A new trail to bike on

We biked a new path today, the West Orange Bike Trail.  We had to drive quite a ways to get there, but it was a beautiful trail - wide, paved, and somewhat flat - a little hillier than we like.

We met up with a rooster and a hen at lunch time, and decided he was a "hen-pecked" rooster.  When we shared a bit of our lunch with him, he called her over and dropped it in front of her - every time!  Very unusual!

I guess we didn't give him enough, he kept asking for more!

Some "fellow-bikers"!

We stopped to wander through a flower garden - lots of beautiful flowers!

The bike trail is mostly on an old rail line, and this car is parked by a museum in Winter Garden.  We wandered around the downtown of Winter Garden, which is where we started and ended.

Celebration bike ride

It was another beautiful day here, though it started out pretty cool.  We did our usual ride to and through Celebration,and enjoyed a picnic at our favorite picnic table by the lake.  We saw a LOT of alligators today - guess they all wanted to soak up the sun.   We ended on a bit of a bad note, when Paul's back tire popped about a mile from home, so he had to walk it the rest of the way home.  He found a screw nail in the tire, but since he always has extra tubes in the van, was able to fix it, so we're good to go again.

I was able to get up close and personal with this fellow, though there was a chain link fence between us.

We watched this egret catch a fish, and a heron did his best to steal it, but never succeeded.

This is the guy I was on the other side of the fence from.  We talked to some people who were watching this gator, and discovered that they are missionaries in India.  They were at the church where Scott and Lois went on Sunday.  They have an Alliance background, and we had a really nice visit with them.

A new kind of water flower has started to show up - it is very delicate-looking.

I think this gaor and wood stork were either having a staring competition, or the stork is saying "I dare you!"

We were on a foot bridge watching this guy.

Someone was feeding the squirrels on top of these posts on one of the boardwalks.

I really like these orange and yellow flowers which are all along the waterways.

One more heron.

A beautiful snowy egret.

Such pretty roses!

Sunday with family

We had a great visit after church today with Scott and Lois, Lydia and Abby.  They came for lunch, and the girls and I had a nice swim together.  I was having such a great time, I forgot to take pictures til it was time for them to leave.  I got a few of them in their rental car - a Volkswagon convertible.

A bike ride and Old Town

Today was a gorgeous day - tho just a tad cool.  Great for biking.  We drove to Polk City - about 20 miles - and biked south to Auborndale and back.  It was about 7 1/2 miles each way, then we did a bit of the trail to the north - about 20 miles in all.  It was on an old railway bed, made into a wide, flat, paved path.  Perfect!                                                                               This shiny little fellow was sunning himself near our picnic table at lunchtime.

We saw lots of farms with cows, horses, and even a donkey.

There were a whole lot of vultures circling and perched in trees at one place.  We weren't sure if they were waiting for us to collapse or what!

There were beautiful places like this.......

.....and junky places like this.

We tasted some tangerines we found growing by the path - ate a few sections, but they were really sour!

We saw a LOT of trucks loaded with oranges on their way to somewhere, then on the way home found this one parked conveniently by the side of an orange grove.

After supper, we went over to Old Town to see the old cars.  This was my favorite.  It is Corvette weekend, so there were way more of them than usual, and 1000's of people.  We didn't stay long!

This little guy rode the mechanical bull - did really well, too!

It was 3 years ago today that my beloved sister Shirley went to be with her Lord, and I can't stop thinking about her.  I still miss her so very much!

A rainy day

Ibises

hawk

gecko

gator

heron and turtle

red squirrel

Since today was supposed to be a rainy day, we decided to do a bit of shopping.  It turned out better than it was supposed to, more drizzle than rain, but sometimes it's just good to have a down day.  Since I never took even 1 picture today, I'll add a few old ones for your "viewing pleasure"  :D

Another gorgeous day

 It was another gorgeous day and, since it is supposed to rain tomorrow, we decided we had better do another bike ride.  We took our usual route to and through Celebration.  I love the trails, especially the boardwalks through the woods.






Along the way we saw this beautiful heron standing among the cyprus knees.

I was pleased to catch this anhinga in mid-flight after he had dried his wings.

This fellow was sunning himself happily on the bank until I happened along and frightened him back into the water.

It's amazing to me how all these critters can live peacefully together.

We enjoyed a picnic by the lake in Celebration again, while talking to LOTS of friendly folks who stopped to chat on their walk around the lake.

These 2 funny little fellows kept us entertained as we ate our lunch.