Easter on Wheels

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a lovely Easter. We did, but first, I'd like to start with a rare event that happened last Wednesday. Glenn texted me and said "Go look at the sun," which is a strange text indeed. What I saw was this...a ring around the sun.

This is a rather eerie sight, but it does not portend the end of the world or alien invasion. It's a phenomenon that has to do with ice crystals in the atmosphere. You can read more about it here: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/25263893/2014/04/16/sun-halo-delights-bay-area

Speaking of the sun, Glenn got some very nice shots of the sunset from our driveway. Sometimes you don't have to go far to see something beautiful.

So let's see. Friday we found a good pizza place nearby called the Mellow Mushroom that has gluten free pizza. The food was wonderful, and there was even some drama as someone set the men's restroom on fire while we were there. It was put out without much incident, but lots of smoke and apologies.

Saturday, we walked the dogs (WALKED THEM) to the vet. I love small town living. They both got clean bills of health, and no dogs or humans were injured during the visit. The only bad thing is that the vet said Mojo needs to lose 10 - 15 lbs which is a lot for the little blonde dog. Good grief! And Mojo, who will happily munch on lizards or moles, will not eat a carrot stick or a green bean (unless I cook it in butter). Booo.

Also, on the way back from the vet, we saw a bald eagle. Right in our little plan. Sorry we were not fast enough to get a pic.

Easter Sunday, Glenn and I decided to go on an adventure and take the bikes out for a ride on the Ream Wilson Trail (we had to ride the bikes a few miles to actually get to the trail, but it is nice having it so close.)

It's a beautiful paved trail that goes through the woods and all these local nature parks.

Here we are!

Then at one point it goes up and over McMullen Booth Road.

Yes, this is a hill.

Taking a break

Down on Bayshore, we also passed all these "gates to nowhere" - everyone seems to have locked gate sitting out, but there is nothing to stop people from just walking around it. I think they're kinda neat though.

All in all, we rode for 2 1/2 hours and an estimated 12 miles. Did I mention I am a terrible cyclist? So for me this was quite an accomplishment. Today when I woke up though, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.

Sunday night, we went to nearby St. Petersburg, and went to the Canopy for dinner - a rooftop restaurant on the historic Birchwood Hotel.

Pretty view from here.

Us again!

So then we went and walked along the main street a bit, and met an unusual cast of characters.

Not to mention these guys...

What kind of post would this be without an Easter bunny?

Finally, we headed down to the marina. We've shared shots of this before, but it is a really pretty place, so I'm sharing some more.

So that's it for this episode of the blog. Hope you have a great week!

Sand Sculptures, Acrobats, and Some Damn Good Eats

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to the blog.

We had another great weekend here, and the weather has been glorious. Lots of lounging by the pool and feeling grateful for our good fortune.

Friday, Glenn and I took the pups for a long walk, and then headed to Clearwater Beach for the evening. We went to Crabby Bill's for dinner, which looks like a tourist trap, but ending up exceeding all expectations. They had a gluten free menu, and we had an amazing blue crab, spinach and cheese dip that made my day. They also had "Cleveland-style" (?) oysters which are baked in garlic butter and parmesan and were delish.

Clap, clap, clap.

This is from right outside of the restaurant.

So then we headed down to the beach to attend the...Sugar Sand Festival.

It cost $8 a person and took us about 5 minutes to walk through, so honestly, we were not that impressed. A competition would have been more interesting than a themed display (the theme was The Movies). But nonetheless, we took some pics with the blog in mind.

 

"Here's Johnny!"

This guy was my favorite.

So that's it for the Sugar Sand Festival.

On Saturday, Glenn once again had a very long day going to Relays around the state. I think this is his relay map. Overall, there are something like 265 relays in Florida, so he is just hitting the big ones, but it is still a lot.

Saturday, he drove to Naples, Marco Island, and Port Charlotte. He again got home around 1 am. He took a ton of pics, but mostly of employees or volunteers we don't know. Here are a couple nice shots....

Meanwhile, I went to the mall which is a mere 5 minutes from our house. While there, I discovered that my life has come full circle. As I walked to the center of the mall, I looked down over the railing and discovered that the mall had...AN ICE SKATING RINK! Can you believe it? I haven't seen a mall with a skating rink since going to Monroeville when I was a kid. (Hot pretzels at the Pup-a-Go-Go! Good times!)

