Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2011: 8

  Thursday, March 3, Bill paddled back to Rock Creek and landed at around 2:00 PM. Bill's report can be found here. Bill was happy to enjoy a meal at home and a bed for the night.

  Friday, Bill was anxious to enjoy a run, so he ran for 13.1 miles in 2:02. He felt very good about it. After lunch, Cathy went to a tutoring session with Elda. Bill went to Best Buy to try to buy Cathy a mp3 player and speakers for her exercise class. Bill discovered how expensive the iPods were and decided on a better course of action. He went to an AT&T store on Tamiami Trail and upgraded his iPhone to the 4. After he picked up Cathy, they went to Best Buy to buy speakers for Bill's old iPhone, now Cathy's "iPod". Cathy thought Bill might have had ulterior motives, but she was wrong.

  Saturday, Bill rode his bike for 56 miles. We went to Sushi Thai II for a great sushi meal.

  Sunday was a day with threatening T-storms, so Bill took the day off from exercise. Bill received an email which sounded promising. He replied that he was willing to attend the championship, if selected. We went to Lely Palms to a surprise birthday party for our old neighbor, Jerry Hale. It was a nice gathering.

  Monday, March 7, Bill ran for 13.1 miles in 2:03. Cathy ran Fran's exercise class for the first time and used the iPhone and speakers for music to accompany the class. We picked up Greg and Carol and drove to Marbella Lakes for a wonderful dinner at Tom and Jean's house there.

  Tuesday, Bill rode 56 miles on his bike. He met with Primo in the afternoon.

  Wednesday, Cathy ran what is now her exercise class. We picked up our neighbor Judd Brodie and drove him to Everglades City for lunch at the Rod and Gun Club. The food was ordinary and the service was poor, but the ambiance was excellent. Afterward, we drove to Turner River Road to look and the alligators and other wildlife. When we got home it was time to get organized and head over to our computing workshop. We had a very small crowd due to missing a week and the fact that it was Ash Wednesday.

  Thursday, Bill had a "dress rehearsal" duathlon practice. He set up his hydration cell and speedometer on his bike and got two bottles ready for his fuel belt. There was a front due to come through, so Bill got started with the 5K run at 7:55 AM. He only got 16.4 miles in on the bike before a wicked storm front hit. Since Bill had to meet with Primo in the afternoon at 4:00 PM, he decided to scrub the rest of the bike riding and finally got out to run 10 miles in a light rain at 1:07 PM. He ran the last mile in 8:33. Bill felt that it was a successful last heavy training session before the race in Sarasota on March 20. We went with Tom and Jean Reilly to dinner at Sue and Jack's. We had a good dinner and lively conversation.

  Friday morning, Bill brought his bike to Naples Cyclery for a tune-up. The service guy he talked with was named Oscar, who was worried about the tension in the bottom bracket of the bike. He scheduled the tune-up for Wednesday morning. Bill bought gloves and a back light for the bike while he was there. When Bill got home, he emailed Dave Moses and asked about the bottom bracket. We packed our stuff for the weekend and ate an early lunch. We drove over to Sue and Jack's condo at 12:30 PM and moved our things to their car. We drove to Delray Beach via I75 and I95. While we were on the road, Dave Moses called Bill and explained that his bottom bracket should fell stiff when not under a load. We arrived at the Marriott Residence Inn at about 3:00 PM and were in our rooms by 3:30 PM. Bill and Cathy were on the 7th floor with a beautiful ocean view. We went out with Jack and Sue and walked to a waterside bar called Deck 84. Bill walked to Starbucks. A New England friend, Claire, picked us up to drive to Dick and Jill Schofield's condo a few blocks away from our hotel. We drove in 2 cars to Renzo's restaurant for some great Italian food. Bill had a wonderful pasta and chick pea dish with tomato sauce that was fabulous. Jack, Sue, and Cathy went to a bar in the regular Marriott Hotel after dinner. Bill went back to the room and set up streaming NetFlix on his iPhone. He watched an episode of "24" after catching some basketball action on ESPN on the TV. Cathy arrived at the room around 11:00 PM.

  Saturday, Bill was up early and headed down to the free breakfast, which included some very good oatmeal. Cathy stayed in bed, deciding to meet Sue and Jack at around 9:00 AM for breakfast. Bill did some exercises and then walked to Starbucks for a cappuccino. We all got back together to walk to Dick and Jill's condo for an 11:00 AM brunch. Dick cooked and prepared a great spread for us and some other friends from New England. We all walked over to Atlantic Avenue to watch the St. Patrick's parade. It was a beautiful day and a very long parade. After the parade, we went back to the Schofield's. Then we all piled into cars and drove to Boyton Beach to eat at Two Georges waterside restaurant. The food and the ambiance were excellent. Later, Cathy, Sue, and Jack went to a bar and Bill headed back to the room. He watched the first half of "Platoon" on streaming NetFlix.

  Sunday, Daylight Savings Time kicked in. Bill ate breakfast at 7:00 AM and then went out for an easy 2 mile walk and 5K run. When Bill got back and had a shower, he and Cathy walked to Starbucks and then browsed through an art show in a park on the ICW. When we returned to the hotel, we all packed the car and drove to the Schofield's. We six walked to the Upper Room at Boston's for a lunch with an ocean view. We enjoyed sandwiches for lunch. Then we drove to a wildlife refuge with a boardwalk over a wetland. There were lots of birds and animals to see. We left for Naples at close to 5:00 PM and arrived back at the Glades at 7:04 PM. Bill and Cathy headed to Carrabbas for dinner, where they sat at the bar.

        Bill and Cathy