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September 5, 2005: The Democratic Party Labor Day Picnic |
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July 31, 2005: Birthday Party for Fred and Ron Mathis |
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Return to Index for 2005 |
August 10, 2005
Arriving in Fort Lauderdale
I timed my next trip to Fort Lauderdale to span a weekend when Fred would be in DeLeon with his mother, and this particular trip was Wednesday to Wednesday.
I happened to have my camera handy as we were coming into the Fort Lauderdale area, so I decided to take a few pictures, and you may be interested in looking at them. I took my first picture as the American jet came into Florida over the Florida west coast and we could look down on the area north of Tampa/St. Petersburg. Then the jets usually angle down over central Florida into the Fort Lauderdale area. There, the plane will land either to the east, which is a straight-in approach, or to the west, which requires that the plane cross out into the Atlantic right over the city, turn, and then land at the airport. As we got closer, it became evident that we'd be landing to the east.
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I also took some pictures, and below, you'll see some labeled thumbnails for them. To look at the full-size image, just click on the thumbnail.
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The renovation of my condo here is continuing, and the main reason for my trip down here this week is to be present when the new cabinetry is installed. A couple of weeks ago, Ty had told me that the installation might start tomorrow, Thursday, but after I'd made my reservations the installer had to change to begin the installation the next Monday, so I guess the rest of this week will just be spending time with Ron, Leroy, Ty and Scott and doing my usual bike rides and pool playing. I'll be staying with Ron and Leroy again, and am thankful for their hospitality since the condo is far from livable at this point.
August 10th, 15th and 16th, 2005
Condo Renovation
I took a number of pictures of the condo renovation this week, of course. I took some pictures the afternoon I arrived, August 10th, and during the installation of the cabinetry on August 15th and August 16th. If you would like to see the pictures from these three days, just click on the link below. At the end of those pictures there will be a link that will bring you right back here to this album page.
August 13, 2005: A Saturday Bike Ride
On Saturday, I thought I would get my bike out and take advantage of the afternoon to ride my bike over to the beach. Jack Fontaine had called me and needed some help with his computer, so I first rode down through the city to Riverview Gardens. To get there from Ron's house, and to stay off the major streets as much as possible, I can go out to Powerline and go south to Prospect, then east on Prospect to Andrews. There, I pick up a bike lane that takes me all the way down almost to Sunrise. A few blocks before Sunrise, I can cut over through some residential areas and then cross Sunrise right at the Home Depot. Then I can go south paralleling Federal, cross Broward at Federal and then I am on Las Olas. So it is not a dangerous ride to take.
After helping Jack, I snapped a couple of pictures at Riverview Gardens. For the past two months, plumbers have been upgrading our water system and the sprinklers as well. To do that, they've had to take out all the hedges that border the first floor along SE 4th St so they can get at the pipes that need repairing. They also took out the plantings on the west side of the building right below my condo and, two doors down, Jack's condo.
I hopped back on my bike and then headed over to the beach on Las Olas. Once at the beach, I biked north along A1A as I have done so often before. It was a pretty day and there were quite a few people out. I biked up past Sunrise and then almost to the end of Fort Lauderdale Beach proper, I caught a typical beach scene.
The trip north is extremely familiar; I could do it in my sleep, I think. Today, I went as far as Hillsboro Inlet, about 12 miles from my condo. Relaxing at the small park there for a while, I was just enjoying the day. Ron and Leroy wanted to do dinner at their house, and I wanted to allow time for a dip in their pool and a frozen drink, so I headed back about four o'clock. As I crossed the Atlantic Avenue bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, I got a good view of the Intracoastal looking north from the bridge. Something seemed odd, though, and so I took a second view on zoom. And that's when I saw that there seemed to be a flotilla of small boats, all lined up as if for a race, halfway between Atlantic and Fifteenth Street. Why they were all clustered together I have no idea.
Other than the ones I took of the condo renovation on Monday and Tuesday, I didn't take any other pictures while I was here this week. Even though I took a bike ride almost every day, it was just for exercise and not really for sightseeing. And, anyway, I've probably taken pictures of everything there is to see on my bike rides already by now, and included most of them in the earlier pages of this album.
August 17, 2005: Leaving Fort Lauderdale
Well, getting the cabinets installed has been quite an achievement for this week; now Ty can get working on the plumbing, the countertops, the appliances and so on, and the condo should move along fairly rapidly now.
Below, you'll see some labeled thumbnails for the pictures I took shortly after the American jet took off and as it made its turn back to the west to head home. To look at the full-size image, just click on the thumbnail. Look closely at the third picture- Hillsboro Inlet. The bridge at the inlet and the small park just adjacent to it are a frequent destination for my bike rides. Across the bridge you can see the expensive homes of Hillsboro Beach.
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You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.
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September 5, 2005: The Democratic Party Labor Day Picnic |
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July 31, 2005: Birthday Party for Fred and Ron Mathis |
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Return to Index for 2005 |