Later, while laying out at the pool, I noticed that our Bougainvillea bush is in full bloom and snapped a couple of pics.

Chad calls Bougainvillea "God's Barbed Wire" because it has the most wicked thorns you can imagine. He assured us no one will ever climb over our fence here. Pretty though.

Don't you love how random this blog is? :-)

Ok, so Sunday, we had a quiet day around the house - Glenn did some yardwork, and then we went to a Mexican restaurant in Dunedin, called Casa Tina. It is decorated in a fun Day of the Dead style. We were surprised to see a big ring being lowered from the ceiling shortly after our arrival, and were soon treated to an acrobatics show.

Weird, right?

Shortly thereafter, girl number 2 began twirling from two strips of purple fabric, also suspended from the ceiling.

Here she is upside down.

Just your typical Sunday evening. Hanging around.

The food was really good - I had some wild mushroom quesadillas that were delicious and Glenn had fajitas - so we may have found our new Mexican place.

Hoo-ray!

So that's about all that's new here. No relays this coming weekend, since it is Easter. I even get Friday off work, so that is swell. I hope you all have a lovely holiday.

Walk, walk, walk

Hi Everyone -

Hope you are all doing well!

This past weekend, Glenn began the Florida Relay for Life season full steam by heading to 3 relays on Saturday.

Before he left, however, we took the dogs on a long walk starting at Safety Harbor's City Park, which mainly consists of ballfields, playgrounds and skateparks, down to Bayshore Drive.

We also saw a little alligator, just laying by the walkway. See if you can spot him...

Speaking of gators, part of our backyard has turned into a swamp. While Deuce mostly avoids it, Mojo loves playing in it, laying in it, and just generally getting as wet and muddy as possible. This is my new past-time...

Mojo loves the swamp, HATES the towel!

Overall though, the dogs, like us, seem to be adjusting to Florida rather well.

So anyway, once we got back from our walk, Glenn headed to Punta Gorda, Englewood, and Sarasota. (I read an entire book, went grocery shopping, cleaned the house, made cookies and watched Captain America.)

Here are some shots Glenn took during his journey.

Glenn got to help judge a "boxcar" competition - where people made cars out of boxes.

In Sarasota, he arrived in time for the Luminara celebration - his favorite part of relay - where they light candles in honor or memorial to someone who has fought cancer.

They also released Chinese lanterns, which they are not allowed to do. One of the lanterns blew into a tent and caught it on fire, which is precisely why they aren't allowed to have them. (It was put out without major incident).

Anyway, it was a long 12 1/2 hour day for him, but he enjoyed himself. Which is good, because there are lots more to come.

On Sunday, we went to Chad and Lisha's place in Ozona. Here's the view from their sitting room.

 

We took a ride in Chad's "Florida Gator" golf cart to go to lunch at the nearby Ohona Cafe, a Hawaiian themed place where your server gives you a hug good-bye. (Mahalo!)

Glenn is sooo jealous! At least he got to drive it.

From there, we went to a little peninsula in Tarpon Springs, where they were having an art show. It was a very pretty setting.

After walking around for a while, I was introduced to the Arepa - a gluten free South American fried corncake which is quite tasty. Then we took some selfies, which I was happy about, because we somehow never think of taking pics when we are with Chad and Lisha. That has been corrected.

We then went back and hung out on their dock for a while, which was lovely. We don't have any pics of this, but they have a couple of ospreys (Lisha has named them Baboo and Babette) who keep trying to make a nest on top of their neighbor's boat, and the neighbor keeps destroying the nest and shooing them away. Lisha is upset by this, so she and Chad put up a telephone pole, and Chad is putting a platform on top of it to try and lure the wayward birds to a safe nesting habitat. Stay tuned!

Later that evening, Glenn and I went to the Nantucket Bucket for dinner in Safety Harbor, and ate on their pretty porch.

It's a nice shady spot under some big live oaks with lots of Spanish moss.

So anyway, that's about it. Except that it was nice - because Glenn worked so much over the weekend, he decided to work from home today. I posted this pic of him on Facebook, where he got on and assured everyone that he is not naked in this picture. So you can all relax.

Working from home is not so bad. :-) 

Anyway, love and miss you all. Hope you are seeing some signs of Spring.