Thursday, 3 through Saturday, 5 November 2022
That photo of the kitties I published yesterday showing them on the back of the bench seat - that was an accomplishment for Jimmy. It was the first time he'd reached such a height. I'm not going to think about what his claws did to the upholstery to get there.
On Friday it started raining and kept it up all day long. The forecast was for 1" - 2" total, and we very likely reached it. Dext hated it, and when I insisted we go out so he could relieve himself he came back to the RV as soon as he could, almost dragging me behind him. Cold and wet. And it rained most of Saturday morning, too. But the sun came out in the afternoon and the day warmed up noticeably, which was good.
During these 3 days, I finished all but the last 2 posts for Nebraska and planned the next week of driving here in Iowa. This seems to be a state that's primarily small-to-tiny towns with occasional larger cities sprinkled throughout. But just because they're large by Iowa standards doesn't make them big.
Des Moines, the state's largest city at 214,000 in 2020, is smaller than Anchorage, Alaska (291,000). Cedar Rapids, the 2nd largest at 137,700, is smaller than Waco, Texas (138,400). Council Bluffs, the 10th largest city, has 63,000 folks.
What this means for me is an apparent lack of campgrounds. Consistently I found that the only ones available where I wanted to go were state campgrounds. So I finally gave in and planned to stay at a succession of those. They had the water shut off, which also meant no showers, and they were all on a first-come-first-served basis. But they offered electric hookups and I figured I wouldn't have a lot of competition this time of year and with the weather turning so cold. Definitely not a draw for your average recreational camper.
I'd planned to get to the KOA in Waterloo for a stop in the middle of the month but ran into a problem when I tried to make a reservation. Their online system refused to let me reserve that way, insisting I had to call. But when I called I got caught in a loop but eventually heard a message saying I should call on Monday through Friday between 7:00 and 1:00. Not really useful hours, since it was Friday afternoon when I first discovered this, but I figured I'd just keep trying after I got on the road next week. I'm guessing they have most of their campground shut down for the season, which is why they wouldn't take reservations online.
This Newton campground was one of those that had their water shut down, so I couldn't get a shower before we left. I turned off the water heater in the RV years ago and wasn't sure I wanted to take a risk of starting it up again without knowing what I was doing (which I don't), and sure didn't want to take a sponge bath using cold water - let alone a shampoo. So I figured I'd just stay dirty until I could get around to the Waterloo KOA.
I worked out the driving routes for each day, including places I wanted to see in between.
I noticed that we'd be having a full moon on Election Day. I know many scientists (and Abby Sciuto from NCIS) say there's no connection between the full moon and people's behavior. But I worked 2½ years in a children's psychiatric hospital and can attest that all of us who worked there saw a definite difference in the kids' level of whacko-ness during full moon periods. Given the levels of tension surrounding this election throughout the country, I didn't figure the moon was going to help things out.
And Daylight Savings Time ended Saturday night/Sunday morning. A lot to get used to. Anyone who's read this blog for very long knows I'm an ardent advocate for just sticking with what folks used to call God's Time when I was a kid. I've been interested to note that many scientists are now saying it's better for us physiologically than Daylight Savings Time. I know it's better for me, anyway.
I saw a black squirrel in the campground one morning. Completely black. Really pretty.
The yellow leaves were about gone here in central Iowa, compared to those I saw in Lincoln and Omaha before I came. Interesting that a few hundred miles could make such a change.
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