Thursday, December 3, 2015

Nesting in Bonita Springs for the Winter

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NOTE: Sharon pens todays blog…

20151114_100409We are settling into a routine here at Imperial Bonita Estates in Bonita Springs Florida.  This is one of my very favorite locations.  After watching the National Weather today it also seems to be the place to be for warm, sunny weather.  Temperatures are usually in the 80’s with a light breeze.  It has been awesome and I cannot believe we have been here a month already!

Our morning routine consists of coffee and breakfast tacos then a trip on our patio to make use of our home gym.  I have had a gym routine for some time now first utilizing the free app Nike Training Club then following a more structured workout sent to me by my daughter Katie.  Happily John has joined me and it is awesome to have a workout buddy.  Following our 45 minute weights workout we either walk the park or play singles pickleball or several shuffleboard games for our cardio workout for the day.

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Afternoons are play time.  Mondays, we usually go to the beach and it has been especially convenient having our county parking pass making it much easier to visit the beautiful beaches. Of course we can’t miss Mondays at Johnny Malloys for FREE PIZZA at Happy Hour and 25 cent wings after 5:30 pm.  Wednesdays John plays corn hole (bean bag toss) at 3:30 pm which is a fun gathering including lots of socializing. Wednesday is Farmer’s Market Day in downtown Bonita Springs where we always buy more than we plan because the prices and freshness are hard to beat.

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Every other Friday we visit the dog track for Dollar Daze as we mentioned in a previous blog.  Its an entire afternoon of dollar beers dollar hot dogs, pretzels or popcorn.  We always have a blast there admiring the speed and athleticism of the greyhounds. On the weekends we visit the big flea market next door and since it has a really fun bar called Bahama Mama’s with $2.00 domestic drafts and live music, I know if I want to shop longer than John does he has a place to enjoy waiting for me.

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The park has been only about a third filled the month of November but we are soon to be at full capacity.  I am excited that some of our RV friends will be here.  I guess the routine will now include much more socializing which will be great. Katie will also be here in about 8 days to visit during her school break as she loves it here too and enjoys all the same activities we do.
This stay will be a true test for John as he really likes traveling and we committed to three months here. While the Road of Retirement has given us lots of travel opportunities seeing beautiful new places, I really, really like nesting here in beautiful Bonita Springs, Florida…..

8 comments:

  1. Awesome rainbow!
    Enjoy your winter. You are in a gorgeous part of the country.

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  2. A three month rest will reenergize you for the next nine of travel. With 25 days at Jojoba and almost six weeks in San Diego, we are feeling stationary too. In our first two summers on the road I always made pretty good plans with lots of reservations. This spring we are going to try being a bit more spontaneous. We will see how that goes!

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  3. So, where is Johnny Malloys? We missed that bit of information. Get your paddles out we're working on a kayaking trip.

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  4. Enjoy your time there and the great weather.
    We still have trouble staying in one place longer than a couple of weeks.

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  5. Would love to see a post on details of your home gym. Really enving you the great weather. We thought we would "nest" in the Keys for 2 months and we have had so much rain, wind and no see ums that Paradise is sure not what I would call it.

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    1. We have a weight set where we can add or subtract weights ( link to what we bought on a previous blog) plus I have an exercise ball, a jump rope and stretch band. I do 40 to 50 minutes 5 days a week rotating arms legs shoulders and back. I also use freetrainer.com website and an app called nike training club.

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  6. Looked like you do like IBE! Would you be joining the activities there? Hope the weather is better this time around.

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  7. Bonita looks great. We have never traveled to Fla. so thinking next winter might be a great time to start. Are there any sites at IBE that you would recommend or ones to avoid? Thanks for the wonderful blog. Skip

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