Sunday

We took Toby in the golf cart to downtown this morning after our initial neighborhood walk. We are learning the backstreet shortcuts and the official crossings of state roads. We made it to Main Street around 11:00 a.m.

We parked at the Dunedin Smokehouse and walked down to the marina.

We spotted this sign in the marina park, commemorating the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote and honoring Elizabeth Skinner for her organizational efforts and leadership.

The morning was overcast and a bit chilly (74 degrees).

Toby enjoyed the ride and the new parks to explore. He's now hopping up on the seat without treats.

We thought of Jeff as we walked past the kids and their small sailboats.

We took Toby home for a nap and took the cart down to Stirling for a quick walk on the Pinellas Trail to Curlew and back. We're learning how to drive the dang thing. It's not easy. Acceleration is difficult to modulate. The smoothest way to take off is to floor it, we've found. Otherwise, the driver ends up yo-yoing the passenger. It's easier to ease off the accelerator than to ease on. Now we understand why we see golf carts moving so fast. Secondly, braking is best done by coasting, sort of like one-foot driving in an electric car. The brake is not really for braking. It's for coming to a complete stop once the driver lets the cart come to a near complete stop on its on. That means the driver has to let up on the accelerator long before wanting to stop. The electric motor will slow the cart down quickly on its on. John has learned how to do this. I’m still overshooting the place I want to stop.

We passed this raccoon squirrel, who showed no fear. They are large compared to the regular ones, very beautiful.

More bird of Paradise blooms from the plant in our front yard.

After lunch we took the cart to Highlander Park to walk Toby.

The skies cleared and the temperature warmed up to 76 degrees.

Ducklings getting to enjoy the pond at the community center.

We walked by the splash park and watched the human ducklings splashing in the water.

Remnants from the Highland games?

I'm proud of Toby for making such rapid progress with the golf cart. He's sitting up and looking and smiling. Just a little bit of whining every now and then, but I think it's mostly from excitement.

After dinner, we took the cart to Stirling Park for Toby to walk. Before we left home, we practiced his commands in the front yard. Then we practiced again at the park. Tomorrow is his final exam for advanced training. We haven’t practiced this week as much as we planned to. We’ll practice some more tomorrow. And we know he’s not ready for his Canine Good Citizenship test, which includes all the things we have to do tomorrow. We’ll be taking the class again until he’s ready.

Tired doggie 

Miles walked: 9.5

Miles biked: 0