The Animal Day

Monday October 13, 2014

Happy Columbus Day!   Another solo ride was on the schedule and as usual I took the girls for their morning walk before I left.   As I was turning the corner of the road that followed one of the man made lakes I saw it.  What you ask?  It was an alligator swimming across the lake.  Holy crap!  It was the first one that I saw anywhere since I have moved here.  Of course I don't looking for them but they seem to find you.  Luckily I was on a street a bit far from this lake and scurried on home like a scared cat with my two girls in tow.  I quickly texted my neighbor and asked what I should do....Report it??  My neighbor graciously offered to call the town center to report and found out that they don't remove alligators....only if they are aggressive and eat your dog.  Wow....it's not a problem until they eat your dog!

Whew....they were safe so I was on my way.  When I ride solo my usual warmup is two laps around the development on the circle road.  Each lap is 4.3 miles.  As I rounded the first corner going west an armadillo scooted out in front of me.  First live one I have seen.   Jeff Lippincott should be on this ride...it's the animal ride.

It was a humid day so I ended up going toward one of the malls, Coconut Point, and stopped at Panera's for a bathroom break and to fill my water bottle.  As I was sitting there, a Shih Tzu named Lucas came by with his owner and sat at the next table.  What a cutie and so well behaved.  

When the female owner returned ( I never did get her name but I know she was shared her time between here and Chicago) we chatted a bit.  I found out that Lucas was a frequent traveler on planes.  Because of his pushed in nose they denied him boarding on a flight one time.  Be careful said the owner.  If you ever take your dog on a plane don't tell them that there is any Shih Tzu in them.  Because of the pushed in nose ( something called bronchia something??) they can deny your dog boarding.  

I learned something today about pet travel on planes and I saw some pretty interesting animals from a distance....a distance I welcomed.   This ride was 40 miles and I suffered the last five miles back as I was facing a stiff 20 mph east wind.   The house was a welcome site to the end of this ride.