I went to bed with a plan - the wind is coming from the southwest so if the weather channel showed no lightning for Wednesday, I'd head to Honeymoon Island and do a downwinder to Tarpon. I set my alarm for 6:45.

The early morning weather showed rolling thunderstorms all day. Bob was taking Jeanie and Katrina to the new Dali museum in St. Petersburg and they invited me along.

I have to tell you, when they first asked me I declined because I thought they were saying the "Dolly" museum. Made sense since Katrina's 8 and has a closet-full of dolls.

When we arrived I could tell I'd missed a primo paddling opportunity. The wind was huge! Still, the museum was really good and worth the trip and it was another successful day. The Indy had been in St. Pete's the weekend before so we had to park down near the water and take a shuttle to the museum. The museum was packed. Since its also march break down here, there were lots of school kids and a ton of tours going through.

The collection is very good - the estate of a couple from this area who were dedicated to collecting the works of Dali. And the building itself is unique.

After checking things out and a quick, spanish-influenced lunch at the cafe, we walked back into St. Petersburg.

What a beautiful waterfront! Katrina wanted to check out a couple of trees we had seen from the shuttle so we went in search of them. In our wandering, we found a frozen yogurt shop and a couple of interesting shops. I bought some items that might be gifts for other people, might be gifts for me! In one shop, the lady wanted the name of the jewelry I was wearing. I gave her the Stella & Dot website and she told me to expect to see it in her shop next year. That's the 2nd time in as many days that someone has asked for info on where I got those pieces.

Well, I'm back to living in Crazy Town. After a great dinner at Hiro's last night (good sushi if you're in the area), Jeanie and Bob got into a raging fight after I went to bed. Even the dog was freaking out, barking while they yelled at each other. I have no idea what it was about (the night before it was because she'd found a text he'd sent to one of the paddlers who had tipped at the race, saying that she looked hot when she was wet). At some point, Bob must have pocket dialed me. My cell rang and I could hear the first few words of the fight before I hung up and put my earplugs in.
This morning I woke up around 5:45am and didn't even try to get back to sleep. Just went to Starbucks until it was light enough to go paddle. I put in at Anclotte River Park again. I met Pete's and then Tomi's new groups of paddlers as they came up the river. After my workout, I sat on the beach with the rest of my coffee, trying to work up the enthusiasm to go for a stand up paddle. In the end, I decided I needed some breakfast.
I had a quick shower,  jumped on my bike & rode to Danny K's for an egg sandwich. On my way home I saw a raccoon fall out of a tree (not a long drop) which was some random comedy.
I'm heading back to the beach shortly. I'll do some stand up then another oc paddle. So far, the weather is undecided - sunny, overcast, then sunny again - no rain though! Jeanie wants me to go to a Zumba class at the TS rec centre. I don't really want to - I'm actually trying to locate a yoga group that isn't borderline cult (harder than you would think) - but didn't say 100% no. God, what did I get myself into?
So my afternoon worked out exactly as planned - a little over an hour playing on the sup and then a solid workout on my oc.
One thing I learned (that the guys have known for ages) - having toys like this is a great way to meet fit guys! I met so many people just carrying the board up from the beach and tying it down on the truck. I had no less than 3 guys offer to help me put the board up on the truck.  I lay on the beach for an hour reading and then came home. Jeanie and sad-drunk guy were at the house. He was being his usual obnoxious self and I'd had just a little too much sun to deal so I jumped in the shower with a plan to head down to the sponge docks and get some dinner. Fortunately, they were gone when I got out so I poured myself a glass of wine and sat on the front porch. Jeanie's home now and she's been talking a drinking non-stop since she got back - in fact, the entire time I've been typing this, doing my banking, sending emails etc. I'm going to have to sign off because I feel like I'm being rude (actually she seems completely oblivious to the fact that no one's really listening).

