A Little of This, A Little of That....

A collage from Sparky's last couple of bike rides through Lakewood Ranch, a total of 15 miles there and back to home in Bradenton....

A kayaking trip here and there.....Sparky went kayaking off Caspersen Beach. Lunch break on Caspersen beach down in Venice...People watching, HOLY MOLEY! Look what came walking down the beach! This was the SECOND thong in a very short period of time. And both guys appeared OLD, their thongs barely covering their private parts in front....Yuck...

Subbing here and there....Sparky is mixing things up at her favorite school...Sometimes subbing in special education classes, sometimes subbing in kindergarten, then up to fifth grade...Holy cow! Kindergarten--THAT is one of the most difficult assignments to take on...But Sparky LOVES little kids!

Quirky art on the street in downtown Sarasota.....

An exotic car show....

Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari,  Astin Martin,  Bentley, Maclaren, the Noble (hunh?) That was one of the cars there...Never heard of it... the 2004 Noble.

Average price? $245,000 on up...Whew!

Wow! These cars are cool!

Eldy thinks he likes the Maclaren the best....

Sparky likes the orange one....

It was a beautiful day for a car show....that's for sure! After two days of VERY cold temperatures (34 degrees one  morning, low fifties for the high that same day) for Sarasota, it's warmed back up again quickly.

What's coming up?  In the first week of March, Sparky is doing an arts and craft show, then she will be heading to Houston the week after that to see her daughter and little grandson, 2 1/2 years old...can't wait! And who knows what else? Sparky still wants to hike the Deep Hole at Myakka.... stay tuned...

What Retirees Do When They Are Bored

Sarsota, FL       High:  70      Low:    47

How can you be bored at Sun 'n' Fun? Well, you can't unless it's Sunday. Not much happening on Sundays, it's a day for church and a day of rest, especially for Sparky who biked 21 miles yesterday. The knees are much better, thank you....No yardwork to do even if it is a balmy 68 degrees at the moment. We're in an RV park, we have no grass to speak of, no chores to do, no laundry...Let's go look at condos and villas, says E.  JUST FOR FUN! he cautions....Well, sure, why not? Sparky has crafted up a storm these past few days, and was ready for a little car ride today....Photos today are from Lakewood Ranch model homes...

Checked out Lakewood Ranch today to look at model homes...JUST FOR FUN! No intentions of coming off the road for a LONG time....Just like many other areas of the country, Sarasota's real estate market is just starting to recover. Lakewood Ranch is a beautiful, "green" (= energy efficient homes, recycling a priority, conservative water practices, etc.) master planned community of about 8500 acres. There are lots of different types of residential communities within. We looked at one today called the Esplanade. It was a residential area that was an active lifestyles community--it had a state of the art fitness center, a swimming pool with a circular resistance lane, lap swimming, a very young, (to us!) full time activities director, pickleball courts, and lots of beautiful homes. It has only been open for about a year, so it's still under development, but it looked fabulous. Starting price of homes in this community were from the mid two hundred-thousand dollar range on up.

None of the communities in Lakewood Ranch are 55 and over, so it attracts all ages and family types. There are lots of condos, villas and single family homes to choose from and lots of price ranges. There are gated and non-gated communities.

The price range goes from the seventies for previously owned homes and some foreclosures to several million dollar homes, so something for everyone....Many of the homes we looked at were in the low 100,000 dollar range and were built by local builders who have been in the area for many years.

We just had a lot of fun looking today and seeing what the decor looked like in the model homes.....Sparky LOVED the "Florida" colors--teals, yellows, and bright cheery colors.....She loved the ceiling architectural details in so many of the modern homes....the drop down moldings and trim....

Sparky even loved the laundry room colors and decor in some of them....

We'll start a file of ideas and places we see along the way in our travels....Sparky kiddingly told Eldo, "I'm not going to look at any more homes for awhile, it makes me want to come off the road!" Eldo apologized for being the bad guy today for taking Sparky around and letting her see what's out there. (SHE was the one that encouraged me to take her out looking! fusses E.) Yep, she did say she wanted to look. It was fun seeing how 1400 square feet can seem like a MANSION after sharing 400 square feet of living space for almost three years! You need to know Eldo NEVER makes an impulsive decision. It will probably be YEARS before he's ready to settle down somewhere. We just are thinking that Sarasota has so much to offer, that we would seriously think about settling down here some day. Sparky wouldn't even mind missing the four seasons to live here in Sarasota.......Sigh.........

