Wednesday

Mom and Dad’s last meal with us in Dunedin before their return to North Carolina. We met them at the Victoria Condos and then walked down to the marina and ate at Old Bay Seafood Cafe.

Their month-long stay went by in a hurry.

The temperature was 84 degrees and mostly cloudy with a light breeze. Perfect for dining outside.

The food was perfect. Mom got shrimp tacos, Dad got a seafood medley, and John and I got mahi-mahi wraps. All of the fish was pan seared.

Great setting at the Dunedin harbor

The walk back to the condos was nice. It rained from 9:30 until 3:00 this afternoon. The puddles on Victoria were still standing.

Mom met me at the gym for a quick workout before dinner.

One of the piers along Victoria Drive 

Toby got bored during the thunderstorms today and built himself a fort.

Thursday, Mom, Dad, and I head to North Carolina where I will work on clearing out as much of our belongings from their house as I can. The pandemic altered my moving out plans, so it’s now time to get back to work.

Amtrak brings me back Saturday night.

Today’s bike route to Weaver Park 

Miles walked: 7

Miles biked: 5.67

 

Tuesday

 

John and I rode our bikes out to Honeymoon Island this morning after walking Toby in the neighborhood. Then we rode our bikes downtown to the Victoria Condos and drove with Mom and Dad over to Douglas to have lunch at the Sandpiper Restaurant. John and I had delicious turkey, Gouda cheese, and mango chutney sandwiches. Mom had an egg and cheese croissant, and Dad had scrambled eggs, toast, and sausage.

I came home and napped for two hours while John watched over Toby. Toby was crazy all afternoon but finally settled down.

Today’s bike routes to Honeymoon Island and the Victoria Condos 

Miles walked: 5

Miles biked: 17.57

Monday

John and I walked Toby and then rode our bikes to the causeway and walked to Honeymoon Island Park entrance and back. I headed to the outdoor gym at Weaver Park after lunch and then went to Mom and Dad’s condo for a swim.

Mom and Dad had lunch in Tarpon Springs and then checked out a community in Palm Harbor called Highlander Lakes, recommended by an open house realtor. They really liked the community and the houses. The downside is that it’s on the east of US 19, isolated from all the places they would want to go to and twenty minutes away with lots of traffic. On the plus side, the community has lots of great amenities.

Dad enjoyed the pool, sporting his new haircut.

Working it!

Toby chewed through his leash that was accidentally left in his car crate (my bad!). It was our favorite leash that we got 20 years ago for Dexter. Time to move on. Our next leash is going to have a padded handle.

John did a great job of handling Toby by himself while I was away; it’s a lot of work! We are looking forward to his classes coming up in August.

Miles walked: 9.1

Miles biked: 11.31

Sunday

Another picture of last night’s sunset on Honeymoon Island 

We walked Toby a couple of times this morning and then John and I walked to Hammock Park. 

We came upon this turtle nesting area on the way back. I’ve seen these on the beach for sea turtles but never on the mainland.

We had a huge lunch when we got home. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing and doing a few chores. 

We had Chinese takeout for dinner (egg foo young).

Mom and Dad went to church. In the afternoon, Dad read while Mom went out touring an open house and lounging by the pool.

Miles walked: 8.8

Miles biked: 0

 

Saturday

 

After our Toby walk, we rode our bikes down to the Victoria Condos and walked with Mom and Dad south through the neighborhoods paralleling the Pinellas Trail. We made it to Florida Avenue and then turned east to catch the trail back to downtown and on to Victoria, almost 3 miles round trip.

The temperature was in the low 80s.

Downtown was lively with live music, a street fair, bikers, shoppers, and walkers.

Lunch was the usual turkey and cheese with a scrumptious fruit and veggie bowl: peaches, broccoli, peach yogurt, cherry tomatoes, cantaloupe, beets, red grapes, cottage cheese, and blueberries.

Toby continues to improve with positive reinforcement.

Mom and Dad headed to Frenchy’s for dinner while John and I fixed a breakfast dinner at home.

After dinner, I picked up Mom and Dad and we headed for Honeymoon Island to walk and watch the sunset.

It was a nice way to end the day.

Miles walked: 7.9

Miles biked: 6.2

Friday

We rode our bikes out to Honeymoon Island this morning and got to walk on the new sand, briefly, before realizing that the workers were not quite ready.

This line in the sand, so to speak, marks the new erosion line. The waves keep on coming and taking away a little bit of sand each time.

This is the northern end of the project. They’ve built a sand dune and planted grasses to hold the sand in place. Of course, that just keeps the parking lot run off from taking the sand to the gulf. Instead, the water collects in the parking lot. Maybe they have a plan for that?

The new beach is very wide. All of this sand is new.

It was a beautiful day, partly cloudy, high 80s with a 9 mph breeze.

I met Mom at the gym this afternoon.

We got Juan’s takeout and Mom and Dad fixed a meal in their condominium. John and I split a burrito and a “bowl,” which is essentially a burrito without the tortilla wrapping.

Toby had a good day. We’ve been rewarding him when he’s being good instead of waiting to chase him when he steels our things and acts out. So far, I think it’s working. He’s been calm all afternoon.

I give him a treat when he’s like this and say “good settle.” Of course the difficulty level goes way up when there are distractions. That’s why his crowded Saturday classes will be perfect.

Today’s bike routes to Honeymoon Island and Weaver Park 

Miles walked: 5.2

Miles biked: 18.03

Thursday

We walked Toby this morning and then rode our bikes downtown to the Victoria Condos. We left our bikes there and joined Mom and Dad for a walk south on Victoria, past the Dunedin Marina, and along Hubbard and Edgewater Parks towards Clearwater. 

The temperature was 81 and so was the humidity. There was pretty good cloud cover and a light breeze.

The views were awesome.

We turned at Florida Avenue and headed east to the Pinellas Trail and then turned north towards downtown.

Florida Avenue is a first rate neighborhood. This house on the corner had amazing flowers everywhere.

The views were nice and the train station pit stop was handy once we got back to downtown.

I got a good picture of oranges for inspiration.

Mom and Dad at the downtown fountain.

We headed back to the Victoria Condos and rode our bikes to Publix to pick up a few items.

After lunch, we headed to Petsmart to enroll Toby in school. We met his teacher and she got to size him up. She said it’s normal for puppies his age to go crazy with company in the house. She said it had nothing to do with Covid isolation. She taught us several things while signing up that will begin to help him change. I also learned that late afternoon is when dogs get bored and hyperactive. 

Bottom line: he’s a normal puppy moving through his developmental stages, and there are some things we can learn to help him.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the hamburger special at the Dunedin Golf Club Clubhouse, while John and I had Chinese takeout. (Picture courtesy of Dad)

Today’s been a good day for Toby.

Today’s bike route to the Victoria Condos and Publix 

The Red Tide lingers so we avoided the causeway and beaches.

Miles walked: 7

Miles biked: 7.29