Done for the Day...

We didn't get a lot of milage in today -- only 20 -- but it was scenic 20 miles. And a couple of hills that were less than pleasant, and one hill that was a nightmare to try and grunt up, but we made it.

Don't know what tomorrow holds in store... I guess we'll find out when it gets here.

Point Loma

3:15 PM -- We're at Cabrillo National Monument, a point of land that looks back over the bay and North Island NAS toward San Diego. The wind is brisk up here although the view is fairly nice except for a smog layer partially shrouding the mountains to the east. Another difference is as is the case with so many other national parks -- they charge admission to get in here now. We got charged the same price as a car! Somehow this just doesn't seem right...

Ready to Ride

1:15 PM -- we've been driving around trying to find a place to park, not too far from the beach area to begin riding. The wind is brisk and the traffic horrendous! Not a good way to start!

Saturday Morning

It's somewhere around 8:00 AM and I'm exhausted! Went to bed well after midnight, but sleep was hard to find. Strange bed, I suppose...

The bike is assembled but unridden as of yet. As for me, I need to go find the local Starbucks and get some coffee for her loveliness and a mocha for myself...

In San Diego...

We arrived in San Diego safe and sound to find sunny skies and 70 degree weather. We're SO special that two different people met us at the airport; Valerie and I immediately parted company. She went with Janie, the friend we'll stay with in Escondido and I went with Ron, an old friend from high school days.

We stopped at a shopping mall in the Mission Valley area so I could hit the Bose store and replace a set of ear buds for my iPod. Mission accomplished, and we're now fighting traffic on I-15 northbound. Jsut seven more miles to go and tofay's traveling will be over.

In Las Vegas

It's about 2:30 PM, and we're in Las Vegas letting people off and then getting a fresh new load... and then we're off again to our southern destination. Local weather here is currently 65 degrees and the sky is blue and clear. I hope this trend continues all the way to San Diego!

Plane's Here...

Update: while I was writing the last post the plane pulled in and we appear to be on schedule!

At BOI...

Here we sit at Boise's airport, with half an hour to go before we're supposed to be in the air, with no plane at the gate. This time we're flying on Southwest -- with apologies to my nephew and his wife, both long-term employees with United. But United charged us $300 one way to ship the tandem and Southwest just charged us $50. Heck, it cost us $112 to ship the bike back to Boise from Tampa... the math seems to work out better this time around.

As we drove to the airport we noticed that the temperature was in the high 30's with clouds and fog. In a few hours from now we hope to change all that!

Morning Preparations...

It's getting closer to the time when we need to hit the road and head to the airport... I'm feeling a bit anxious about it because we hardly ever catch an early afternoon flight and I feel like I'm late today! (Normally by now we'd be gone and half-way across the country.)

I thought I'd throw in a picture of a couple of my "customers" from my mail route. Pippi, the smaller horse in the picture, comes running to the fence whenever she sees my mail truck because she's trained me to give her part of the apple I eat every morning. Keebler, the larger brown horse isn't as quick about coming out for a snack. He's 27 years old and doesn't rush for anybody. But if he's nearby when I come past, he'll come up and try to cash in on a handout as well.

Let's get this show on the road!

Back Into Blog Semi-Retirement...

Thanks to those of you who let me know you kept track of our latest adventure. The blog was updated about 90% of the time through my Blackberry, so we now know I don't HAVE to take my laptop with me everywhere I travel. This might make blogging a lot less of a headache for any potential overseas travel in the future.

This blog will now go back to sleep until the next time we take off for points unknown...

Reality Bites...

8:30 AM -- Wow... does reality hurt, or what? Dark cloudy skies, rain, and mail to deliver. I can safely say that our time in Florida is now safely in the "memory department".

I want to go bike riding this morning, just like we did at the tandem rally... Instead I'll deliver mail and start saving for the next bike trip.

Leaving Denver

12:26 PM -- They're herding us like cattle onto a small CRJ200: a regional jet so small that carry-on baggage wouldn't fit in the overhead bins! We landed in Denver I foggy conditions, but the lifted half an hour later and we've been looking at partly sunny conditions since then.

Time to shut off the cell phones and hit the runway...

