Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2009: 11

  Monday, March 30, was sunny, warm, with less humidity. We started with a walk/run where Bill ran 5K. Afterward, we drove down Shadowlawn Road to take a look at a community on Haldeman Creek that Bill had seen from his kayak the past week. We also stopped at a bait shop so Bill could get some shrimp for fishing. After lunch, Bill went on a 4 hour, 12 mile fishing paddle to Dollar Bay. He explored a creek which leads to a beach on Keewaydin Island. Bill spotted a Magnificent Frigate Bird over the mangroves on the ICW. He saw lots of fish jumping, but only managed to catch a single catfish. On the way back, Bill sprinted for 5.6 miles because he was afraid of being late getting back. He took a quick shower and we had an early dinner. We enjoyed the season's last session of country line dancing in the clubhouse. We viewed the first part of "Little Dorrit" on Masterpiece Theater.

  Tuesday was a hot and humid day. We took a morning walk along the airport path. Cathy went to a surprise luncheon for our ex-neighbors Doug and Mary at Olive Garden. Bill worked on income taxes. Around mid-afternoon, we drove to Starbucks and Publix for some shopping. After dinner, Cathy went to bridge at the clubhouse. Bill completed the taxes and e-filed our personal federal income tax return. The business tax returns and the personal NJ taxes might need to be printed and mailed. Bill viewed "2001" while working on the taxes. After that, he viewed "Superbad."

  Wednesday was hot, humid, and very breezy. We went for a walk/run where Bill ran for 5K. Afterward, Bill spent a couple of hours installing Vista SP1 on the laptop and installing the latest update from Zone Alarm. After lunch, Bill headed out for a 10 mile kayak paddle. The south wind was very strong on Naples Bay, so Bill stuck to the east shore of the bay and went up Haldeman Creek to get some photos of Naples Land Yacht Harbor from the water. He tried some fishing back in some sheltered areas of Haldeman Creek, but no luck. Bill returned at around 5:00 PM. We drove into downtown to eat dinner at Cafe Luna on 5th Avenue. We had the $29 special plus a bottle of Peligrino for Bill. It was a beautiful evening for dining outdoors. When we got back, we viewed "24" and "Lost" on DVR.

  Thursday was another hot, humid day. Cathy started the day with some loads of laundry. Meanwhile, Bill arranged for us to take a last-minute cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We felt that we were getting a good deal with a balcony cabin for a total of $1252, including insurance. We really liked the itinerary. The ship, MSC Orchestra, is a European liner, so the experience will be different from our previous cruises. The cruise departs from Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, April 18 and is of seven nights' duration. Cathy called Knights Key Inn and canceled our reservation for April 24. We decided to keep our reservations at Wicker House in Key West for April 25 and 26. Bill started to have problems with his SmartFTP software and had to resort to DOS prompt ftp. After lunch, Cathy went to play bridge at poolside. Bill went for a 2 hour fishing paddle on a very windy Gordon River. Afterward, we walked downtown to Starbucks and stopped at Oakes Farm for some shopping on the way back. We grilled chicken and eggplant for dinner.

  Friday morning, Cathy went to her exercise class. Bill worked on a few computer problems. We took a 3.7 mile walk on the airport path. After lunch, we went out shopping for some clothing for Bill (sports jacket, slacks, tie), a garment bag, and a duffle bag, all for our upcoming cruise. We also went to Office Max to get some printing done for the cruise and for taxes. We also faxed an order to the cruise line for wine and water bottles for the cruise. We finished with a trip to Starbucks and Publix. A weather front came through, delaying Bill's shower. We finally went out to dinner at Carrabbas at around 7:45 PM.

  Saturday, after breakfast, we walked to Cambier Park for a 5K Aids walk and 5K run. There were about 200 people there and a couple of organizations, ICAN and PFLAG, which impressed us with their missions and accomplishments. We registered at 9:00 AM for the walk and run and then walked over to Starbucks for a cappuccino for Bill. When we returned to Cambier Park, we bought bracelets from both ICAN and PFLAG. At 10:00 AM, the walk and run began. The route, on city streets, was completely unprotected and merely had signs for each of the turns. There were just a few runners and Bill was in second place the entire way. He ran the 3.3 mile route (bigger than a 5K) in 32:27 for an average pace of 9:50 minutes/mile. Just when we started to walk and run, the blazing sun came out from under the clouds and persisted the rest of the day. Counting all of our walking and running, we covered 11.5 miles by the time we got back to the RV. Bill made a serious error by not drinking enough fluids before, during, and after the event and he really suffered the rest of the day and night. He had stomach and intestinal cramps, but still wasn't smart enough to drink a lot of fluids. Bill lay on the bed, visiting the bathroom often. He ate a couple of crackers for dinner. We watched the NCAA basketball games until the Villanova/UNC game was out of reach. It was a long night, during which Bill finally realized that he should drink some glasses of water.

  Sunday, Bill still felt out of sorts. He spent a good part of the morning drinking glasses of water. He ate toast for breakfast with about an ounce of coffee. His caffeine withdrawal caused a headache which lasted all day. Cathy went out for a walk. After lunch, we went to Office Max to print the NJ Computing Doc tax return. Then we shopped a Publix. It was a very hot and humid afternoon, so we ran the air conditioning and Bill took a short nap. Bill ate a light dinner. We viewed Bill Maher during dinner. Later, we viewed a very dark and strange movie, "Savage Grace." The worst thing is that it is a true story.

        Bill and Cathy