www.Betsy and Terry.fun

August 10-12, 2007 The Pinellas Trail

Saturday
We camped at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County on the Gulf Coast. This beautiful campground was quite deceiving. We all thought that we would be treated to a nice breeze here on the Gulf of Mexico. However, the night air was stifling and those without a fan were subjected to intolerable heat and inability to sleep........ Everyone had an electric fan for night #2 and it made a world of difference. The ants were unbelievable, we are all still trying to eradicate the ants from our vehicles, they attacked and have multiplied daily in every crevice. Whose idea was it to camp and ride bicycles in Florida in August? Hmmmm.....No one is fessing up!

Our view of the Gulf bay.

Our site, before the rain took down our tarp

We drove to Dunedin and rode north to Tarpon Springs, the northernmost town on the Pinellas Trail. This Greek sponge-harvesting village offers a delightful variety of shopping, dining, and sightseeing opportunities.

We stopped for a snack, and a few festive beverages after the first half of our ride. The Margaritas and Sangria fortified us for the return trip.

Harry and Clyde provided a distraction along the way.

After riding 22 miles we packed up our bikes and drove to Tom and Michelle's in Seminole, took a dip in the pool and headed for Clearwater Beach and a yummy dinner.

Great music!Lee and Julie, Tom and Michelle, Pam and Vince, Betsy and Terry

Dolphins in the Gulf!

We enjoyed great food, wonderful company, and a beautiful sunset~!Sunday

We were up early, fixing breakfast, breaking camp, and getting ready for our second day of riding.....As we aired up our tires, Terry's rear tire popped. That slowed us down a bit, but he was able to find a tube at the local Walmart. We drove to Seminole to begin our ride through Largo and Clearwater north to Dunedin. I was very happy to have more air in my tires today. I finally understand how you get better mileage on properly inflated tires! I worked half as hard and rode twice as fast today. I will take charge of the air in my tires from here on out, no more leaving the bike maintenance to the "expert" cyclists!

While the rest of the gang met Tom and Michelle and found a great restaurant for lunch,
Terry and I continued on another 2 miles and back so we could complete the trail to the point we stopped on Saturday.

We were ready for a cool drink and some great food!
Kelly's ChickaBoom! What a fun restaurant!
Lee thought they were SHARING the grouper sandwich!

Our photographers sported some interesting t-shirts!
We tried to take a detour to the Martini Bar.....
but we had 10 more miles to ride and then the long drive home.

Terry and I kept riding past the 11 mile marker, 3 miles south of our starting point.

We have to come back to ride the final 11 miles some day soon!
We rode over 55 miles during these two days.

Another beautiful sunset on the Gulf coast.