When we began this trip we were planning on ending it with a week at a Habitat for Humanity Build someplace in Georgia or Alabama. As things developed, we could only see John and Brenda Sternberg this weekend because all their days last week were full. I also couldn’t find any place in those areas that was part of the “Care-A-Vanners” program through which we worked last year. So a few weeks ago we came to the realization that it just wasn’t going to work out this year. But we were also too late to make reservations to guarantee camping anyplace. John was quick to offer their “Beach House” to us in Redington Beach, where we had visited them last year. So we didn’t rush breaking camp on Thursday morning, even taking time to defrost the refrigerator in the camper and packing up everything we would need for three nights in a house. We did pretty well, too. When we got to the house, about an hour and a half from Lithia Springs, we only had to pop the front half of the camper one time; that was to get out our phone chargers. We ate a quick, late lunch and then went over to the Gulf beach, a short three block walk from the house. There we walked down to where the tall condominium buildings start and then back to the access, where we sat on the sand and enjoyed the sun and waves for a while. I went in to paddle around a bit in the water that we were told was only in the high sixties but felt warmer to me than the 72° springs we have been in here in Florida. John had assured us that no self-respecting Floridian would go in the water at those temps but I thought it felt great. We returned to the beach that evening for a nice sunset. After Spanish Rice and salad for dinner we ran over to the Winn-Dixie for some groceries and then read for the rest of the evening because we couldn’t get the TV to come on. We also had a call from Ann & Shelby telling us that Marv’s mom was in the hospital for unspecified heart problems and awaiting tests tonight and tomorrow.
Friday when Marv made coffee he figured out that the ground fault outlet for the coffee maker had popped at some point and that all the kitchen outlets as well as the outlets on the other side of the wall, including the TV, were out. He pushed the reset and we were in business, although we never did watch any TV while we were there. After breakfast we drove the truck, with the bikes in it, to Seminole Park in nearby Pinellas Park to ride on the Pinellas Park Rail-to-Trail. It is a paved, linear park extending from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs (43mi). We took it to the south first, going over three steep bridges over the busiest roads and across the low, half mile Cross Bayou Bridge over Boca Ciega Bay. After that it was getting more industrial so we turned around and went north, past our starting point. It became more residential, there was more shade and it was less busy in general and therefore more pleasant. It was also after noon by then and since there were fewer people on the path I figured we were seeing the proof of “Only mad dogs and northerners go out in the mid-day sun”! But it was a lovely day and we really enjoyed the ride. We had one more bridge over a busy road that direction. Those bridges are pretty satisfying because they have a steep, steep grade, which requires one to shift way down to make it to the top. But then they level off before there is an equally steep descent, where we would coast at speeds up to 21 or 22 miles an hour. There was usually a long way before the next one to give us time to recover. By the time we turned around to head back we were headed into a pretty stiff breeze and our average dropped from 11 or 12 mph to 9 or 10 mph. But our time was our own and we weren’t trying to win any races so it didn’t matter. We found a place along the way where Marv got ice cream and I got a scoop of Italian Ice and then made our way back to the truck, by which time we had ridden 15½ miles. We were pretty hot and tuckered out when we got back so we rested a while and just had a light snack for lunch before taking chairs and books to the beach for an hour or so. I went in the water again but Marv didn’t; he doesn’t like the salt coating from the water. After getting cleaned up we drove about half an hour away to Clearwater to Dan and Jill Land Baker’s house for a visit. Jill is the daughter of Maxine and Harold Land from Kokomo, IN and they have known Marv’s mom since Harold and Marv’s birth father, Ken, were in flight school together in WWII. Marv’s mom wanted us to take them out for Jill’s upcoming birthday so they took us to a favorite local Greek restaurant where I had grape leaves and everyone else had gyros. Then we went back to their house to play cards and while we were there Jill had a call from Ann and then Marv called his mom so we got caught up on how she was doing (better). It was a really nice evening!
Saturday we drove to John and Brenda’s house in Tampa and we all went downtown to walk around a big outdoor Art Fair. It was sunny, hot, and windy and it was nice to just be strolling and talking. On our way back to the car John took us by the University of Tampa’s very impressive administration building which is housed in the 1891 Tampa Hotel, which looks like a Russian Orthodox Cathedral. We sat on the porch in the breeze and cooled off and then drove to a neighborhood strip of restaurants and shops, where we had a nice lunch. They had evening plans so we left them to relax for a while before they got ready and we stopped by Sam’s to get gas and get a few things. On our return we went down to the beach but the wind was a bit oppressive and very humid so everything was feeling clammy. The waves were rolling and crashing, looking very different than our other trips to the beach. I wasn’t even tempted to go into the water for the last chance I would have to swim. We didn’t even stay for sunset, but instead went back to the house to make salads with grilled chicken breasts for dinner, do two loads of laundry, and begin getting ready to leave on Sunday.
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