1:11 on 1/1

It's a sign - we arrived in Florida at 1:11 p.m. on 1/1. An easy trip through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia on our way to The Villages where we will be for the next two months. The highlight was about half-way to our destination when we stopped near Nashville to see my niece, Kristin, her husband, TJ, and their son, Milo. Otherwise uneventful.

No snow, no rain, mostly sunshine all the way during our 20+ hours of driving. This trip I was behind the wheel the majority of the time. 

Our place - in the oldest section of The Villages. There's a golf cart in front of my
car that we'll be using to get around in the coming days. We have two bedrooms,
an "open-concept" kitchen/dining area/living room, one bathroom, and a
 lovely sitting room (small room you can see at the front left of the house)
with a small breakfast table. So, we have room for visitors . . . if any of you
want to get out of the cold north for a few days in the next two months!

The owners of our place are from Rhode Island and have lived here in The Villages for 10 years. Meredith, our landlord, said they came here on vacation and within six months had moved here permanently. The last two couples who rented our place also bought in The Villages and that's why we were able to nail down our rental rather quickly. Will we buy? Time will tell! (Rick says if you donate to the purchase of a place here for us, we'll name a room in the house after you. And if you don't want your name on a room, he says we'll put a brick in the driveway inscribed with your name.)

We are in the Village of Silver Lake, although there's no lake to be seen! Maybe a pond or two. We have lots of exploring to do in the coming days. Our initial assessment is that we're in the land of the big boxes and national chains. But there is an Aldi's about two miles away - so all is good!

The holiday decorations in the recreation centers and town squares are supposed to be quite nice but we'll have to check them out soon as the holiday season is coming to an end quickly.

Our neighbors across the street have decorated for the season. Apparently
there are a number of permanent residents on our street. I'm sure we'll get
to know some of them soon.

The Villages is billed as the largest over-55 community in the world and calls itself "Florida's friendliest hometown" even though no one is from here. Some have called it a land-locked cruise ship because of all the activities that are available. Others have described The Villages as "Disney World for old people." Keep checking my blog for more about The Villages.