Patio garden, anyone?

Sparky's Definitely Feeling Better!

Sarasota, FL      High:  71    Low:   45

Sparky was feeling pretty sparky today....Off to swim exercise class this morning...working with styrofoam bar bells, stretches in the water, stomach crunches, twists, "moguls", "tantrums", "uppercuts", etc.  The volunteer(s) that run the class each morning have cute ways of calling out the exercises. It's a very good workout and deceptive as to how hard you are working your muscles. Sparky really enjoys it. She didn't even let a light rain discourage her from going, although all the way down to the pool on her bike, she was hoping there wasn't going to be a class. It was the kind of dreary gray morning that makes you just want to stay in your jammies and read a book.

Later this morning we headed over to Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota. Lakewood Ranch is an 8500 acre residential/shopping community with lots of housing choices loosely similar to the Villages in Florida, near Wildwood. Lakewood Ranch is a master planned community of seven villages started in 1995, and it is one of the largest certified green communities in the U.S. Over half of the land is devoted to trails, parks and recreational fun. Golf and tennis are big there, they have polo and cricket as well. Since there is a LOT of arts and culture in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, this community attracts lots of interest from all ages of people looking for a home in a better climate--young families, young professionals and of course, retirees.

We really enjoyed walking around the Main Street today. It was very quiet, not at all congested like the Villages are, but plenty of people were enjoying the balmy outdoor air and partly sunny skies today, with the high of 77...Sorry, northern folks, family and friends! You have our sympathy struggling with that ole jet stream dipping down farther than normal! The longer we stay in Florida, the more we forget what winter is like and how cold it must feel back home in Indiana! Eldo loves to tease his daughter in Milford, IN, about the "cold spell" that hit Florida recently...For one day, we had temps in the low sixties. Br-r-r--rr.......LOL! :-)  Not so funny up north.....heh, heh, heh.....

There are cool shops of all kinds around Main Street in Lakewood Ranch, from an artsy bead shop that offers classes, to make- your- own pottery-c'mon in and play shop, to clothing, to just about everything you can think of.

Naples Soap store--loofahs with glycerin soap in them, wonderful scents!

Sparky's bike needed fixing, the gears were out of whack and Eldy had seen a small bike shop on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch. Main Street is loaded with boutiques, all kinds of artsy craft and bead shops, fashion, restaurants and other stuff. We found Village Bikes to be a great bike shop for the repairs we needed to get Sparky rollin' again on her bike. We brought her bike in, asked how much a gear adjustment would cost, and they said about 10-12 dollars depending on what needed to be done. We said, great...and were ready to leave it. BUT--one of the repair guys said, let me take a quick look at it. (They were about two weeks out on repairs). He put it up on the bike stand, worked the gears, fixed the gear cable, tightened it, and at NO CHARGE. WOW! Thanks, guys! He said if Sparky had any more problems, bring it back in and they would get it right once again. A tuneup costs about 55.00 and the service for that was including EVERYTHING--taking the wheels off, truing the tires, lubing, etc. etc. We thought this was a GREAT bike shop and we'd definitely go back whenever we are in the Sarasota area. Good line of accessories, Specialized, Cannondale bikes and more......

After the bike repair and exploring Main Street a bit, we headed to MacAllister's Grill and Tavern for lunch...Lots of Scottish influence in the pub as to decor-it's a "genuine Scottish golf themed restaurant"-lots of golf stuff on the walls, plaid bench seating, Scottish foods on the menu. The people who started this restaurant came from Scotland so there's a little history behind the restaurant...Eldo had fish and chips, Sparky had bang bang chicken and portobello mushrooms, not so Scottish. Delish! Highly recommended.....

This afternoon, Sparky was on a roll....She headed over to the Spin Cycle class offered at Sun 'n' Fun and about died of exhaustion.... (I tried to dissuade her, I truly did, says E.) Sparky is fine, just plumb wore out! Legs are like Jello...It's been two weeks since she last hit spin cycle class....Time for an early bedtime...See you tomorrow.....