Monday, June 3, 2013

Altoona, IA - Full-Timing

And, here we are, in a very nice campground in Altoona, IA, cross town from where we lived in West Des Moines. We arrived yesterday in time for dinner, showers and relaxing. It had been a full 3 days, from morning to night each day and we’re ready for a day off. Today is the day off. We still have a lot of unfinished business with our home but today is a relaxing day.

We did get an offer on our home several days ago but it was lower than we wanted and don’t really plan to counter since we're so far apart. But, the house has been for sale only 26 days and this was the just the first offer (I say as if I know there will be more). But, we’re not that anxious to sell. However, we are spending lots of time analyzing prices of homes that have sold recently. Unfortunately, none was a 2-story with a finished lower level on a pond. Makes it difficult to find comps and, when one does find comps they are new homes in rows of 6 or 7 with a garage under the 2 floors with a long commute into town. Pond: nope, mature trees: not at all, close to shopping: they’re miles out side of town. But they are cheaper and are newer. Ah, well, we’ll sell eventually.

Meanwhile we’re in a beautiful campground and enjoying being in the RV again, after 5 months out of it. Here we are on our ‘street.’ Who would have through we’d have such a large lawn?

CampsiteViews-2-2013-06-3-20-34.jpg
Note the huge lots surrounded by lush grass with cement pads. The water hook-ups are under ground and have an insulated cover for winter camping. (Yikes.) We all have a ‘house’ light on our site. The trees are small but they are growing and will give some shade for future campers. This campground started with a club house with laundry, TV and exercise room and 4 rows of about 10 RV sites each. Then was expanded with double the number of sites, a large pond for fishing and boating, another large clubhouse and laundry (with a tornado shelter underneath) all carved out of farm fields several years ago. We can also see a big grassy area beyond our area that looks like it will be future campsites.

(And, yes, we checked out the tornado shelter - very well protected with steel and concrete, included several tables and with folding chairs stacked along the walls. All they need now is a vending machine, a monopoly game and some card decks.)

There are two kinds of campers: those who work in the area, most in highway construction, and lots of snowbirds who come back to Iowa every summer. Most of those in our area are snowbirds BUT at 5:00 I heard that badly tuned diesel truck leave for work, circling around our corner. Obviously there are some workers in our area, too.

IowaSunsets-1-2013-06-3-20-34.jpgAnd this campground is full, full, full. We did get the last space for the next two months. The snowbirds will make their reservation for next year before they leave for the south this fall. Some of the construction workers and their families actually live here all winter long. There are 46 actual sites which are winterized. I can’t imagine living in an RV over a frigid, snowy, icy Iowa winter.

As we went through the evening and through today, we tallied up what we had forgotten. I know two people who did not check their list before they packed. But, we didn’t feel any urgency since we knew we’d be back to the house almost daily for a month at least. The first thing we noticed that we had left at home was: hand soap. Huh? Luckily, we’ve got a large container of body wash for the shower. This large container now sits on our counter by our kitchen sink. Hey, what about that checkbook? Luckily, the campground takes VISA. Cheese grater, rolling pin, coasters. Little things but we’d really like to have them. Tomorrow is our day for errands and to check on the house.

Today it was in the high 60’s, sunny without a cloud in the sky and with just a hint of a breeze. A perfect day for a walk.

And, the sun setting over the trees. The view from our front window was superb.

No comments:

Post a Comment