New Modes of Transportation

One thing was for certain, we knew that we would not be purchasing a car when we moved to England.  We were assured the location of our flat was within walking distance to the grocery store, the hospital, the beach and any other necessities such as the train station.  We are very happy with our location and love the fact that we do not have to drive anywhere (if we want to go somewhere for the weekend via car we simply rent one).  It feels so good to walk to the grocery store to buy groceries (which leads to not over buying food and wasting it) and breath fresh ocean air along the way.  We have not used the bus system yet but it appears to be simple once you get used to it (we just have to figure out the cheapest family pass - it goes up and down the coast and within the town of Worthing and other nearby towns or as far as you would like), we will be taking the train for the first time on Saturday when we go to London - the ride is less then 2 hours and the cost for all 4 round trip is less then 30 pounds (we invested in the family/friends pass - 28 pounds for a year = a huge discount - the boys ride for a pound each).  We also decided to purchase used bikes - with the Promenade open to biking and being able to go pretty far east and west it was definitely worth it (plus the store will buy them back when we leave).  Our first adventure on the bikes was last week and we chose to ride to Shoreham (East of Worthing on the way to Brighton).  Depending on the sign you read it is either 8 or 10 miles round trip.  It was actually a pretty warm sunny day and we all had a good time.  There is a place in Shoreham where we can go north to The Downs (the hills) along an old rail line that is now a hiking/walking/biking/horseback riding trail - this will be the next big trip.

picnics on the beach make food taste the best

the beach along Shoreham and Brighton in the background

a plane from the Shoreham airport - there is a show in September

the little "shacks" on the beach people own or rent and store their beach supplies - we biked by some that were open - you open the doors - have a mini camp stove, chairs, BBQ's and other fun beach tows - then you are set for the day

one of the towns we biked through

this is the water  play spot down from our flat - there are a group of natural blocks of rock and water sprays up like mist in the middle - a wonderful natural water feature

we regularly ride to our favorite playground but just do a drive by when it is super busy

the pretty lights we see from our flat every evening