#40 Xmas Eve Ride

Juliana, Joseph, Marco and I just returned from a Christmas Eve bike ride around Jinji Lake. Jinji Lake is a manmade lake that is the centerpiece of the Suzhou Industrial Park / City (SIP) in which we live. Today the weather was mild, in the mid 50s, but a little breezy. We set out on a ride with the primary objective of getting the kids out of the house while Katheen did some baking and housekeeping.

Our ride ended up being a full circumnavigation of Jinji Lake with stops at the Ligongdi, Starbucks, and my office. It was about a 10 mile and three hour excursion on which we took lots of pictures. Above we are pictured at the start with Marco on the Trail-a-Bike that we bought from our friends Mary and Brad in Peoria. The Trail-a-bike was perfect because Marco would never have made this ride on his own power.

The we have Joseph and Marco near the waterfront at Ligongdi. Ligongdi is a happening development of Chinese and Western restaurants and so-called "Outlet" shopping which is not far from our house. The outlet shopping is a misnomer because the shops are all name brand, overpriced goods - overpriced even by U.S. standards.

Next we stopped for hot chocolate and a snack at Starbucks in downtown SIP - one of three Starbucks in our immediate vicinity. Finally we have a picture of Joseph on the lakefront almost directly across from where we live.

Overall, we have it pretty good living in SIP. The Suzhou Industrial Park is modern, organized, clean, and scenic. I have posted the remainder of our pictures from the Christmas Eve bike ride at Snapfish.