Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2011: 12

  Monday, April 4, Bill's calf was sore, but in a different spot from usual. He thought that he did something to it while pulling his kayak in on Sunday. Cathy went to her exercise class. Bill went out on his bike for a 20 mile ride. He pushed the pace for some mile intervals occasionally and felt that he got good results:

Afterward, Bill went out for a 2 mile walk and then 6 repeats of 1/4 mile run, 1/4 mile walk. His calf hurt a bit, but nothing major. Cathy went to a noon class at her gym. Bill ate a later lunch. He received a surprise gift of a book from Paula Martel, a kayaker from Las Vegas who used to be the Poconos "Snow Bunny." We went out for our maiden voyage on our new Wilderness Systems tandem kayak. We went for 5 mles on a hot, sunny afternoon. The south wind was strong, but felt good in the heat. We were out for an hour and 41 minutes. Later, we discovered that we were left out of a neighborhood party two doors down from us. We had an early dinner of pasta and a frozen meal and then went to country line dancing. On the way back, Bill had to thread himself through the party and was a bit disturbed that nobody said "hello." Too bad some people have to be petty. We watched the NCAA basketball title game until it became clear that UConn would win.

  Tuesday was unsettled as a weather front came through. Cathy went to the gym. Bill did his crossword puzzles and some stretching and crunches. The weather prevented any other activities. Cathy talked with some neighbors and felt better about the apparent snub on Monday night. We drove to Home Depot to get a couple of dowels and some carpet tape. Then we went to Starbucks/Publix for coffee/shopping. Cathy ate an early lunch and went to another class at the gym. Bill worked on building a sunscreen curtain for our front Florida Room window out of the dowels, tape, and a big tablecloth. We will need the curtain at dinnertime when the "Sisters" arrive for their visit. Bill drove to LVCC for his tutoring session. Primo spent the entire hour telling a story about a quest for "magic mushrooms" undertaken by him and two buddies last year when he was visiting his mother near Oaxaca. He drove far up into the mountains to visit a village known for the mushrooms and their mysticism. Primo also talked about the book, "Journey to Ixtlan". Later, Bill was able to find a more recent book by the same author and to bring it to his iPhone via Kindle. We had grilled burgers for dinner. Bill used portabello mushrooms as a substitute for burger rolls and was pleased with the result. We viewed "TRON: Legacy" - Bill loved it. Cathy watched some of it and tolerated it.

  Wednesday started at a cool 60 degrees, but rose to the mid-90s later. The humidity was a bit lower all day. Cathy did her morning classes. Bill stretched and did crunches and then rode his bike for a hard 20 miles @ 18 mph. It was very windy: After the bike ride, Bill went out for a 2 mile walk and 6 repeats of 1/4 mile run, 1/4 mile walk. After lunch we went to Starbucks/Publix. We had quiche for dinner as we viewed a fluffy, but humorous action movie, "Knight and Day", with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, both looking good.

  Thursday was sunny and hot. Bill went out early for a 4:45 hour, 16.4 mile paddle out to the Gulf and up to Naples Fishing Pier. He trolled a gold jig on the Gulf to no avail. The south wind kicked up as soon as Bill turned around at the fishing pier. He had to beat his way back to Gordon Pass. Meanwhile, Cathy made preparations for the sisters to visit and then went to the gym for a class. After lunch, Bill went to Starbucks/Publix. At 3:30 PM, he walked to LVCC for a tutoring session with Primo. The sisters, Joan, JoAnn, and Shannon, arrived around 8:00 PM. We had a wonderful oven-baked cod dinner and talked until 11:30 PM.

  Friday, we did some touring of Naples.. Bill picked up his Philharmonic 10K packet and we all toured the museum. Then we went to the Water Shops for lunch at the Silver Spoon. We took the 2:00 PM cruise on the Double Sunshine. By then, everyone was ready to call it a day. For dinner we went to Vergina on 5th Avenue.

  Saturday morning, Bill went out for an early 5K training run. We all went to the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day and the gardens looked great. We ate lunch at home. Rock Creeker Karen came over to look at Shannon's jewelry. Bill and Joan went to the Water Shops. Joan tried on a $65,000 diamond ring that Bill liked at the DeBeers store. They also went to Starbucks. We had a great grilled swordfish dinner in the evening.

  Sunday, Bill volunteered as a road marshall for the Philharmonic 10K. Shannon's friend Charlie came down from Ft. Myers. Joan decided to chill out for the day. The rest of us drove to Everglades City for lunch at Camelia Grill. We also visited Smallwood's Store in Chokoloskee. We made a short stop at Stan's in Goodland and then at Turner River Road. Charlie had to head home. The rest of us enjoyed a take-out sushi dinner.

        Bill and Cathy