Thursday

We walked Toby in the neighborhood and then headed to the causeway on our bikes to walk. The city workers have rebuilt the monument on the corner of the causeway (Curlew) and Bayshore. It was destroyed from an automobile accident a few months ago, completely leveled. I think they might still need to restore the lights and landscaping.

It was 82 degrees at 9:15 when we began our walk, and the breeze was blowing at 3 mph from the east, which means we were walking with the breeze at first. It felt like zero breeze. I could tell I wouldn't be able to do the usual walk. I told John at the bath house. We stuck our heads under the outdoor shower and rested for a few minutes and then headed back. The 3 mph breeze slowed to 2, but at least it was in our face. We biked to Publix to pick up some fruit, OJ, cottage cheese, and a PubSub for lunch. Before lunch, we walked in the shade in our neighborhood to make up for the truncated causeway walk. We had our usual chicken salad sandwich and fruit bowl for dinner.

Our mailbox plant has really grown.

We took Toby to Highlander Park after lunch in the go cart and rode around afterwards.

I biked to the outdoor gym at Weaver Park after we waked Toby and exercised. It was very hot, but a good workout. The high today was 89 degrees. 

Thunderstorms swirled around Dunedin, but they kept going by without dropping any rain.

We walked Toby around Lake Saundra after dinner. Then I came home and raked leaves, getting ready for Mas Fina lawn care tomorrow.

We finished watching "The House of Flowers" on Netflix this afternoon. Happy endings for all the living characters.

Miles walked: 8.7

Miles biked: 10.99

June walked: 9.3 miles per day (279 total for the month)

June biked: 9.31 miles per day (279.23 total for the month)

Year-to-date walking: 10.4 miles per day

Year-to-date biking: 5.4 miles per day

Wednesday

We had a low-key day. The high temperature was 90 degrees, so we stayed inside more than we usually do. We did take Toby to Lake Saundra to walk after lunch.

The clouds today were spectacular.

We walked Toby early this morning and then rode our bikes to the causeway to walk. We got there before 9:00. It was already 81 degrees with a light breeze of 6 mph.

The air was clear. We could easily see the Clearwater causeway bridge and high rises downtown and on the beach.

There were lots of kayakers out again today. We took our first shower of the day after our morning walk. We were both drenched in sweat.

I picked a couple of avocados from our tree to see if they will ripen in a few days. If not, I picked them too early. 

Toby and John relaxing.

John cooked some chicken in the crockpot and made some rice. 

We watched most of season 3 of "The House of Flowers" on Netflix. It kept us entertained and inside. We have two more episodes left. We're hoping for happy endings for all, after all the drama.

After our last walk of the day, I took another shower. It was 87 degrees, heat index 93 degrees.

Miles walked: 9.8

Miles biked: 5.16

Tuesday

 

We walked Toby and rode our bikes to the causeway to walk. It was 81 degrees with a 9 mph breeze, and some cloud cover. It was a pretty easy walk, not like the ones during the heat wave.

There were lots of kayakers out today.

And a paddle boarder.

I had three bottles of water in an hour and a half.

We had very pretty skies today.

We rode downtown on the Pinellas Trail after lunch.

I stopped at the outdoor gym at Weaver Park to exercise. John rode on home to tend to Toby.

The high was 89 degrees.

I had two bottles of water in an hour.

Lunch bowl: peaches, cantaloupe, strawberries, red grapes, apples, blueberries, vanilla Greek yogurt, cottage cheese. Chicken salad sandwich.

Miles walked: 8.1

Miles biked: 16.61

Monday

Toby decided to sit in the back seat facing backwards on the ride home from pet training this afternoon. Weird, right? Fortunately, he did great in training today. We were both relieved. Our trainer thinks he might have some bulldog in him, and she says that might be why he's stubborn sometimes. She's going to send us a coupon to check his DNA to figure out what breeds make up who he is. She said it helped her to better understand her own mixed breed dog.

Toby's a goof pot, for sure.

In this exercise above, we had to walk past another dog without the dogs touching or lunging at one another. Toby was perfect. The other two dogs, not so much.

We always struggle to balance exercise and fatigue, getting Toby ready for training. I think we achieved it today. We walked him in the neighborhood, fetched with him early in the day, and walked him at Highland Park. He got two long naps and one short one. Then one short walk before training to pee pee.

There was good cloud cover today.

We made it to our favorite Highlander Park sidewalk twice today. This evening, the temperature was still in the upper 80s, but for some reason, here in the shade with the breeze, it felt more like 75.