First rain of the vacation. It poured for a couple of hours this morning so I drove down to Clearwater for some shopping. My intention was to go to the mall but firt I headed for Mandalay Surf shop in the north beach area. It's actually a decent surf shop considering you can't surf off Clearwater beach! I got a pair of extra tie down straps for my board, smoe O'neill shorts and a Roxy bikini for paddling. Also fot a new shirt for off the water.
When I got home, I was feeling restless so, even though the weather network said rolling thunderstorms in the county north of us I decided to go for a paddle. Instead of going off the dock across the road, I figured putting in at Anclote River Beach would be my best option. If a storm came through while I was out there, I could just paddle into the bayou within walking distance of home and get my truck later. As it happened, I was already heading back to the beach when the storm came in. Nothing like some lightning to motivate you to work harder. I put into the beach just as the front edge of the storm hit. What a relief to be off the water. I had to sit in the car for a bit and wait for the wind to die down so I could load my boat. I took the opportunity to top up the oil too. Not cool to spill it on the driveway where I'm staying.  I was just lucky to be able to fit my workout into that window because it's poured rained with thunder and lightning ever since.
I'm taking Jeanie and Bob out for sushi tonight. They've been so amazing - feeding me non-stop meals of salmon, steak and eggs benedict while I've been here - time for some payback. Considering my lack of passion for cooking, this was the best option.
You can look at updated photo albums using that link I posted a few posts ago.

I can't believe 2 weeks has gone by already. I'm having a great time and plan more of the same for the next 2 weeks.
It looks like it's going to rain for the next couple of days so...shopping! The Countryside Mall is close by and I scoped out a couple of surf shops in Clearwater.
Yesterday I jumped into a race with Peter's group. It was fun - 20 miles in relays. We won by 20 seconds. Afterwards we hung out at Jeanie's, she grilled up some salmon, we had a few drinks (a lot of drinks), then headed to the Zone. We danced a ton.
I'll probably wait until I'm home to go through my photos and fill in the blanks in my blog.

Friday was a beach day at Honeymoon Island. I woke up around 8 so had a Starbucks and then headed over there. This time I parked on the causeway, right near the entrance of the park and dropped my boat in there. (Later I wished I'd parked in the beach lot so I'd have access to my board but Derek had two boards there and I was able to check out the Bark Expedition in the surf.)
While I was lying on the beach, I saw a pod of outriggers in the channel. It was Peter & Tamas with the campers. They seemd to be doing a workout so I stayed on the beach reading until I saw them turn back. I paddled out so I could take a few photos of them paddling. As I approached, Pete made some negative comment about my technique, " I knew it was you because of this", mimicking clown-paddling so I paddled over to talk to Tomi and Steph who were out in singles. Steph looks amazing - 5 months pregnant! We all headed into the beach - there were some decent bumps to ride.
We had lunch at the Honeymoon Cafe. They were actually setting up for a wedding - how fun would that be, getting married at your local beach? After our burgers we went went back to the beach for tanning and playing. Tamas went out on the Ex-P first. That surfer background is everything in SUP. He was so natural at it. As soon as he was done, I grabbed it. Even though it's supposed to be more stable, a beginner board, I wasn't as comfortable on it as I am on my Competitor. I paddled into the waves and turned. A wave broke at my side and I bailed. Since I hadn't done the leash up tight enough it slipped off my ankle but I'd already grabbed on at the board end. I fixed it back onto my ankle but when I pulled myself up on the board, my bikini bottoms slipped down. I wrestled them back up and then climbed back on the board.
I tried to catch a wave but just wasn't able to get up to speed. Frustrated, I wanted to just pitch the paddle and use my arms but the board is far too wide. I turned and went back out again, paddled to the channel marker and turned back again. This time I came closer to catching a wave but that counts for nothing. I rode the wash back in - about 250m up the beach from where I wanted to be. The waves were breaking really close together so I figured it would be easier to walk it back than float it. I might have been wrong about that. After me, Theresa from the camp took a turn. She was a natural and caught a really good ride on one wave. She attributes it to being a windsurfer and skiier but I wish I'd had the facility to catch a wave on it. Hopefully there'll be waves the next time I'm there.
I got back to the house and showered. Bob and Dan took the pontoon boat out to drop the buoy for tomorrow's race and Jeanie and I planned to meet them at Miss Vicki's. Jeanie got hung up cutting hair at the Boat Yard so I met the guys and she showed up later. We had some pitchers and then went to meet Peter and the campers at Pappas.
Here's the thing about a Greek town with a bunch of restaurants...which Pappas restaurant did they mean? The first one we went to, everyone referred to the real Pappas, now called the Riverside, a great place to watch the sunset. In order to get to the rooftop, you have to go through a hall. We were kind of concerned that there seemed to be a wedding going on but we decided it was actually a rehersal.
It didn't take long to figure out we were at the wrong restaurant. The group was at the "Original Pappas" which apparently used to be called something else. Carl and the Tarpon Springs Outrigger Club were also there. It was nice to see Clem, who used to come to Peter's camp, now paddling with TSOC.
With two big groups in there it was difficult to get service. A group of us went up to the bar and were able to get food and drinks in a reasonable amount of time. Some of the group were going on to another bar but I bailed and went home. Jeanie wasn't far behind me so we sat on the porch with a bottle of wine, looking at the bayou.

