Photo by The Joneses Snowbirds — Jerry and Sandy Palmer. The Palmers have been our friends for at least 16 years. We caught up with them last week and took at trip to "The Villages." SLIDE SHOW: A visit to "The Villages" — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

Jerry and Sandy Palmer are camping friends from Frederick. We used to be part of the Monocacy Valley Good Sams Club together and first met about 16 years ago — we think.

We couldn’t quite remember how long it has been, but Sandy remembers our grandson Oliver camping with us. Oliver was 8 at the time; he's now 24. The members of the camping club met once a month for a camping weekend and we always had a great time having potluck dinners and sitting around the campfire at night.

Jerry and Sandy are snowbirds (part-timers). They still maintain a home in Frederick and come to Florida several months each winter. Come March or April they and all the other snowbirds are going back north to their homes. While Ralph and I and the other full-timers plan to continue with our travels.

On the day of the visit we took a ride up to "The Villages" located north of here near Lady Lake, Fla. It is a huge adult community. Actually it consists of several adult communities; each a little village on its own, thus the name "The Villages."

The area is absolutely beautifully designed and landscaped. There are two main Squares: The Town Square – Spanish Springs. Everything is in old Spanish style, including a Mission Style Church; we felt like we were walking around a small Spanish town.

The other is The Market Square – Lake Sumter Landing. It reminded us of a New England small town. We sat on the deck of a restaurant eating ice cream overlooking the beautiful lake. If I had not known better I would have thought we were at Lake Pemaquid in Maine where we spent a camping vacation a few years ago.

And there are golf courses everywhere, one more beautiful than the next. Ralph was just in awe and wished he could play a round of golf here, but you have to live here to do so.

I don’t know how much I can say without sounding like a commercial — like the ones on TV. But it is truly an amazing area, and I am sure a great place to live.

Here's another thing that I thought was neat at "The Villages" — people mostly use golf carts to get around, and many of them are custom made. Some look like old cars, or they have the insignias of their favorite sport teams, universities/colleges or some other theme. Most of them have the names of the owners on them. My favorite was one owned by a Red Hatter (I am certain). It was purple, had a red top, red and purple cushions and Red Hat designs all over. I loved it.

The same week we attended a professional ice hockey game. My son’s company has a suite at the St. Petersburg Times Forum (an arena in Tampa) and we were invited to watch a game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning played the Florida Panthers (team from Miami). This was our first professional ice hockey game and it sure was exciting. A picture of my granddaughter, Jordyn, and I were displayed on the big screen in the middle of the arena. Guess they look for people who act real crazy and I guess Jordyn and I did — we sure screamed a lot!

It just amazes me how these guys not only play a tough game of hockey – they do it on ice skates! We cheered for the Lightning – the home team. It didn’t do any good though. They lost, 2-1, but I sure enjoyed the game.

Our son Gregory and family are going to be down here this week to visit Disney World.