After retiring, Steve King began walking but grew tired of seeing the same sights on his path.
King said, “It just wasn’t entertaining to me.”
As a result, the resident of the Village of Mallory Square, set out to walk every suburban street in The Villages.
On March 1, 2020, he began his journey in the Village of Orange Blossom Gardens. He records where he has walked, as well as his distance, pace and steps.
Steve King has walked 420 miles and passed through 40 to 60 villages so far. He’s walked half the distance between County Road 466 and County Road 466A and has covered everything from southeast Highway 42 to County Road 466.
He completed walking the residential streets of the Village of Winifred recently.
“I’ve taken out a section of the residential area,” King said, “but there’s still a long way to go.”
King doesn’t walk every day. Instead, he walks when he can and then drives his golf cart to the next location where he wants to walk.
Last year, he made shirts to celebrate the goal. His shirts said “The Village Walker” on the front and “Walking The Villages Street by Street Village by Village” on the back, with a partial map of The Villages. He has many colored t-shirts and wears one wherever he walks.
Sue, his partner, used to accompany him on walks but no longer does.
She is awestruck at how much he has progressed.
She thought it was insane at first, but knowing how goal-oriented he is, she realized he could do it, and it would be beneficial to him, she explained.
“He really wants to keep pushing forward because it’s such a big dream,” Sue said.
Steve invented a game for himself that he generally loves to play when he is out walking. During his walks, he found out that many homes had animal figurines in their yards, including dogs, cats, birds, giraffes and dinosaurs. At one home, he also saw a Tweety bird figurine and a rhinoceros.
He will sometimes speak with Villagers about their figurines and inquire if he can photograph them. He has about 8,000 pictures of various figurines on his phone so far.
Steve has also met some remarkable people, according to him.
He met someone from his hometown in Indiana, as well as another man who served in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, much like Steve’s brother.
Steve has also lost weight as a result of his walks.
“I’m in better shape. I keep myself busy,” he said. “I simply enjoy it. It gives me something to anticipate.”
Steve has completed a significant portion of his objective, but he intends to continue.
“One of the problems is that The Villages is still growing,” he said. “This could be an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun