Dec 26, 2014

Dec 26 - Experiencing Life at Sun City West

Sun City West, AZ
Can't say I've ever experienced life in a real retirement community until now. My attitude about communities of this type was probably like many other "youngin's":  why would I want to live with so many old people? And there's the fear that if you live with them... you'll rapidly become one of them. No sir, just didn't have any interest in that kind of lifestyle at all.

But a weird thing happened this past week. I'm either softening or actually becoming one of them without realizing it. I'm finding life in a "Sun City" is actually not that bad. I'm finding there are a lot more active (even athletic) folks here than I'd ever have thought. And there are so many recreational opportunities and clubs, groups of people with wide ranging interests (literally, almost anything you can imagine), that if you're so inclined you'd never be bored.

Golf may be a dying sport, in part due to the big and increasing cost of keeping golf courses green in a desert, but there are still plenty of them around to satisfy folks with that weird tendency toward self-flagellation. There are recreation centers with what must be a dozen different racket sport courts. The opportunities to get out and move... to raise your heartbeat above "lazyboy levels" are plentiful. You'll only hasten your decline when you choose not to partake.

There's even a grocery store here that falls in the category of "my kind of place". It has a full service wine and beer bar right smack dab in the middle of the store. Cool.  Offering a large selection of craft beers on tap (along with some unfortunate mundane big brands) and interesting wines, it's the perfect place for a break while your partner does the shopping... or, if shopping alone, a perfect oasis for a respite from the rigors of shopping. This was a first for me. It also gave me hope that the collapse of our civilization may not be as imminent as I thought.

We had a very good holiday here with family. Too much food, a little drink, (but offset with a good vigorous walk), watched a couple movies and actually made one of our own.  If you're into wasting about 6 minutes of your life, you can watch what came out of our attempt to make a Christmas Greetings video for the absent family in the frozen north. [click here]  I hope you all are having a good holiday.

Beyond Branson; Pondering Future Travel

This past Tuesday, we moved from Branson to a very nice Corps of Engineer’s Park on Wappapello Lake.  We’re in the Redman Creek CG. This fac...