23 Apr - Arrived at The Villages and Wildwood FL and Reconnected with Bill and Jan Allen

Awesome day!  Smooth sailing southbound on I-75 from Georgia into Florida.  Short travel day's are great!  Departed Grassy Pond Valdosta GA about 0930 hrs. Uneventful trip which is a good thing!  We stopped at the Florida  Welcome Center and were greeted with a cup of fresh OJ and a plethora of maps and brochures! 

Traffic on I-75 southbound was not too bad, but it seemed like there was a hurricane down south somewhere we were unaware as northbound traffic was insane!  

Before long we had arrived at the Three Flags RV Resort Wildwood FL at 1232 hrs, 153 miles down the road. Nice place and friendly staff.  Jane got us checked in quickly and answered all the questions we had on Thousand Trail membership (we are not members.).  We quickly found our site and got set up.  

Very nice campground, although some of the sites are a bit tight.  Luckily no one is in the site closest to the camera here.  Satellite locked in so Cubs game was "on the air"!!

After getting set up we called our high school buddy Bill Allen and his wife Jan.  Bill is a very special person to me.  My dad was a State Trooper in Iowa and worked his way through the ranks to Lieutenant when we move to DeWitt Iowa when I was 5.  We lived there from then until the day I finished my freshman year in high school when he got promoted to Captain and was put in charge of the northeastern fourth of the state, and we moved to Cedar Falls IA.  That was a tough move for me at that age.  So a couple of the first people I met in Cedar Falls were Steve Van Hauen and  Bill Allen and we became great friends with both.  They both lived fairly close to me.  We played sports together, goofed around together, got in trouble together and basically grew up together.  Those were good days!

1973 and 2013

So after high school graduation I headed off to the Air Force, married Doreen, started a family and the rest is history!  Both Bill and Steve were in our wedding.

Bill is one of the smartest guys I know!  He continued his education, went to work for Viking Pump, Case and finally John Deere as an engineer, got married and retired with his wife Jan to The Villages near Wildwood FL.  

The Villages is called  "Florida's Friendliest Active Adult 55+ Retirement Community!  This place is massive!  Beautiful homes in a wonderful community setting with shops, stores, restaurants, golf courses, country clubs, swimming pools, community centers, hobby shops, - you name it, they have it!

Bill and Jan came to the campground to see us.  We then rode with them to The Villages where they live and had an early dinner at one of the local establishments.

We walked around after dinner a bit and Bill explained The Villages to us.  They had a live band playing up the street and the main source of transportation here appears to be golf carts - awesome looking golf carts!!

A band playing in the amphitheater

Doreen, Jan and Bill

Bill gave us a tour around and then we headed to their house to relax a bit.  They own their house here in The Villages and pay a monthly "amenities" fee.  

Tomorrow we will go to brunch with Bill and Jan and see other parts of the Villages!