Saturday May 5, 2007 I did a nice medium length walk with Pete and Steve.  It was a perfect day to be outside.  Sky was clear and the temperature was in the low 60s.  Not sure how we decided to do a walk instead of a bike ride, but that is what we did.  I think we have been walking so much lately and enjoying the walks it is the first thing that came to mind this day. 

I drove my PT over to Pete and Steve’s neighbor hood and pick those guys up.  We parked in a small lot near Paint Creek Trail (PCT) off Dutton Road.  We got the last spot in this small lot.  We walked south on the trail all the way to the library in Rochester.  We weren’t the only ones itching to get outside, we passed quite a few other people on the trail walking, jogging and riding bikes.  Pete was still coughing and feeling tired.  It turns out that Pete has bad allegories and not a lingering cold as he originally suspected.  Pete has had this nasty cough and overall crummy feeling for quite a few weeks now.  I’m glad he has finally found a doctor to properly diagnose his problem.  Pete told us he is on medication for his allergies including steroids and starting to feel better.  Steve commented that he thought Pete’s head looked bigger than normal, a side effect of steroids in athletes.  I wasn’t sure, but after Steve pointed it out it did look like Pete’s head was getting bigger.  I guess having to buy a few new larger hats is a small price to pay for getting his allergies under control.  I took a picture of Pete’s head to document its size compared to before the steroids, see the pictures below.      

After we walked by the library we also went past the Royal Park Hotel and came up the back way of the parking lot of the Rochester Mills Brewery.  There were a bunch of people out in the parking lot of the Brewery.  As we got closer it looked like some kind of common gathering of people with home beer brewing equipment.  We talked to some of the people and it was a local home beer making club out trying to get some attention for their hobby.  Immediately Pete’s eyes lit up when he thought he was going to be getting some free beer. 

It didn’t take long for Pete to be disappointed as no one seemed willing to share any beer.  Nothing personal, but it was kind of a strange crowd of people.  You would think if they were trying to promote their hobby they would be happy to hand out a few free samples, but no such luck.  We walked from group to group asking questions and looking curious, but no one offered any beer.  Finally, Pete got tired of the subtle approach and just started flat out asking if he could try some beer.  All he got was a bunch of lame excuses and not one taste of beer.  Needless to say we didn’t end up hanging around this unfriendly group for long. 

Our next stop was a short distance away.  We could see the farmers market was in full swing in another parking lot.  We headed over to the farmers market to check it out.  There were a lot of booths selling flowers and miscellaneous other items including cheese, vegetables and eggs.  One booth had ripe red tomatoes.  They had free samples at the tomato booth, at least they did until Steve walked up and proceeded to eat all the free samples.  Steve loves tomatoes and he eats them like they are going out of style.  As Steve was consuming all the free samples he started a conversation with a guy working at the tomato stand.  He asked the guy where they got the ripe tomatoes this time of year.  The tomato guy told us they were locally grown in a hydroponic greenhouse, meaning they were produced by using a technology for growing plants in nutrient solutions not plant in dirt like you would typically assume.    

I was curious how these tomatoes tasted, but because someone had eaten all the free samples there weren’t any left for me to try.  I asked Steve how they tasted and he said outstanding.  Steve started joking with the guy accusing him of buying tomatoes from Kroger for his samples.  The guy had a good sense of humor and he played along with Steve asking him not to give away his secrets.  Steve finally ended up buying a very large single tomato and I bought one as well.  Steve asked the guy if he had any salt to go so he could eat his tomato as we continued our walk.  The guy brought out a canister of special kosher salt and he dumped a bunch in the bag holding the tomato Steve had just purchased.  Steve thanked the guy and we were on our way.  Steve proceeded to eat that entire large, and I mean large, tomato as we walked along.  Steve would take a bite and tomato juice would drip down his face with each bite.  Then Steve would dip the freshly bit area into the bag for more salt before taking his next big messy bite.  It was an amazing sight to see, with all that tomato juice splashing all over.  I’ve never seen anyone eat a huge tomato so fast and so sloppy.  I think he really enjoyed his snack.  I noticed Pete was keeping his distance from Steve as the fresh tomato juice was flying.  Must be Pete was trying to avoid the second hand juice. 

After we left the market we officially started our return trip back to the car.  We were close to Rochester Road so we headed north on this road.  We stopped at a BP gas station on the corner of Rochester and Walton.  Pete wanted a bottle of water and I think we all took this opportunity to use the rest room.  Next we cut over to the trail and went north past Tienken to the next major cross street Dutton.  Once back to the car I dropped both Pete and Steve off at their respective houses before I headed home.  Overall another great day for a very fun walk.
David Lindquist