- we just need to get over our colds so we can enjoy them.

Siesta Key Beach

Monday, June 13 - Bridgette and Tyler left at 4:30 this morning for the airport, and John left shortly thereafter for work, so Joe and I slept in a little, then decided to go for a drive down to Siesta Key Beach, which we had heard was one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  As we were going over one of the many, many bays here that are bridged, the drawbridge came up to let a sailboat through.  This was the first drawbridge we have had to wait for, so that was neat.

See the sail boat coming out from under the bridge.










We took the scenic route and drove along the coast North to the end of Anna Marie Island.  There were nice beaches here too, but the beach itself was not very big.  There was shade, picnic tables, and a beautiful banyan (I think) tree here, though, and a couple of piers.

We drove on past the beach we were at yesterday, and headed to Sarasota where Siesta Key is located.  
  Here is what the Internet says about Siesta Beach.

   At the "Great International White Sand Beach Challenge" held in 1987, it was recognized as having the "whitest and finest sand in the world."  Unlike beaches elsewhere that are made up mostly of coral, Siesta Beach's sand is 99% quartz. Even on the hottest days, the sand is so reflective that it feels cool underfoot. It's estimated that the sand on Siesta Beach and Crescent Beach on Siesta Key is millions of years old, and started in the Appalachians and flowed down the rivers and was eventually deposited on the shores of Siesta Key.  Shallow water depth in the near shore area together with year round lifeguard protection, makes this one of the safest beaches in the County and great for small children.


Parking and beach access were not as plentiful as at Anna Marie beach, but the sand was definitely very white and soft.  We parked and walked over to the water, but I wasn't feeling very good (scratchy throat and upset stomach), so we didn't change into our swimsuits. 

But it was really crowded here, and this is Monday!  They had a sign at the lifeguard station showing the water temperature (85) and tidal times.

But it was way too crowded.  There were a couple boats pulling parasails here, which we also had seen at Anna Marie beach.

We didn't stay long -- it was hot, and way past lunch time.  It would be a nice beach to go to, if it wasn't so crowded.  We may try it again before we leave Tampa.  We stopped at the grocery on the way home, then called it a day.  After dinner, Joe's throat started feeling scratchy too, and during the night we both woke up with severe sore throats, so we are probably in for a cold.  Isn't that great! We'll have to go over to the motorhome and get our supply of cold pills.  Tyler arrived home safely, but he thinks he is getting a cold too.  How's that for a souvenir!

Goodbye to Tyler

Sunday-Monday, June 12-13.  Tyler is, unhappily, flying back to Phoenix early Monday morning -- his 3-week visit has come to an end.  He wanted to go to the beach again, with John as well as Bridgette, so that was today's agenda.  Back to the beach on Anna Marie Island beach that we went to the first weekend we were here.  So we got lotioned up, and hit the water.

The water was great, about 85 degrees, and this beach has good shade and picnic tables, as well as a snack bar with hot dogs.  We stayed for about hours.  John lost his sunglasses when Tyler dunked him, so we all spent a little time trying to find them.  Bridgette, Joe and Tyler all put their snorkels back on, but the water was a little murky and unlike Joe's successful hunt for Collins' glasses last year's, this time we did not find them.  So John is now in the market for sunglasses -- maybe Tyler's lost pair at Pizza Hut will turn up after he leaves and John can claim them.  Otherwise, he's now in the market for new sunglasses.

Bridgette got a little sun time, but she didn't last very long before she had to go back in the water to cool off.

The sand here is nice and powdery, as evidenced by this little sand mermaid who was sitting on the beach near us.

Finally, it was time to come out of the water for the final time.  I think Tyler is very sad to leave here.  He's had a great time with his cousin Bridgette, they go way back, and he's very fond of John.  And John and Bridgette are excellent hosts so they kept him (and us) busy.

  But his day was not over.  We had a little birthday party planned for him this evening.  Bridgette made pizza for dinner, her mom and dad came over, and we had chocolate cake (his favorite) and ice cream, and a little party.  We gave him a photo album of pictures taken during his visit here, so we hope he enjoys thumbing though it in the days ahead and remembering all his good times here. 

Thursday-Saturday

Things have finally settled down a bit, so we had a few days at a slower pace, with John in Key West and Bridgette going to work from 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.  Thursday, Joe, Tyler and I got the yard work done for our hosts, picking up the piles in the backyard, mowing and weed-eating both the front and back yard.  It was a hot job, and we probably won't make that grand gesture again, especially since Tyler won't be here to help.  Bridgette has Fridays off this summer, so she and Tyler went to the movies on Friday and Joe and I went shopping at the outlet mall about 15 miles south of their house, looking for some lightweight pants to wear on our trip to the Everglades, hoping that will give us some mosquito protection.  There was a Columbia outlet store there where we were successful in our search, so we got that mission over with.

Friday night Bridgette decided she needed to run on the treadmill -- obviously, Tyler hadn't worn her out.  She wanted us both to try out the treadmill, which I did barefoot and very briefly.  But Joe decided he would go 5 laps on it, about 1/2 hour.

It made his "new" big toe a little sore, but otherwise he did not suffer any ill effects.  I think Bridgette is getting ready to put him in her boot camp.  They have a Wii here borrowed from her parents, and we've done different things with it during our two-week stay, but Saturday, Tyler finally got Joe talked into boxing.

The rest of us had done some boxing earlier in the week, but this was Joe's first bout.  We may have to get our own Wii when we get home, because his opponent did not stay down, so Joe's not done with him yet.  He did some ping pong and we all bowled a little, and we keep wondering if we would actually use one if we had it.  But we're pretty sure we would have to have Cody or Kaylee set up every game for us, so I don't know.

John got back from Key West just before noon on Saturday, having gotten up and on the road about 4:00 a.m.  He caught a cold down there too, so he was pretty tired.  But Saturday evening, we all went to an arena football game, after dinner at Hooters right on the bay.  Bridgette got free tickets from University of Tampa, so we thought we should see what the game was like.  They had a tailgate party going on when we went in, with a band playing outside and people milling around.

 We got there early because our tickets were general admission, so we got to see both teams warm up.

Here is the Pittsburgh Power going through their stretches. 

And here is the Tampa Bay Storm warming up.

They had a lot of pre-game stuff, including a band, which also played at halftime, and a parade of motorcycles just before they introduced the home team players, which was also quite a production.

 

We had great seats, and there was a lot of scoring.  There was a little more defense in the second half, and Tampa Bay Storm won the game 62-55.  It was a late night, but we got home around 11:00 and we all immediately went to bed.  We're hoping a night's sleep will help John recover from his cold, because we're going to the beach tomorrow!