This month we are showcasing our lovely homeowners, Greg and Libby! As exciting as the prospect of retiring and relocating to a warm sunshine state may be, we know it can often feel overwhelming. In this month’s Member Spotlight, Greg and Libby sit down for a Q&A to share a bit about their own experience with retirement, how they found their dream home and community at Wickenburg Ranch, and how their sister and brother-in-law just happened to do the same. Read below to see what they had to say!
Q: Where did you move from and when?
A: We moved to Wickenburg Ranch from Louisville, Colorado (near Boulder), in November of 2018. We lived there for 25 years where we raised our two girls, who are now 30 and 29 and live in Colorado and New York respectively.
Q: What prompted your move?
A: While we still love Colorado and continue to travel to visit a couple of times a year, Libby wanted to retire “anywhere she didn’t have to wear socks”! Shoveling snow off a large driveway got a little old for Greg as well. We sold our house in Colorado and are now happy to be full-time Arizonans!
Q: We hear your sister also lives in the community. Can you tell us a little about how you both came to call Wickenburg Ranch home?
A: You had to ask. While Greg’s sister and her husband moved here first from Denver in May of 2018, we (Greg and Libby) technically FOUND Wickenburg Ranch! For years we both traveled together to Arizona for Spring Training (Go Rockies!). In March of 2017, we decided it was time to start looking for our retirement home, so we added a day to our baseball junket to look around. We stumbled upon Wickenburg Ranch while shopping primarily in the Phoenix area, and immediately fell in love with this community! When we met up with Janet and Alan (Greg’s sister and brother-in-law) the next day for Spring Training, we had to bring them here to show off our new find. Together we all decided to try the Discovery Stay in August of 2017. Janet and Alan fell in love with this community as much as we did and proceeded to beat us to the punch! We never let them forget it.
Q: What other locations and communities did you consider before choosing Wickenburg Ranch?
A: We looked in the Phoenix area at Encanterra, Vistancia, Maricopa and Sun City Grand.
Q: What about Wickenburg Ranch was different from other communities you may have visited?
A: The terrain, and the quality of life inherent in being removed from the fray of the Phoenix Valley. The small town cowboy character of the town was initially a shift for us, but it has easily become an endearing characteristic that has added a special ingredient to our lives each day.
Q: We understand you guys live in Bronco, one of our 55+ neighborhoods by Shea Homes®.
Were you originally looking for a 55+ neighborhood or community?
A: Not specifically. We imagined where we were going “wasn’t everyone 55+ any way?!?”. But now we play that card and make everyone from the other neighborhoods show their ID before they can enter Bronco!
What made Bronco the right neighborhood for you?
A: It is smaller, and seemed more intimate and tucked away. The wash behind our house adds a special feature, and we enjoy a clear view of Big Wick Hole #10 ( named “Whiskey Please”) and Vulture Peak from our backyard. Modest importantly, it is a different neighborhood from Janet and Alan’s!
Q: What would you say to people wondering if it will be easy to get involved socially at Wickenburg Ranch?
A: All one has to do is be willing to step outside their front door. Everyone we have met here is pretty much in the same boat. Many are retired, or at least pretty close! We’re all new to this community and interested in making new friends. Everyone seems very friendly, open and easy to get to know. There are so many natural and built-in amenities that only a recluse would not be able to find something to get involved in and others that are ready and willing to share it with.
Q: What is your favorite amenity at Wickenburg Ranch?
A: For Greg, tennis is the main attraction. The Stadium Court at the Courts & Sports Complex in particular is a facility unlike anything he has experienced anywhere else. Bocce ball and golf at Li’l Wick are his two other favorite attractions. Libby loves the fantastic pool and the family of roadrunners who dine on a variety of desert critters on our patio.
Q: What are your favorite activities at Wickenburg Ranch?
A: Aside from tennis, golf, the pool, and roadrunners, we would have to say socializing with all of our good neighbors and dining at Jake’s Spoon are right up there at the top of the list.
Q: Do you have a favorite memory since moving that you’d like to share?
A: It was our first night here. I think we were only the sixth or seventh house in Bronco. Everything else around us was dirt. There was only a half moon that night and precious few lights in the neighborhood. We had no landscape lights and nothing was hooked up in our house to produce any illumination with the exception of the lamps on our moving box nightstands. The second we turned out those lights to go to sleep we both responded simultaneously, “Man! Is it DARK here!” We went outside to enjoy an incredible view of the stars (including the Milky Way). We continue to this day to marvel at the amazing night skies here.
It’s either that or the first time we found ourselves in line at Safeway’s checkout stand where the guy in front of us was wearing spurs.
Q: How has your life changed since moving to Wickenburg Ranch?
A: Our move was fundamentally timed with retirement. So, not working has been a big change. Having said that, Wickenburg Ranch as well as our surrounding community and environment has filled in the blanks. We’ve fallen prey to the common refrain that we’re busier now than we ever were before retirement! We’ve made so many new friends who’ve come here from all over the United States. We can tell already that many of those will be life-long relationships with whom we’ll share lots of good memories down the road. We’ve totally embraced the small-town atmosphere and have come to appreciate that a car is secondary to a golf cart as the main means of transportation—at least within Wickenburg Ranch which is where we spend most of our time!
