Kind of a lazy day --- weather was still cold and it rained/drizzled almost all morning and then again in the evening. We got a lot of stuff done -- replaced most of the grungy old electrical outlets and now they are a pristine white. A plumber came and replaced the faucets in the kitchen and both bathrooms. The kitchen faucet was the worst -- it had a chronic drip that could only be stopped if the faucet was in the exact right place. The bathroom faucets were just old and dated. Little by little...

Did a longish ride today up the Pinellas Trail to St. Pete with Steve and Larry. We rode around Snell Island and gawked at the million dollar homes, then stopped for lunch. Kind of overcast and colder. It's in the 40s back home -- I think next year we will push this back to February.

Steve and I decided to drive up to Wesley Chapel to do a popular gravel ride. To beat the Tampa traffic, we were on the road by 5:30. We parked at the Wesley Chapel District Park - a huge and beautiful facility - and headed out. The "gravel" roads are more like packed sand with some clay; parts had some deepish sand that was hard to slog through. The clay was slick in the shady spots.

The route went through Dade City. Maybe it was the area we went through, but it seemed seriously sketchy and unsafe, and we opted to not stop at the gas station. We have been warned about not a lot of these towns --- you don't leave your bike outside if you stop but take it in the bathroom with you! It's hard to imagine having to be so paranoid and untrusting all the time.

My favorite part was stopping in at the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve. We explored one of the roads for about 10 miles and then had to head out. I think we will return and maybe do a ride just in the swamp.