Florida vacation December 2016

The only place worth spending a warm vacation at this time of the year in the USA is Florida. Coming back here after so many years revealed that this state now is not only a favorite spot for retirees, but also for entire families who would rather sweat it out in the burgeoning theme parks than shiver in their snowy home states.

For this blogger and his missus, revisiting Florida was for only one urgent reason - to see long missed family. These kin migrated en masse from the southern Philippines about 2 decades ago and chose this sunshine state for very obvious reasons. Not seeing them for that length of time created a void in the heart that needed to be filled and the only way to do it was to hop in a plane across the pacific.

The first stop was in Valencia, Sta. Clarita, California for a night with Daphne - Jo Ann's niece. This was our first time to meet her husband and kids.

The temperature was 16C/60F in LA

The next stopover was Chicago and the temperature

was -13C/7F with the whole city blanketed in snow.

Finally Tampa, Florida (26C/78F) and these love-ones where

already at the airport waiting for us. Mervyn (in shorts) is

Jo Ann's first degree cousin. Beside him is Ronnie his wife, and

the 2 ladies are Jo Ann's nieces - Asset and Momo.

lunch with the welcome committee at an asian

resto in Clearwater. 

Dinner was with cousins Dr. Alfred & Momo Martin

and daughter Celine at BJ's resto and brewhouse.

Brunch the next day was hosted by cousins 
Eddie and Baby at the Olive Garden, who drove all 
the way from Zephyrhills to see us. Orlando is the 
next stop of the day...

...for a spin in the Orlando eye...

 ...a pose with the greatest...

...deep freeze at a Swiss alpine village at Gaylord resort...

...and a stroll in the Disney Springs resort...

the night at Orlando was spent at Harold D'Big

and Cecile's house.

a reunion potluck is next at Clearwater

...and the next day Noah rides to 

Fort de Sotto...

...for some fishing at the pier...

...with cousin Blas Dabucol. The next day

is a drive to Avon Park...

...for lunch at cousin Pelvina's house (we

stayed with her in this same house in our 

first visit)...

...and a back-to-the-past game of

pingpong with best friend Gershon at his

home in Sebring.

dinner that evening was hosted by cousins

Blas and Mary Ann Dabucol at the Golden Corral...

...and then a stroll at the Clearwater marina.

deep-sea fishing is next at clearwater...

...where Noah gets a chance to ride a

different kind of ark.

...that night was outdoor dining at Main street

Dunedin with gorgeous niece - kleng.

the next day Noah had to burn the fat

that was slowly building up in his belly

by riding the Clearwater - Tampa loop.

Finally, after 8 days in sunny Florida, it is goodbye to the family that was host for our vacation. The guy at the right is Howard D'Tiny who took a long break from his work to be with us throughout

our entire stay. His dad - Mervyn D'Ben and mom - Geronima D'Ronnie, and brothers Hardin D'Londong and Harold D'Big untiringly took us to

all the places mentioned above. Their home in Dunedin was our comfortable base and we felt loved and pampered throughout our stay.

Thank you guys for a wonderful time. May God keep you happy all the days of your life.

Maricopa Adventure

Maricopa - a ghost town with real live residents located some 40 miles/64km from the Bakersfield center. You get to it by passing hills upon hills of oil wells, wheat and cotton fields and huge plantations of pistachios and oranges and more.

One lazy morning Noah got on his wobbly bike to take a look at this sleepy town, and chanced upon a nice story.

A sign at the threshold of the "city" declares

the number of residents who mainly work in the

oil fields and plantations surrounding the "city."

(Noah had to repeat the word because of its absurdity)

That is main street Maricopa touting shuttered

business establishments that knew better days.

the owners are now either in another town or

are ghosts like their "city." (there's the

word again.)

The only shop that throbs with activity in

 the whole of town - Tina's Diner. It is life

for the retired residents and workhands in the

neighboring fields.

The interior: paintings of the walls included a sea,

islands, coconut trees, a nice cone-shaped mountain

beside a thatched hut... guess. You're right -

Philippines!!

Fatima or Tina came to America 45 years ago as a busty sumthin year-old penpal bride. She left behind Liloan, Cebu and 11 siblings of "ASPO" parents (her own description). She wouldnt let Noah take her photo even if she was so elated and animated to have a certified "Bisdak" in the house.

She survived two deceased husbands and... "i'm working on the third one" was her matter-of-fact declaration.

She's owner, chef, waitress, dishwasher, etc and she was all over the place. She knew all her clients by name and she had a full house by the time noah left.

That's Noah's order upon Tina's insistence and

prodding. She said that he needed a lot of protein

since he was pedaling for 7 hours. Noah could

only hold his breath until she reappeared with a 

heaping platter...

...which had omelette of cheese, bacon, ham,

ground beef, pickles, onions, tomatoes plus 

everything under the sun plus rice, a slice

of cantelope, toast and strawberry jam

and bottomless coffee enough to feed an

island family of four.

After cleaning up his plate Noah reached for his money, but Tina wouldn't accept a single cent. She said that having a fellow Cebuano

around was very remote and the occasion called for free food. As Noah exited from the resto which was now filling up with lunch clients, she shouted above the din - "pagayo-ayo, amping sa imong byahe, salamat sa pagbisita!" (no doubt she was savoring the crispiness of her native dialect on her lips).

God bless you Tina and may your third husband treat you well.

On the way home Noah nursed a full and bulging 

tummy while passing this facility. Its presence

in the locality will attest to the remoteness

of Maricopa.

Cycling in sunny Florida

Florida is one state where cycling is given top priority. You will find bike trails that stretch for miles and miles and the city streets have well marked bike lanes. There is also less road congestion and traffic flow is relatively slower compared to California.

Even before Noah got to Florida, Howard D' Tiny already informed him that there were 4 bikes in his backyard shed. On inspection Noah noted them to be mountain bikes, which means that cycling on flat paved roads could be slower and more strenuous. A test ride was necessary to determine whether Noah would have to rent a road bike for his rides. 

Here are the stats for the test ride.

Noah found the full suspension GT bike tolerable due to the very little play in the shocks from disuse, so he decided that this would be the bike... at least he could save on 35$/day for the rental of a road bike.

The next ride netted 70km/43mi. It took him through the beautiful beaches of Madeira, Redington, Clearwater and Dunedin.

The third ride netted 72km/44mi. This ride started at Dunedin and ended at the Fort De Sotto beach at the mouth of the Tampa bay. Noah loaded the bike on Londong's pickup truck for the trip back home.

The fourth ride netted 53km/33mi. This ride went through route 580 to Tampa and back through the route 60 or the Campbell Courtney Causeway.

Thank you Howard D' Tiny and the state of Florida for giving Noah the chance to ride 200km/130mi and enjoy his short stay with you.