12-6-15  a break in the rain so I could get out and ride my bike again!
Heard today that we've had 9" of rain in the last couple days.  Don't know if that's including the 2+ from a couple days ago.  I asked Josh how he liked that and that he should expect rain like this when we're in Oregon later this month.
This shows how much the canal/lake has risen.  The grass in the water use to be on the bank.

 Love the turret houses in the neighborhood by the lake.

 Wyndham Lake, from which I assume Wyndham Lakes subdivision got it's name.

 This muscovy duck looked like it had some mallard in it.

 back to biking.  I love the way they use 3 different plants to make this border.

Oct. 17---an old subdivision a couple miles from our apartment and a new park for me---3 Mountains!
Every since we've been coming to South Florida to visit Angie and Josh, we've driven by a subdivision off Wiles Rd. that had a covered bridge leading into it.  We finally decided to drive around in there.   In a way, it reminded me of the neighborhood Tim and FAith lived in back in St. Louis where every house was on about an acre of land.  Not something you see in newer subdivisions!  I fell in love with this neighborhood!!!

 Ok, like Tim and Faith's old neighborhood if palm trees grew there!

 so many unique houses.

 being so close to the Everglades, it has canals.

 I was surprised how many houses were for sale in here!  Just looked this one up online and it's a beautiful home inside and out!!!  2,744sq. feet for $450,000.  Built in 1972, completely renovated, and on .51 acres of land.  If only we were in the market for a house costing that much!

 another example of the variety of houses here.

 Then there are a bunch of newer looking ones, but with the same huge yards.

 part of someones yard.

 I imagine this, too, is a newer house.

 another canal

 another unique home

 another little yard

 I love the privacy many of these houses have, too.

  Close to sunset, I decided we should go check out 3 Mountains Park in Coral Springs.  Although it's funny what they consider a mountain!   Angie had told us about this park right here in Coral Springs, so I thought I'd check it out for sunset.  Has potential, but I was rushed to find a spot since we got there about 10 minutes before sunset.  I was intrigued to see a coach there and cross country students practicing running the hills.  Must be hard to find challenging cross country routes here in South Florida!  I've taken pictures at many many cross country meets in St. Louis and they were some of my favorite assignments because of their locations.  There was a course even close to where we lived that was given the nick name "Manmaker" because of the "hills" in it that would have put these "mountains to shame.

 heading up the "mountain"

 looking back down to where I came from

 some of the tiny wild flowers growing all over the hills.

 more tiny ground cover.

 looking south from the top of mountain 1.

 Heading to mountain 2.

 looking east from mountain 2

 My favorite picture---looking west from the other side of the above tree on mountain 2

 on the back side of the "mountains" I found a large canal.

 looking East along the canal

 heading back to  the car and checking out these interesting "flowers?" on a tree in the park.

Oct. 4, 2015  biking around, then hitting the pool.
Oct. and still waiting for the right time of the day to bike without the the heat of the day.  Then hitting the pool to cool off.  Wonder how long we'll be able to use the pool before it's just too cold!?
On my bike ride today, I came across this pumpkin patch.

 Most people here already think the pool is too cold---with it being about 85!!

 We also picked the kids up from the airport tonight.  Their 9 night/10 day trip has come to an end.  So has our dogsitting for now.

Biking around the neighborhood

We did bring our bicycles here and I love being able to ride all around the beautifully landscaped areas right from "home".  Back in St. Louis we use to spend 30 minutes or so driving to somewhere to ride.  Love that all I have to do here is open the garage and be on my way!

  Love the wide paved bike/walking paths.

  and all the scenic canals

  I even come across a couple golf courses on some of my rides.

 With it being summer, I usually ride near sunset when it actually feels very pleasant here.  Have seen some beautiful sunsets.

 Now to get serious about biking again!

7-4-2015  Independence Day with Fireworks at Mullin Park in Coral Springs:

 We were dog sitting again.  For the last few years Angie and Josh have been meeting up with some of Angie's college buddies and they've been taking turns "hosting" the get together.  This year they went to Washington DC.  Last year it was up by Arcadia National Park.  The year before that it was here in Coral Springs.  So Ken stayed at the house and tried to keep the pups calm while all the fireworks were going on.  I went to the local display and played around with my camera to take fireworks photos.  
Looking towards the Art Museum before the fireworks started. 

 I lucked out with my parking spot.  I paid $3 to park and was directed to the front row with no obstructions to the fireworks other than a rope to keep people back.  So I sat there and watched them.  As soon as it was over, I was able to be one of the first to drive out.  A lot of people walked, so it took awhile to get to the main road, but I still made it back to the house in about 30 minutes.

 It was a fabulous show!

Our Apartment---

Our daughter, Angie, and son-in-law, Josh, have lived in South Florida for about 3 years now.  I love the sun, palm trees, sand, ocean, ... .  So I have been coming down to visit as often as possible and whining that we should move down here.  Finally, Ken agreed to rent a 1 bedroom townhouse for a year, about 2 miles from Angie and Josh, and see how we like it.

Our humble little abode---complete with garage for our bikes, the washer and drier, and even a car.

Angie even agreed to furnish and decorate the townhouse for us so we didn't have to move any of our old furniture here.  They hit estate sales, thrift stores, and Craigslist and turned our apartment into our own little resort condo!  Hard to believe she was able to do it all for about $1400! And they had it all set up by the time we arrived in June.  She got the beautiful solid wood entertainment center for $90.  New leather chair for $99 and white wicker chairs for dirt cheap, which she reupholstered. Assorted decorator items also from estate sales and Home Goods for cheap!   And they've "loaned" us one of their extra tvs.

The $50 thrift store couch, side table and lamp.

 Tommy Bahama style dining room set for $100.  Artwork, too

 Patio set and plant.

 Here's our entrance.  The garage is to the left.  The rest of our townhouse is up the stairs.  I'm doing a lot more stairs now then ever before!  But I like that our stairs are within our townhouse.

 Ikea desk, 2 estate sale chairs, and their old guest king mattress.  Plus a set of  thrift store lamps for the matching thrift store wicker 2 drawer night stands.  We did bring my desktop computer with us.

Eventually I moved some pictures around so we have something on that wall

 The bathroom

 From the hallway outside the bedroom

 The kitchen

 Ken going out the front door and steps to the dining room, bedroom and bathroom.  There's even a half wall pantry dividing the dining room and kitchen

My pool!

So we left our 4 bedroom house with full basement and are now living in a 1 bedroom condo.  It does have some perks---like it's easy to clean and we have our own private pool (almost)!  Now we just have to keep from cluttering up our apartment like we did to our house over the last 45 years!