Florida. February 16, 2016.

It rained last night and the streets were still wet this morning, but the sky was blue and the temperature rising when we went out the door. This being a Tuesday we started with a four mile walk and then got on the bikes. Dianne's life is strictly regimented--Monday, Wednesday and Friday she plays tennis and goes to the gym (and I swim when I'm here). Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday are biking days. I can live with that!

We rode the streets to the Pinellas Trail and rode the trail into Tarpon Springs to see if the manatees were in the bayou. And they were! There were 5 or 6 of them in view and we watched them for about a half hour. I feel about them like I feel about the glaciers--I need to see them whenever I can because they may be gone in my lifetime.

We rode into downtown Tarpon Springs so I could get postcards to send the grandchildren, passing the old sponge warehouse on our way.

When I came out with the postcards Dianne pointed out the Tilley Hat sign above the door and asked for a photo. Bill and I do indeed wear our Tilley hats when we sail and kayak.

We rode out of Tarpon Springs and took the long way around rather than go back the way we came. We took the Pinellas Trail in the other direction, then on to the busy streets, finally ending up at Dunedin for my favorite Florida lunch--a blackened grouper sandwich! We rode home after that, for a total of 35 miles.
 

We ran some errands and then managed to play 3 games of Scrabble before meeting our friends for dinner. Here we all are: Dianne, Stan, me, Barbara and Ed. Can you tell by our attire who lives here and who is the visitor from the frozen north?

We had such a great time that they had to tap us on the shoulder when they wanted to close the restaurant a couple of hours after dinner! We made plans to get together for a bike ride next weekend.