Kevin,
Do you feel welcome, yet? It is great to have you. As you get started, give us a report every couple of weeks to let us know how you are doing.

Thanks, RonH, for the mention. Yeah, I've got stories, but a lot of them seem to fall in the "don't do this" category.

You should have no trouble at all with the distance in terms of fitness. I did basically what you are describing, rode around the neighborhood, etc. for a couple of weeks, increasing mileage until I was confident I could do the 8.5 miles in/11 (now 13) miles home. I found that the pedalling was pretty easy from the beginning. Getting my seat conditioned to riding took a few days.
Regards,
Raymond