In the words of our king, Elvis, "And now, the end is near..." We have reached a final decision and are under contract on a home in Anthem, AZ. For those of you following the blog, you may recall that we initially ruled out this community due to gossip we'd heard from former members. There was also the tidbit that Anthem was penned the Swingers Capital of the World by Oprah. But after 18 months of checking out everywhere from Key West to San Diego, working closely with a spreadsheet and a calculator we just couldn't say no to Anthem. Meeting our requirement for two challenging courses, trail fee, and reasonable membership dues, when the home we wanted came on the market at a terrific price we were done. We spent one evening walking Peanut through our new neighborhood knocking on doors and meeting our new neighbors. We asked if they have loud parties or if they will call the police on ours and were met with laughter and welcomes to the neighborhood.
After eliminating clubs for everything from snootiness to bugginess (as in noseeums and mosquitos) we are finally home or soon to be. Yesterday we officially joined the country club and played our first round as a member. Greens were tough to read and it's easy to lose balls in the vast desert but we are excited by our new home courses. We'll play the other course today and in the Couples golf event tomorrow. We have so much to do to get ready for our big move but at the moment I want to make up for lost time on the links. Last night we spent time with members at their weekly Friday Happy Hour which includes a live band. I was welcomed into the Ladies League as well as one of the traveling teams (the more active of the two) and Mike was welcomed into the Wine and Motorcycle Clubs (two different clubs). We learned that this is the place many young retirees (like us) come as they are weaning themselves off of their occupation, so there are many folks our age. We left a little tipsy and a lot relieved about our decision for our new home. Great fun people and there is as much or as little to do as we want.
We also learned that the Swingers haven't all left town. Several still meet on the outdoor patio dance floor on Fridays and exchange car keys. Did we enter a time machine taking us back to the 70's?
We close escrow on June 13th thus officially ending this now 20 month journey. I hope to post one more time when this blog site is again functioning properly (unable to download photos of our new digs).
We are so appreciative to those who have hung in there with us through this home search and golf extravaganza. But seriously, we do have a beautiful and gently used motor home for sale!!
Congratulations!
What a wonderful feeling it must be to finally find home.
Nothing is ever perfect but I believe we make it what we make it. It's up to you to make Anthem home and as close to perfect as you can get.
I'm very happy for you though I must confess I will miss living my golfing vagabond life vicariously through you.
All the best.
Posted by: Andrew | 05/01/2011 at 08:27 AM
SWINGERS ????? Well, anyway....Jim and i are so happy for you two...SOOOOO next trip for us to Palm Springs,Laughlin or Vegas we will be in touch and maybe we can park our WINNEBAGO close and have a hug and a drink !!! LOVE AND BEST WISHES...stay in touch...e-mail pix !!! xoxo scotye/jim
Posted by: scottye keller | 06/14/2011 at 09:06 AM