Now that the temperatures have dropped out of the 90's and before the snow starts, I suggested that our bike club go out for lunch, especially since the bike trail goes right past a Mexican restaurant with a big outdoor patio. We started our ride with lots of enthusiasm, but only a mile down the road, one girl got a flat tire (not me, thank goodness). Goat head thorns are a major problem this time of year, especially when the lawn mowers throw them up onto the bike path. But luckily everyone has learned to carry spare inner tubes, so after a little maintenance, we were on our way.
We rode our usual loop down the Cherry Creek Trail and back home via the Piney Creek Trail (about 20 miles round trip). Usually we stop halfway for a snack break, but this time we rode straight through (exhausting). So by the time we made it up the hill to Las Fajitas, everyone was more than ready for a drink and some lunch. I had the taquitos - Yum!
Since September is almost over, the pools are closing down. This year, the pool on the family side decided to have a Pooch Plunge. Pet owners could bring their dogs to take a dip in the pool. Personally, I think there were more humans in the pool than dogs.
Bruce and I got approved for a landscaping rebate from the city of Aurora. In an effort to keep water usage down, they are giving homeowners up to $4K for converting their lawns to drought-tolerant landscapes. We're not really supposed to start until next spring, but we thought we'd get a head start in building a few retaining walls in the back yard. This little wall is right at the bottom of the deck stairs. It will become a soft-surface (pea gravel) patio.
The only bad thing about having a walkout basement is the steep slope along the side of the house. We ordered 220 paving stones from Lowes to build 3 retaining walls, but that meant we had to hand carry all 220 down to the back yard. Bruce was able to transport 5 at a time in the wheelbarrow, so he carried them down to the corner of the house and then I carried them across the back yard and stacked them up on the patio behind the house. But since they weighed 22 pounds apiece, I could only carry one at a time. So I ended up making 220 trips back and forth across the yard - almost 20,000 steps on my Fitbit!
