A Visit to The Villages

I have a bad habit.  When I put the trailer on to the car, I balance the hitch on the ball.  When I am done winding up the wheel, I bump the trailer and the hitch falls onto the ball with a small “clunk”.  The clunk gives me confidence that the two are solidly together.  However, if one were to forget the bump part of the process, the entire 1500 pound trailer will crash to the ground where nobody but Mr. Universe could lift it again.  In a related lesson we have learned that having three adult size people balance themselves on the back bumper of a camper makes such a lift do-able by a mere mortal.

We took a scheduled trip to The Villages to visit my brother, Bill.

The Villages is an enormous retirement community of about 150,000 senior citizens.  Bill is currently dog sitting for Bill and Karen Early in a beautiful home they just bought.  This is my third time to The Villages and I think The Villages are full of golf courses, pools, bike paths, golf carts (seemingly as many as cars), tennis courts, pickle ball courts and clubhouses.  It also seems to be, at least by this outside observer, to be culturally non-diverse and politically conservative.

We had a great time with Bill, enjoyed some bike riding, swimming and good meals.  We extended our visit by a night as heavy rains were pelting our campground. We look forward to a return to The Villages after our stay in St. Petersburg and again in March when the girls plan to join us.

Here is a photo of a wind surfer.  I took the photo last week but for some reason I was reminded of it yesterday as I tried to put up the clam in a wind storm!  Our new campsite is directly on the water and while it provides world class views, it fails to provide any protection when the winds are gusting.  Before we had a chance to tie down the canopy which hangs over the trailer door, a wind gust flipped the canvas and all 5 poles on to the top of the trailer!  Only Dorothy, Aunty Em and the people of Kansas can appreciate the experience.

Thanks for following us on this adventure.
Ken and Cathy