Saturday was beach day. My car is still in the garage - waiting for the replacement wheel hub to be delivered - so we threw my stand up board on Bob's truck and went to Howard Park Beach. Bob paddled my single over along with Stan, Maria, Karen and Gord.
I gave Katrina some lessons on the board - she's a natural - and the oc group showed up within the hour. Everyone took a turn on the sup and then I paddled my boat back.
When we got back, we grabbed a bunch of sandwiches at Muzzies and took some beer over to Gord's house.
After a nap, we packed up some chairs and snacks, hoodies and blankets and headed to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset and tonight's beach movie - Pink Floyd's The Wall. Triple header because we also got  a primo view of the "super moon". Everyone's so excited because it's the closest the moon has been to the earth in 18 years. The tide is so low. I've never seen it this low but that doesn't mean much. However, the locals say it's the lowest they've seen it. Gord kept making jokes that this is how it looks just before the tsunami rolls in. Click here to see my pics from this vacation.
Katrina got her face painted and a sparkly glow-torch. We drank some wine, ate some popcorn and the snacks we'd brought along. The movie was a fundraiser for the parks and recreation. They sold cardboard bricks for a dollar and you could stack them to build The Wall. They planned to smash down the wall later but due to the R rating, Bob decided it was too much for Katrina about halfway through so we headed home. It was a realy good time. I can't believe I haven't been going to the movie nights in PC's memorial park. I will now though!

Noon saturday, went for an 8km paddle. People are starting to arrive but no Peter yet. I was texting with Derek along the way - we were about 2 hours apart. It makes the misery of the drive less - chatting with someone also on the road - why CB radios were invented, I guess.
I had stopped in Bridgeport, West Virginia and Jacksonville along the way. High winds and rain all the way to Erie, high winds and snow all the way to North Carolina. High winds and sunshine right to the Florida border.
D B paddlers here are all drama. Pete got caught in the wind corridor and the trailer flipped. There were a couple of tractor trailers that went over in the same patch. Anyway, what a bunch of drama queens. They're freaking out about how they'll do the first practice, not once asking, if Peter was okay. Apparently Attila grabbed Doug's truck and Peter's small trailer and drove down to get him and the boat remains. Every thing was in pieces because the wind flipped the trailer, then caught it and drove it into the guard rail. paddles are matchsticks. btw, Pete's okay. They got everything back to T.O. and daddio says he will work his magic. Pete was able to round up more boats and headed south again only to spend a bunch of hours in Ohio waiting for the wind to die down.

I'm in my usual vaykay town and I am staying in Crazy Town! Cougar Town without the fabulous fashion and great decor. I met Bob who lives here and he's sort of hot. then I met Jeannie, who owns the house. Poor-man's Courtney Cox. Bob & Jeannie are similar to Karen and Kevin without the bitter/ Both talk a lot - over each other and each expects your undevided attention. Then I met Aleck, drunk, sad, divorce guy. He seems to be a permanent fixture, although they say he's living with his mom after wife left him for a 70 year old man a couple houses over.. There's so much wine drinking going on. I can't wait to fill you all in on the drama.

Waiting for my brother to call me back. The nursing home called that they're taking my dad to the hospital. I guess this is the new, NEW normal.
There's a cat at the skylight. It just sits there until it sees me. He bangs his head against the window and then smooths itself along the glass they way it would around your legs. It's not meowing or anything, just trying to get in the house. It's actually kind of unsettling.  I went outside and tried to lure it down from the roof but it just came to the edge, peered at me, then, with tail straight in the air, ran back up to the window.