Villages Jan 8 2012

January 8, 2012

Happy New Year!

Thought we would start our “blog” with our southern departure.  Friends and family said a must.  Left Oshkosh on Tues, December 27.  As most know, last year we purchased a home in The Villages here in Florida.  Planned on taking our motor home down and staying in it until we got the home furnished, but a repair problem with a slide prevented this, so we left the coach in Wisconsin and drove the Honda down.  Full to the top with “stuff”.  Trip down went well, three overnights with a stop in Nashville, our favorite, the Opryland Hotel Convention Center.  Arrived at our new house (4 years old) on Friday December 30^th, empty house.

Well, Shari was smart enough to borrow an air mattress from friend Donna, so we did have something to sleep on.  A couple of bag chairs, card board boxes from the grocery store for tables, rabbit ears for TV, and suddenly we were good to go.

We love the house.  Needs some cleaning, but then again, it sat empty for six months.  Start shopping for furnishings right after the New Year.  To late for New Years Eve reservations, so spent the evening here, grilled steaks for a treat. Did have to purchase some dishes to eat our steaks on and we lucky enough to find a good deal at Bealls.

Our first week we accomplished quite a bit.  Purchased two bedroom sets, a dining set, dishes, patio set, and of course a golf cart, a must in The Villages.  Lots of small incidentals that we couldn’t bring with.  Got registered in The Villages ID system with gate passes, mail box, tee time system, Direct TV, etc.  A very busy week.  Now working on permanent residency change, ie; Florida drivers license, voter registration, etc.

So much for the first week.  Looking forward to meeting northern friends coming down this week Friday. Have golf planned for Mon. and out to dinner Tues. Furniture and golf cart will be delivered tomorrow. Yeah!