We lost power at about 4:30 this morning when a tree fell the next street over. Sleepless, we got up with the sun and took Toby for a walk, hoping the power would be on when we got back. No such luck. So we hopped on our bikes (exiting out the side door) and headed to Dunkin Donuts for coffee. By the time we got back home, the power was back on, so we put Toby in his crate again and headed for the causeway to walk, at our usual time: 9:30.

We spotted this kayaker above with a sail rig attached. That looks like it could be fun.

The temperature this morning on our walk was 77 degrees with a 7 mph breeze. The high was 89. Thunderstorms are predicted for later this evening. It was a normal summer day, without a heat advisory.

Yesterday, at the outdoor gym, a cute, thirty-something guy was watching me do dips on the parallel bars. When I finished, he complimented me on my form. I said, thanks. Then he said: "You never see old-timers doing a full dip." Ouch! Gotta laugh.

Our dermatologist sent us both a text saying that our biopsies came back benign for skin cancer. My black eye is better, too.

After our last walk of the day, we put the trash out on the street. Then I raked some leaves and put those bins out on the street. The avocados look almost ready to start sampling. We've learned that avocados from the same tree will become ready to pick at different times each year, and even different times on different trees in the same year. They never ripen on the tree, but only after picked. The way to tell if they are ready is to pick one or two and let them ripen on the counter for a few days. If they get soft, they were ready to pick. If they stay rock solid, they weren't ready. I reset the clocks and the sprinkler system after the power outage. When we drove off at 2:30 to go to Petsmart, the sprinklers had just come on, which is weird since they are programed to come on at 8:00 am. Then we remembered the power outage.

Miles walked: 10.0

Miles biked: 9.97

Sunday

This afternoon, John rode his bike to Weaver Park at the end of my workout. Together we rode to Dollar General to get Fourth of July decorations for the go cart. John did the decorating.

We took the decorated cart for a spin to see if everything stayed on the cart.

We ended up at Highlander Park, so Toby got a walk.

We left the house on bike to go get our Chinese takeout at the Causeway Plaza. The skies were threatening, but the future radar led us to believe that things were moving south, away from us. 

It looked iffy all the way, and the moment we got in the restaurant, the bottom fell out. We lingered for a while hoping it would blow over quickly and we could ride home and eat, but after a period of time, it became apparent that we were stuck. So we got plastic forks and napkins and dined inside the restaurant. Then we waited some more. Finally, we headed back home in a light sprinkle. By the time we got back on the Pinellas Trail, it was mostly over, and we had a drama-free ride home. It wasn't the plan for dinner, but we improvised.

We were able to walk Toby one last time without getting rained on. The next nine days, except for Tuesday, look pretty much the same: late afternoon thunderstorms.

Toby practiced his downs and getting in his crate. I brought out the sardines again. He had a good day. He roamed free in the house while we were cornered at the Causeway Plaza. He found John's new tube of toothpaste and punctured it. I don't think he got much in his mouth. It probably didn't taste very good.

Today's bike routes to the causeway, Publix, Weaver Park, Dollar General, New Bamboo

Miles walked: 10.7

Miles biked: 18.01

 

Saturday

Last night's rain kept the temperature down, so this morning's walk on the causeway was a pleasant 75 degrees with a 10 mph breeze. There was a good bit of cloud cover, too. We counted 25 kayakers in this group picture.

We got to walk the new walkway/bikeway into Honeymoon Island State Park. They are still working on the expanded ticket booth entrance, but it looks like they are getting close. I expect they'll be ready for the July 4th weekend.

We did a lot of walking today. The high temperature was 86 degrees, so we were able to walk Toby in the neighborhood because of the breeze and cloud cover. 

We opened up the sardines and worked with Toby on his downs and getting into the crate on his own. Once he understood that sardines were his reward, he would do anything. So we alternated between no treats and sardines. We forgot our treats on his last walk of the day, but he did great without them.

This is my favorite screenshot from Wednesday's daycare. Toby crawled up next to his buddy to relax.

The scab fell off my eye today. The bruise looks awful, but it doesn't hurt. It will just take time to go away. It's creepy looking!

We watched more episodes of "The House of Flowers" on Netflix. It's fast paced and very complicated. Lots of crazy drama like a soap opera. 

We got invited to a pool party/cookout on July 4th.

Miles walked: 13.3

Miles biked: 10.83