A Bike Ride Along the Beach
Today was pretty busy this morning as Ty and Fred and I went to a couple of tile and stone places to pick out floor tile and granite for the countertops. We also stopped to look at some plumbing fixtures for the bathroom. Today, though, we found out how long the cabinets would take to get from Home Depot. Given that I wanted to have the renovations done when Frank and Joe came down in February, Ty and I agreed that we would be expecting too much to assume that this would happen, and the last thing I wanted was to have an unliveable condo when Frank and Joe were here. So, reluctantly, we put off actually starting construction until after their visit at the end of February, next year. We got the paperwork in place to order the cabinets; I will be coming down in January next year and will order them then. Even if they arrive before they are needed (probably next May), we could put them in storage.
Delaying the start of construction until next year also meant that I did not have to try to empty out the condo either on this visit or when I come down in January, thus making things a lot less hectic. I can postpone picking out appliances until then as well. Ty and I have looked at the construction schedule, and we estimate that with a starting date of March 1, it should take between 90 and 100 days to complete the project. That would mean the condo would be ready to reoccupy sometime in July or August.
(NOTE:
I am writing this narrative in 2008, and can report to you that not only was the renovation NOT completed by August, due to one thing after another it was not finally completed until February, 2006!)
So with the decision made to hold off on the project until next year, things could be done much more leisurely. I did not have to use any more of our vacation time for these mundane matters, and Fred and I could relax for the rest of the trip and also not have to worry that anything would screw up Frank and Joe's visit next year.
We came back to the condo in mid-morning, and then went out for a bike ride. Today, we will head up to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea since we know there are a number of restaurants there and we can find something for lunch by the beach. It is a little over two miles from the condo to the beach along Las Olas, and then about five miles up the beach highway to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea (which is actually where Commercial Avenue meets the beach). Our ride was a leisurely one; I took my camera, but have so many pictures of the route that I didn't see the need to take any more.
We got to our destination about one-thirty and sat down for a late lunch at a restaurant on the corner of Commercial and the beachfront road. We had sandwiches and lots and lots of iced tea. I only have two pictures from the bike ride. One I took of
Fred at our table,
and the other he took of
me opposite him
with the beach and pier in the background.
After lunch, we rode a bit further north and then turned around and went back the same way.
At the Condo
When we got back to the condo, I got on the exercise bike for a while while Fred surfed the Internet (I have had cable Internet for about a year now). Then we had drinks by the dock (see a pattern here?) and I made a movie of a small boat passing the dock.
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October 28, 2004: Florida Trip Day 6 |
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October 26, 2004: Florida Trip Day 4 |
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