RIDE TO 7 MILE BRIDGE February 27, 2009

On the way to the Marina we stopped to thank Pat and Colin for dinner. They must be out walking. This is our elegant restaurant from last evening - Lady Margaret.

We hurried on to the MCM to use the facilities as our black holding tank was at 100%, a number no one needs to reach. Fourtunately, we were on the list for a pump out today!

Our destination today is West Marine. We picked up a new boat hook which floats! This one is retrievable when Debbie drops it!

Can you find the new boat hook?


We continued south on the main drag to 7 Mile Bridge. The cars use the new bridge and the old bridge has been made into a walking, fishing and golf cart bridge to an island. The picture below shows the walking bridge on the left and the car bridge on the right.




We decide to ride our bikes on it. It is two miles of easy riding. When we reach the end, a section of bridge has been removed so there is no way we can go further.


Guess what - the ride back into the wind is much more difficult and we stop 3 times in 2 miles. When we finally get back home, we have riden over 7 miles. Our bodies feel invigorated but our bottoms are very sore. The bike seats leave a lot to be desired!

Colin and Pat are back on Lady Margaret and we wish them well on their trip to Fort Myers. We are happy to get home, eat lunch and relax. Debbie reads a book while Tom uses his computer and goes for gas in the dingy.

About 4 we head for MCM for showers and the news. We have a dinner invitation from Ted and Trish aboard South Shore II. They are docked farther up Boot Key in a slip. We have drinks and nibbles on the stern, brats and broccoli salad inside and strawberry and blueberry shortcake back outside. The moon looks in on us. We get caught up on our adventures on the Rivers and Loopers we know in common.

BICYCLES February 26, 2009

We crashed pretty early last evening and woke up before the sunrise today. I have stopped printing pictures of sunsets because they always contain the same boats! However, the sunrise obviously has different sailboats!

Tom heads out early for the Marina to catch up on the news he missed last night. We made a lot of progress getting Catrina back to our usual set up but she stills needs to be cleaned. Debbie got out the 409 and shop vac and went to work. When Tom returned she was finishing up the windows. He got out the acetone and went after the last yellow cedar nut stains from our neighbors tree at Crystal River. Now we are ready again for guests!

After lunch and a 15 minute “digestive” nap, we head for the Marina and our new bikes. First we head a mile up the main drag to K-Mart and look for head lights. We don’t find any we like. Debbie has her backpacking one at home but we may need a light now for after dark riding home.

At the laundry yesterday, Debbie heard about a bike trail to the Atlantic Shore from between Publix and K-Mart. We found it and discovered where a lot of the locals live and where the kids go to school. The beach area is landscaped with bathhouses, plantings and cement trails. The sand is very firm and made up of large grains. It is beautiful and littered with people sunbathing!

We walk the three block length to Sister Canal where Tom points out a Gemini like his old one. We sit on a bench under a palm tree and wish we had brought drinks and lunches.

The ride back into the wind is a little more work and we realize we have not been active enough. We get a few things at Publix and head up for a nap before dinner.

We are not the only ones with bikes at our Marina. The biggest problem is finding a spot for two bikes on the stands!

Dinner was served by Pat and Colin on Lady Margaret. We sat at a table with linen on the top fly bridge and watched the sunset and the boat lights glow all around us. Pat prepared a first class meal of spinach salad, lime tequila chicken, baked new potatoes and asparagus. To top it off she added yogurt and strawberries to our pecan pie. We learned that Colin is an electrical engineer and Pat a dialysis nurse and their home port is Hamilton, Ontario. After dinner we learned a new dice game - Farkel.