Saturday 2/12/11

Today we would like to introduce the ultiimate weapon in home protection - Max, the guard dog.  He may not look too ferocious, but so far he has had Cam by the hand, foot, and pants leg!  Apparently, Max does not like other men entering his domain (no problems with women).  Fortunately, Max and Cam have managed to negotiate a truce for the remainder of the visit.

It was 40 degrees in Tampa this morning as Cam and Karen drove to breakfast with two of Karen's very good friends from her teen years.  In fact, Karen played a significant role in helping John gather the courage to ask Cheryl to go out with him in high school.  After spending this morning with him, Cam suspects that courting Cheryl was the only time John was ever shy or scared of anything in his life.  Fortunately, John persevered, Cheryl relented, and here we are celebrating 27 years of successful marriage.

After breakfast with John and Cheryl, Karen took Cam on a short driving tour of the University of Tampa campus with its beautiful towering red brick buildings and stately minarets (see photos above and below) standing guard over downtown Tampa.

Our final adventure of the day was The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg which houses the largest collection of Dali's works in the USA.  We spent several hours following the audio tour through the exhibit, walked the outdoor natural hedge labyrinth, and inspected the hurricane-proof architectural marvel that houses the museum (a brand new structure which opened last month).  We were as entertained by the photos and biography of the artist as we were by his art.

We only drove our truck 34 miles today, then Kim chauffered us the rest of the afternoon.