Pinellas Bike trip to Gulf, Lost Wallet, and more Disney planning

April 27 Saturday, 2013   


It’s starting to get hot here now. The temperatures are just shy of 90 during the day and 68 at night. We went to the pool yesterday and the water temperature was 89, not very refreshing.  We are moving into Florida’s wet season now.  This is the weather I remember from the last time we were at Disney World in, we think, 2002.  It would be a beautiful sunny day and then in the afternoon all hell breaks loose for an hour.  Then the weather goes right back to the way it was, bright and sunny.  We are hoping it is not too hot at the end of next month when the grandkids get here.

We started the week, last weekend, still recuperating from the busy schedule when our friends were here the week before.  By Tuesday we were ready to go on another bike ride.  We took the Pinellas Bike trail that starts in Tarpon Springs just a few miles south of where we are here in Lutz.  The trail runs along the Gulf of Mexico and ends after 41 miles in Clearwater.  We rode just 7 miles to a nice restaurant at a marina and had lunch.  After lunch we headed back to our start in Tarpon Springs.

Cool how they used RR crossing signs as town limit signs on the trail.

Every few miles the trail has water fountains.

The restaurant where we had lunch.

Gulf of Mexico in the Background.  This before I knew my wallet was gone.

When I ride my bike I always put our truck keys and my wallet in the saddle bags on the back of the bike.  This trip was no different.  So when we got to the restaurant I took out the bike lock cable and my wallet.  I put my wallet on the seat of my bike until I could get the lock cable on the 2 bikes and around the rack.  Patty was helping me by pushing the bike in to the rack so I could get the lock locked.  You might have guessed by now, the wallet stayed on the bike seat while we went in to eat.  We were there about an hour when the check came. That is when I realized I had left the wallet on the bike seat.  We could see the bikes from our table when I stood up, no wallet on the seat!  I rushed out and checked the ground and again in the saddle bags, no wallet, damn!  When I got back to our table and was just deciding to go to the office to see if anybody had turned it in, a couple came up to me and asked if I had lost something.  After telling them yes, the woman pulled my wallet out of her pocket.   This couple was also biking and we had passed them on the trail.  They remembered us and our bikes so when they arrived to have lunch they saw the wallet and took it to keep it safe.  I find this absolutely amazing!  What are the chances that one, they remember us, 2 they stopped to have lunch at the same place we did.  We stayed a little while longer until they ordered and then we took the waiter aside and paid for their lunch.  We didn't let them know we were going to do this and we left before they knew we paid.

Just waiting for someone to pick it up.

This is the second time in the past 3 months I lost my wallet this way.  The first was in Davie Florida.  I was carrying groceries in both hands and needed to get my truck keys out.  I sat down the groceries and then took my wallet out of my pocket that was on top of my keys.  I put the wallet on the back of the truck and left it there as I drove down the road.  The wallet stayed on the truck for over 3 miles!  I turned around and went back to look for it just a little further down the road when I realized it was gone.  A guy found it in the middle of the road and called me to return it.  I had already canceled all of the credit cards and was in the process of figuring out how to get a new South Dakota Driver’s license when the guy called.  Anyway, it just goes to show that most people are good people and I am very complacent about my wallet.

Thursday we went for another bike ride of about 9 miles.  It was time to have the oil changed in the truck and we needed to get a bank check to send in for renewal of the RV and truck registration. Patty has a bank account with PNC so we found one within 4-5 miles of the Ford dealer so we could bike there while the truck was being serviced.  It really is great that Florida has so many bike/hiking trails.  Seems you can go everywhere on these trails.  It was a nice ride as the trail was wide enough for both us to ride side by side.

We went through one of the brush fires they have here in Florida.  The smoke was blowing across the bike path near the Ford dealer.

We went out to eat at the Bonefish Grille.  The Bonefish Grille is a Florida chain.  This was our second time and the food is pretty good.  We really wanted to have King Crab legs though.  The Bonefish Grille didn't have they so we just had regular fish.  For the past 4 months Publix has had King Crab for $18/lb, which is a very good price.  We had them once down in Davie a few months ago and just now wanted them again.  We have been to 3 local Publix and none have them now.  We are now on somewhat of a mission to get King Crab.

Off and on the rest of the week we have been planning the Disney vacation with the Grandkids.  We are making a fairly detailed plan that can be modified as we need to.  The thing about Disney is that it is very big with a lot to do.  If you don’t plan you just wander around seeing things that are easy to do/see.  We didn't know this but the weekend we are there it is Gay Days at Disney from Thursday – Sunday.  We aren't too much concerned about gays but we are about the extra people creating big lines.  The good thing is that Gay Days is centered in one of the parks each day so we just need to avoid that park on that day.  Another reason for the plan.  We have made a few meal reservations months ago for the more popular restaurants so we sort of need to be in the areas where the restaurants are on the days we have reservations.  Even if our schedule goes out the window, we still can use the plan to be aware what we need to do or where we need to be.

Tomorrow we are going to the Blueberry Wine Festival in Tampa.  We are still trying to get a good deal on a dinner cruise and we want to go to the beach on Caladesi Island State Park.

Stay tuned!