We've Made a Big Decision!

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82  Lo 61 -- There comes a time for everyone on the road to make the decision to hang up the keys and settle down into a permanent home. That time has come for us. We've been to all 48 states during our six years of full timing, and we KNOW Florida is the state we want to live in permanently. There's no single reason that caused us to make the decision to end our full time travels, but an accumulation of many things tells us it's time. It all came to a head this past summer while visiting my nephew in Indiana. We mentioned we plan to eventually settle down in Florida. He said his in-laws plan to sell their place in Auburndale, Florida after this winter, and the more he described the place the more interested we got. We made plans right then to see the place when we arrived back in Florida in for our winter stay. The owners weren't down from the north yet when we got to Florida at the end of October, but their daughter showed us the place.and we immediately fell in love with it. Fast forward to this past weekend. Jim's mom, sister Sharon, and Sharon's boyfriend Jimmy came down from North Carolina for a visit. Jimmy has been in construction all his life, and he used to be a house inspector at one time. Jim and I took them to see the place, and we got to meet the owners. Jimmy gave the house a quick inspection and determined everything was in fine shape. In fact, he joked to the owner that if we didn't buy the place, he would. :) The house is a 1,500 sq ft double wide with an added screened in porch. It's in a 55-plus community and is right on a beautiful lake. Here's a few photos:

This side of the house faces Lake Juliana.


This side is on the street.


The view of Lake Juliana from our yard.










This is the wet bar with places for wine bottles and a sink, even enough room for a small wine cooler.


We've always wanted a place on the water, so we're very excited! The park it's in is called Lake Juliana Landing in Auburndale, just south of I-4 and about an hour north of us. It's right between Lakeland and Winter Haven, and Tampa and Orlando are both only 45 minutes away. The park has many amenities, with activities year round. (Here at our current park, Adelaide Shores, everything shuts down from May to November.)

We'll continue with the blog until we transition into our home, which will be around the end of March. (I'm planning on having knee replacement surgery prior to that and I want to get it done here in Sebring before we make the move.) Once we get moved in we plan to sell our RV and truck. If you're interested, or know anyone who's interested in a 2010 Carriage Cameo 36FWS (full wall slide) and 2007 GMC Sierra Classic 3500 diesel dually, let us know by email (our email addresses are at the right of this page).

We'll get back to our normal blog this Friday. See you then.