G: So
Wednesday was probably mostly just hanging around my parents house. I
think that was the day Grant and I went and bought tennis rackets and
played tennis in the court a block from my parent's house. It was
Grant's first time playing tennis (unless he played in high school P.E.
like I did and forgot about it) but he plays racquetball so he did
well. But we'd only hit the ball around for about 10 minutes when a
couple of high school kids walked up with their rackets. There is only
one court so Grant asked if they wanted to join us. So Grant and I took
a side an we just tried to hit the ball around, but they were both
really bad. The guy had never played before and he ran around like a
maniac, but he was pretty athletic and got a little better over the
time we were there. The girl had no idea what to do and pretty much
just stood in one place, and never backed up to try to get behind the
ball (the guy ran around trying to get most of the balls that should
have been hers i f she moved). She'd swing randomly if the ball came
right at her. She hit it about 3 times in the hour we played. Anyway.
It was still fun.
Grant and I went jogging the next day in between all the eating and
watching TV. We haven't managed to play tennis again, but he's been
running everyday and I went once more. Still, I've gained around 5 lbs.
since I got here. Way too many cookies.
I've made smoothies for everyone every day I've been here. But I missed
one day when I went to visit Russell in Tampa. After smoothie on Friday
I drove over there. We had a lot of fun. We had lunch at Russell's
favorite restaurant, Trang's, a Vietnamese place. Then we went to a
marine rehabilitation center - Clearwater Marine Aquarium - and
saw dolphins, sea turtles, river otters, and rays. There was a little
dolphin show/presentation. And you get to pet the rays. They also had
some saltwater aquariums and other smaller sea life. It was really cool.
Then we went to Clearwater Beach to watch the sunset, but I missed it
when I found a trampoline ride. The thing with poles with bungee cords
attached to a harness, and you jump really high and do flips. So I did
that. Then we walked the pier filled with craft vendors and didn't buy
anything.
From there we went to a vegetarian restaurant - Grassroots Organic
Vegetarian - which was slow and pricey but the food was good and
healthful. Then we went out to see a singer, who was very interesting
and goofy, and who had lots of fans there, but somehow we didn't get
really drawn in and ended up playing games in the back. It made me want
to add some games to my collection - Blink, Last Minute, and, just
because Russell talked about it and reminded me about it - You Must Be
An Idiot!
Since I stayed so late I spent the night, and in the morning we took
Shelly's yoga class at a new, beautiful yoga studio. Another yoga
teacher brought me some yoga pants to wear, and then she let me keep
them! It was a great class.
Then more touristy stuff. Russell and I went to a health food store -
Rolling Oats in St. Petersburg - with a really nice cafe. We had a huge
lunch then drove over the
Sunshine
Skyway Bridge (The new bridge - the old one was partially knocked
down when the
M/V
Summit Venture struck it one night...) on our way to Big Bend power
plant and
manatee
sanctuary. There was a large deck over the water and there were a
lot of people there but even more manatees. We estimated there were
probably a hundred there, since we could see about 65 just floating
there and some moved around, diving and such. Most were a little in the
distance but some were almost right under the deck and we were very
close. There were babies too. So cute! And large spotted rays and small
sharks and other large fish. Occasionally some kind of fish would jump
out of the water and roll around several times in the air before
hitting the water again.
We spent about an hour there and then we played a game back at
Russell's place before I left for my parent's house again. There was a
Seminole Indian Hard Rock Casino on the edge of town, and I planned on
stopping by to see what they offered, in case Grant (or someday, John,
when he comes here) would want to play in some Hold'em games. Also to
lose $5 in the slots. I stopped for gas right next to it, drove in the
entrance, tried to find a way to the parking lot I saw on my left (and
not the garage I saw on my right, since I saw a gate and didn't want to
pay for parking), didn't find a way in before I was dumped back onto
the highway going toward home, so I cursed them and skipped it.