Largo

This is the last night on the road for a little while. My flight home for Christmas leaves tomorrow afternoon, and returns on the 30th. The past few days have been absolutely wonderful. Today was no exception, even though we had some last minute things to figure out. We decided to rent a storage unit for our bikes and gear instead of use a warm shower host. We both return around midnight on the 30th. We wanted to be able to get our bikes early enough to ride on the 31st but still get plenty of sleep. It was difficult to plan when we also had to consider the schedule of a WS host. We found a storage unit that fit our needs nicely. It had to be cheap close to the airport and close to a motel. The Life Storage units in Largo FL. Were perfect. A 4x4x8 unit was $29 dollars. It was a bit tight to get two bikes and 8 panniers in but we managed.

Yesterday was zero day in Dunedin. After a late breakfast we rode our bikes to Honeymoon Island. After riding around the Island a while we took a ferry to Caledesi Island.

Both Honeymoon Island and Caledesi Island are state parks. They are beautiful. It was a very cloudy day, but warm. On Caledesi Island we rented a tandem kayak. I have never been in a tandem kayak before and it soon became a very wet and sandy experience. I think we may of done better had we not been laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

The beach was literally covered with sea shells. I have never seen so many. In places they were so thick it seemed a shame to walk as they were crunching under our feet. I would of liked to of taken a picture but my phone was drying from its most recent dunking. I always put it in a ziplock but I guess I didn’t zip it closed all the way and the baggie was half full of water. Somehow the phone still works though. With cheeks sore from laughing, a pocket full of shells and one water logged phone, we caught the next to last ferry back to the mainland as the sun started coming out from behind the clouds.

It was a short ferry ride, only 20 minutes or so but it was beautiful. We saw an osprey catch a fish and we watched dolphins play in the waves. After leaving the ferry we got our bikes and rode back to the motel. Dinner was Tacos from a little sidewalk Cafe. They were good but not nearly big enough. We both appreciate a big meal at the end of the day. This was a rest day but I guess my appetite didn’t get the memo. Maybe kayaking swimming and getting pummeled by waves isn’t really a rest day. Regardless I was still hungry and we walked to a store for some yogurt and Oreos. Walking back I wished that the Oreos would turn into my aunts home made snickerdoodles. Today had been so magical I thought it just might happen. No such luck! The oreos remained oreos.

The ride into Dunedin on Monday was terrific. We rode 56 miles and it was well after dark when we finally made it to a motel. But we were on trails all day. One section that we were not looking forward to was around a 8 mile road ride near dusk. Just around that time we met Jeff. Jeff was out on a day ride breaking in his new bike. It was an awesome bike. Belt drive and internally geared. He knew the area well and rode about 15 miles with us. He knew all the trails and we where able to avoid the road ride completely

On the Suncoast trail we came across a gopher turtle that was very upset. It’s burrow was on the other side of the fence and it couldn’t get home. I carried the turtle a few yards to where there was enough slack in the chainlink for Rose to hold it up so that the turtle could fit under. Once on the other side he went straight down his burrow and disappeared without so much as a thank you.

Some of the trail was through the Starke wilderness. It was a favorite section of mine. We also shared the same path as the Florida Trail for several miles. I had hiked the FT in 2016.

Today’s ride was pretty short. The Pinnelas trail was beautiful and took us downtown Dunedin. It was a great section to just go slow and enjoy the day. There was a coffee shop every half mile it seemed. We did not stop though until we saw band playing near the trail. When I saw the fiddle and mandolin we had to stop and listen.

It just so happened that where we stopped was in front of a place selling gelato. I’ve often heard of it but never tried it. I got a salted carmel affogato. It was a scoop of Gelato with a shot of espresso on top. It was very good but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. I think my struggle with the pronunciation of affagato and gelato raised my expectations a little too high. It was a very exotic and exiting way to say ice cream with coffee poured on it though.