1:43 PM -- In the air at the moment, thinking about how it will take as long to drive from the airport to our house as it did to fly from Denver to Boise.

2:25 PM -- We just landed in Boise. The trip is over for all practical purposes... Now all we need is for UPS to get the bike here in one piece!

In Denver

9:17 AM -- As I write this the plane is staring its descent to Denver. My stomach did its descent to "hungry" about half an hour ago... so I'll be looking for an eatery of some kind as soon as we hit the ground.

There have been clouds most of the way here, starting perhaps half an hour or so out of Tampa. I wish we had a couple more days we could have spent there as I would have liked to head back to the gulf and looked around some of the beach communities. Oh, well... there's always "next time"!

Here Comes the Sun...

7:15 AM -- It's early morning and we're at the Tampa airport waiting for our 8:00 flight. The drive to the airport was interesting in that people kept flashing their lights at us; it appears that a fuse had blown and we had no tail lights. Other than that we've experienced nothing out of the ordinary.

People have been showing up at the gate, and we're getting closer to boarding time. Someone is packing a small baby with them; I hope they don't end up sitting right next to us so we can listen to it shriek all the way to Denver!

The Beach...

1:43 PM -- We made it to St. Petersberg and finally found a public beach where we could park and go bob around in the warm gulf water for a while. There were small 2 to 3 inch fish swimming very close to the shore (thousands of them along the shoreline) and larger fish were swimming amongst (and feeding upon) the smaller ones.

The sea birds were having a frenzy feeding on whatever they could catch on one of their head-on dives into the water.

All in all it was a good day for man and bird... The fish seemed to get the short end of the stick, but they made up for their losses by sheer numbers!

Tuesday in Tampa...

8:53 AM -- I just spent the last half hour fighting with a sluggish computer trying to get online to confirm reservations and print boarding passes. Mission finally accomplished.

Yesterday we left The Villages and went to visit Valerie's grandmother where she now lives in Chiefland, Florida. This was roughly 75 or 80 miles from The Villages in a northwesterly direction. We went out for lunch, looking for the "perfect" place -- kind of hard when you're a stranger and have no idea of where anything is, or how many (or few) choices will be available to you. We passed by BubbaQue's (although I've included a link because the web site is amusing if you have your sound on) and found a place 10 miles north in Fanning Springs called the Light House Restaurant, which serves steak and seafood. (I couldn't find a website for this place... sorry!)

Valerie tried a fish sandwich and it was one of the best she's ever had -- not a "filet o' fish" by any stretch of the imagination, but a nice fresh piece of fish (probably Grouper) that was lightly breaded (she could have ordered broiled instead). I ran through their salad bar which was actually pretty good... usually small town salad bars don't amount to much more than a bin of lettuce and your choice of two dressings. This restaurant had a good variety of toppings, other vegetables (no mushrooms, however) and pasta and potato salads, fruit, cottage cheese and a few other things I didn't even have the room to go back and try.

The drive home was uneventful, and Valerie napped on and off most of the way while I kept up with the traffic flow on southbound I-75. We stopped off at the UPS store and shipped the bike back to Boise, ran through the Starbucks at the same location and then came home. I went up to the local "Sweet Bay" grocery store and bought a turkey sandwich for my dinner and brought it home. The sliced onion in the sandwich stunk up the whole house, and both Valerie and her step dad were complaining about it. Interestingly, while I could smell it too I didn't really notice the taste as I ate the sandwich. Stealth onion????

What to do today? Who knows... George had a golf game up close to Orlando, so he's gone... nothing surprising there. Golf... George... they both start with "G" -- see the connection? Maybe we'll head over to St. Petersberg and look at the gulf... I would have liked to have visited Busch Gardens and played on their roller coasters, but the price for admission just seemed a little out of touch with reality. Twelve bucks for parking and $69.95 APIECE to get in the gate to stand around in the heat and humidity while waiting to get on the rides... I think we'll pass. A month from now the weather would be ideal for such pursuits... but I doubt the price tag will look any better!

Well... I guess we'd better get around to enjoying our last day here in Florida; tomorrow we'll be held captive in a couple of long metal tubes bearing the colors of United Airlines.

