Altoona, IA - Dull & Duller

My, my, my. I’ll bet that you disappeared or that I’ve run away with that cute guy in the next RV over from ours. Nope and nope. Firstly, we are here in Altoona, IA, which seems to be our home base, to ‘rest and relax’ after a quick trip across the US from Maine to Iowa. Well, at least that seemed to be the plan. But, sometimes plans go awry. And, truthfully, we should never have the preconceived notion that our time in Iowa is rest and relaxation. We have had all of our annual appointments: we have visited the eye doctor, the radiologist for a mammogram, our regular doctor for a ‘wellness’ Medicare exam, then, when the receptionist told us we did not need to fast for this, we had to return for a blood test with our regular doctor. I bought new glasses (at Target where they had a 1/2 price lens sale) and Gary went for his annual appointment with his dermatologist. I also visited the radiologist for a dexa exam for my bones. Finally, we both visited the dentist. I’ll write more about that later. There, doesn’t that sound like and fun? And, why in the world do I need to write a blog on all of that? How about I just write about it in a blog devoted to a summary of our month here in IA? Doesn’t that sound much better?

We were talking with some friends who also RV and land here in Iowa for ‘rest and relaxation’ and they agree: IA is not rest and relaxation. They, like us, always think that the next stop on our journey will be where we will be able to rest and relax. We’re looking to Arizona, our next stop, where we land for 2 1/2 months, for our bit of rest and relaxation. It’s always at the next stop - it’s always over the horizon.

Speaking of doctors, do you call your doctors by their given name, Lisa, or do you say Dr. Klock? I’ve always said Dr. Whatever. My parents, on the other hand, called their doctors by their given name: their dentist was Lloyd, their doctor was Paul. But, they were all the same age, went to the same church and all were members of the local Country Club. Besides, it was a small town. My brother, the mover and the shaker, is of the same school and calls his doctor, Shannon. Me, I live in a bigger city, don’t know my doctor personally and call him or her by their last name.

OK, the dentist story. Last January, I noticed that when I chomped down the wrong way, I felt a shooting pain in one of my teeth. Oh, shucks. Not a dental problem here in New York, hundreds of miles from my dentist. My decision was: wait it our and don’t chew on the left side of my mouth. Got it. Then, glory be, I was eating breakfast one morning and I felt a solid lump in my mouth. I knew immediately what it was - a filling or a tooth. Sure enough, it was a piece of a tooth. And - I had no more pain when I chewed. Hey, it must have fixed itself. Yeah, right. Even I couldn’t believe that. Finally, in June, I went to a dentist in Exeter, NH. She confirmed my plan - I didn’t need to get it fixed right away, I could wait til September to see my regular dentist. Whew. Painfree and no dental appointment in sight.
But, of course, all good things come to an end and here we were in Iowa seeing our regular dentist. I had called ahead and they had made a 2-hr appointment for me. Drill to China, plastic cast, temporary crown. All the good things in life. And, lucky me, I got to go back. Now, I have a new crown. All is well.

So, doctors galore and they all took time. Errands - well, we save up things to do and buy for the RV and our lives until we land somewhere and can take the time to think about them and actually find them. You know errands - 10 items, 18 stops and you come home with 5 items, with 5 still on the list. Maybe you can find your each of your items exactly as you want them on the first shot. But, we’re looking and just can’t always find the exact thing we want. Are we too particular? Hey - don’t answer that.

While we’re out on our errand runs, we like to listed to Sirius. Music, news, politics - we listen to it all. But, how come, every time we get into the car and turn it on - we get commercials? All the way to our next stop. Obviously, they have their regular programming while we’re in some store because when we get back out, we get commercials again. I thought that was why we paid for Sirius - to have commercial-free listening. Silly me. We have some friends who tell us that when we go to Alaska, we will not be able to get Sirius at all- can’t reach the satellite because of the curve of the earth. Oh, shucks, we’ll have to talk, make meaningful conversation. You’ve got to be kidding.

And, hey, about that cute guy in the RV next door - come on, when I’ve got the nicest, sexiest, wittiest guy here in my own RV, you know, I’m not looking abroad.

Marriage is a three ring circus: engagement ring, wedding ring, suffering.
                        Anonymous