Pete Ito knows what you want to ask: “You lived in Denver, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, with a passion for mountain biking and fly fishing … and you moved to the outskirts of Greensboro, Georgia?” He’s heard it before. “My family and friends wondered the same thing until they came to see for themselves.” Then they stopped asking.
The main reason for my move: I wanted a place for my daughters (Kristin and Megan, both in their 20s) and future grandchildren to visit. The other reason is that Denver isn’t what it used to be. What was once an hour drive to my favorite trail and river is now three hours. Here, everything is outside my door.
Megan wasn’t so sure at first. She came to check out Reynolds with me on January 1, 2018. There isn’t a whole lot to see between the airport (in Atlanta) and here. I’m single and she didn’t want me to be lonely. The next day we went to The Lake Club, ate at the restaurants, and met some people. She said, “Dad, this place is for you.” We had plans to go to Charleston, but canceled them.
I moved with my clothes and a laptop. Got in my car on a Saturday and made the 1,500-mile drive, stopping to take naps along the way. When I arrived on Sunday, I walked into the house and literally dropped to my knees, and said, “Thank you, God, for allowing me to move here.”
For two months I slept on an inflatable mattress. After buying a bed, my daughters helped me with my next purchase — a 25- foot wake-surfing boat. I didn’t know anything about wake surfing, but now I’m hooked.
A friend visited me for nine days. He was one of the people who wondered why I moved. But we surfed behind the boat every day ... and he came back with his wife for an even longer visit.
My daughters approve. Kristin lives in Denver. Megan lives in Arizona. But we see each other monthly. The airport is close enough for me to fly and meet them wherever we decide. Usually, though, they want to come here. As a dad, that’s the greatest feeling in the world.