Sunday Ride

1:30 PM -- We're done with our ride and are back at the house where I'm procrastinating leaving the sweet air conditioning for the hot, humid garage where I can start breaking down the bike and get it ready for shipping home.

As for today's ride, we chose the 41 mile route and added a few extra miles of our own to reach a total of 52.2 miles. We rode to Little Wier Lake which was quite pretty, surrounded by trees and lush green plants. I wouldn't have guessed we were in Florida if you'd just dropped us off there and said, where do you think you are?"

Well... Time to go get busy.

Saturday's Ride Results

3:35 PM -- we've been back at the house since a little after one o'clock and have gotten showered and all prettied up in our tye-dye finery. Today's ride from the house and back totaled 50 miles even. We ran into about a minute's worth of rain shortly after our lunch stop, but other than that the weather has been nothing but warm... and humid.

Saturday's Ride

8:30 AM -- We're waiting for the mass start of Saturday's ride, which is about 15 minutes away. I'm finding that the skin on my nose where my glasses rest has been worn raw. This should make for an interesting time... The sweat is already burning and we're not even riding yet! The rider's meeting has started... gotta go!
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Friday's Total

2:18 PM -- Back at the house, out of the shower (ahhhh!!!) With 52.4 miles logged for today's ride.

The Friday Ride

1:50 PM -- We're sitting inside a Starbucks on the SOFT chairs after riding almost fifty miles today. As soon as we're done with our ice cold drinks we'll ride the last few miles back to the house and drag our sweat-drenched carcasses into the shower. I can hardly wait!

It's Started...

9:00 AM -- I was up making a run to Starbucks this morning when I noticed a group of tandem riders going by. This is an informal ride day, so we're dragging this morning; tomorrow they have a mass start at 8:45 so we'll actually have to be up and out while it's still relatively "cool" here!

Evening Swim...

7:35 PM -- We got out the trusty golf cart and made the short drive down to the community pool for an evening swim. It seems that as the sun dips lower in the horizon, "they" emerge from the shade of their homes and seek the pleasant waters of the pool. It was hard to swim the length of the pool without zigging and zagging to avoid older folks bobbing around on their floats. Still, all things considered, it was a relaxing way to end the day.

It's a Parade!

5:22 PM -- Just got back to the house after being witness to an Italian themed parade going around the village square.

There were a few brass bands, a bagpipe band, women marching with batons and about a million or so golf carts decorated in some fashion statement or another. One was even done up to look like a gondola being navigated through the canals of Venice.

It's nice to see that not all the world's retired folk are indoors in front of the TV!

Lunch

3:46 PM -- Having a late lunch at a place called Toojays after riding a short 15 miles, finding both bike shops in the area and getting registered for the rally. Tomorrow the real riding begins!

Early Morning Transport

I'm at a Starbucks in one of the "squares" at The Villages -- a place where there are shops, stores, restaurants and outdoor areas for many different forms of entertainment. Pictured is one of the preferred forms of transportation around here: an electric golf cart. Cheaper to use than a car, and legal on most of the roads within The Villages. Where there's a busy road that the carts aren't allowed on there will also be a parallelling trail for carts, cyclists and pedestrians. The cart in the picture??? It's what I drove to Starbucks this morning!

The Bike...

9:40 PM -- The picture was taken while the tandem was still in the case. It took a couple of hours to put together, then a shower... out to dinner and then a run to the store for groceries and we find ourselves back at the house surfing the available channels on the TV.

Tomorrow we'll get up and take a ride to a local bike shop as I'm having a slight problem with the front brake. It's nothing too serious, and something that a bike mechanic will wonder why I couldn't figure the answer on my own. I guess that's why I'm not a bike mechanic... sigh.

The Eagle Has Landed...

3:38 PM -- We've arrived at The Village and are now driving around to get a feel for where everything is.

Am I Dead?

9:00 AM -- Am I dead, or are the vultures just hanging around the neighborhood in case I might decide to expire while I'm here? There were four of them making a mess of someone's trash, but two of them flew away before I could take the picture.

They tend to like to perch on the top of lamp posts or rooftops, and with their backs facing the sun they spread their wings like a feathered solar collector to warm up in the early morning.

