A Different Thursday

My day yesterday was pretty chill since my to do list was essentially done.  Elsa and I did our coffee run and 20 minute park walk which she is getting more accustomed to.  It sucks that once I go back to work it becomes much more difficult to do it.  Maybe I’ll have  to adapt and try to walk her around the backyard at night.  The park is typically busy at night which makes her more nervous.

I talked to Clay about meeting up to ride at the Greenway Thursday night.  I have never ridden there in the evening so I thought it would be fun.  Clay had gotten his new GT since I saw him last.  I also brought my XR with it’s new tire I just installed.  I got there a little early and took the XR out to get more of a feel for the new rubber which I actually really like at this point. Once Clay got there I switched over to my GT.

We had a great ride where we took the Greenway through Baker Park and then into downtown Naples.  Clay rides the area all the time so he knows back ways to get places that I had no clue about.  We snaked through traffic and pedestrians getting the double takes from people that you are used to when riding one wheeled PEVs.  Clay talked a lot about his other huge hobby, kite boarding.  He has repeatedly encouraged me to try it, which he did again last night and I have repeatedly declined.  It just doesn’t sound appealing to me, especially with how ocean water kicks off ear infections for me almost always.

We wound up at the beach, sitting on the benches and watching a complete sunset over the water, a rarity in my life. Clay let me have one of his Miller Lites he had in his backpack while we chilled out.  We then headed back.  On the way we went through the Bayfront area.  Clay suggested we could grab another beer at some outdoor bar called The Cabana.  It was packed with people, even on a Thursday night.  We again got a few questions about our boards.  There was some drunken woman that was trying to make conversation with me.  She was so drunk I could hardly make out what she was saying.  I just did a lot of smiling and head nodding.

After leaving the bar we went through this underpass.  Clay pointed out how there are footprints all over the walls and ceiling.  Evidently this is a thing.  He encouraged me to leave my own mark, which I did, removing my right shoe and leaving a mark on the wall.  Clay made his mark on the ceiling.  Clay said they have repainted this corridor three times, I guess someone thinks having it covered in shoe prints is un-Naples like.  Every time they do it, the public just foot prints it right back up, very funny.

Riding back through the Greenway later at night was a weird but cool experience.  We more or less had the entire place to ourselves.  The only noise was the sound of our boards with stillness all around.  Clay and I talked about meeting up over the weekend to go ride the abandoned golf course which he never got to do yet.  It was one of the most unique Thursday evenings I have had in a long time.  I hope to continue the trend of new experiences with new people as my future rolls out ahead of me.