There's a Starbucks about a mile down the road from here, and her Majesty the Valerie sent me to fetch her morning coffee. It was about a quarter to nine in the morning and when I stepped out of the air conditioned car into the warm, humid morning air... My glasses fogged up! We must be in Florida...

End of the Day...

8:00 PM -- We were met at the airport and whisked away to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where the portion size seems to be a little above the normal limits of the average man.

After that it was off to the Home Depot to replace two of the fours casters that came off of the tandem case somewhere between Boise and Tampa. The airline (of course) takes no responsibility for damage to the wheeled parts of luggage. Yet they're more than happy to extract $300 from you for something a little oversized and overweight.

Whining aside, we're now "home" for the night. Tomorrow we'll look into what UPS will charge to ship the bike back to Idaho... We're hoping to find a cheaper alternative to the airline's fees. I don't know if one exists but it's certainly worth checking into.

On to Tampa...

10:28 AM -- We've just boarded a 757 and will be taxiing for take off in a little over 10 minutes. Rich had a "Sunrise Sandwich" at Wolfgang Puck's Express, and Valerie is dining on some cinnamon pretzels from "Auntie Annie's Pretzel Perfect". This flight was a little late getting boarded and the crew is now trying to rush everybody through the plane so they can hit the runway.

The photo was taken looking out from our gate toward the main terminal in Denver.

11:10 AM -- Still on the ground. One of the food service carts couldn't get unlocked from its docking station, so maintenance brought out a replacement. In the mean time the crew got the cart fixed, but procedures required that the cart be swapped out with the replacement anyway. Wow, but I'm starting to really love United!

11:57 AM -- Must have dozed off right after take off as I notice the guy next to me has a drink. Wonder if I'm out of luck or if I'll get a second chance at liquid?

2:20 PM -- advance the time ahead 2 hours as we're now on Eastern time AND we've just landed in Tampa and are taxiing toward the terminal.

While in Denver...

What to do once we land in Denver, before getting on the next plane to Tampa? Why, I believe I hear breakfast calling my name! You'd think that they could at least feed us a stale bagel on the plane, especially after the horendous baggage charges!

The photo is simply us glued to our seats, unable to get up at the moment due to turbulence.

On Our Way

Boise, ID -- sitting on the plane, 6:48 AM.

This trip is not starting out well. Road construction delayed us getting to the airport, and checking the bags in was an expensive proposition! The bike's case was "oversize" and "overweight", which cost us just under $300 -- one way! The tandem is going to cost us more than our tickets did!

Florida in October...

Greetings to those who actually have enough spare time on their hands to follow this nonsense. This little flurry of writing activity will cover our latest adventure, a trip to Florida to participate in the Southern Tandem Rally. This is the first time we will have flown with our newest tandem bicycle, which breaks down into pieces and fits into its own suitcase. I'm anticipating undergoing some major surgery at the airport when United Airlines charges me extra for this case... either for the weight or the size. There's little doubt in my mind that I'll be paying through the... uh... nose... for checking this particular item.

The Southern Tandem Rally is being held in The Villages in Florida. Valerie's mother's husband (stepdad?) has a place there which he's allowing us to stay at during the rally. (He also has a home just outside of Tampa, which is where we've always stayed on our past trips...) The beauty of this is we're going to save a bundle on lodging! The downside? United airlines will suck up all of those savings (and then some) through the fees they charge on checked baggage, and whatever the bike runs us.

Here's a little sidenote: Southwest Airlines apparently still allows you to check a couple of bags before the fees start to tear into your budget, and their oversize and overweight fees appear to be half that of United Airlines. So if I'm gong to be travelling with more than just a carry-on bag, guess which airline I'll be checking with first?

I'm going to try something different when it comes to posting to the blog this time around; I'm going to do all of my posts via e-mail through my Blackberry. So the photos probably won't be as good, and the posts might not be as wordy as some folks would like -- it's a lot harder to type on a tiny keyboard using your thumbnails than it is on a full sized keyboard!

I haven't decided whether I'm going to take my laptop with me or not, but I don't think I'll need it this time around. Have Blackberry, will travel!