We still don’t have Wi-Fi connection and our AT&T cell phones and hot spot do not work in Forest City, Iowa (I knew we should have gotten Verizon). Regardless, we’re writing the blog in the hope that it will get to you, the reader, eventually.
We finally left the nest and went off on our own. Since we don’t have a convenient address to receive mail in the States, we are waiting in the general area for the license plates to be delivered to the RV dealership. It is beautiful here in small town, rural America and we are enjoying the quiet and scenery. We can understand why people would want to live here; when taking a walk or shopping, everyone who passes us by, whether walking, running, biking, or driving a car, says “hello” and gives a big smile – hard to believe but true, never once were we not greeted in a happy manner. Maybe there is a Pleasantville out there. We have been told that Forest City is a Winnebago town (the factory is one mile from the dealer), and people really do appreciate those of us who have chosen to buy here.
We have set up camp in the Forest City campground; there are woods and trees, rivers with people fishing, and an easy two-mile hiking trail which we walked twice today. After all the running around we’ve been doing over the last week – since we arrived in the States – this was a welcome change. We may decide to spend Shabbat here.
We’re still getting used to the van; there seems to continually be new things to learn. For example, I ended up taking a cold shower today because I accidentally turned off the hot water heater, oops. At least I took the first shower so Sima didn’t have to suffer. Regardless, our routine is starting to work out. One thing that seems to working for us is that after I wake up, daven, and make coffee, I take a walk outside the RV, so Sima can have use of the van. I like the quiet walk with a cup of coffee in the morning.
Right now the biggest challenge we have is water conservation. These past two days we have used about 2/3 a tank of water (a tank is 26 gallons), a day with showers, cooking, dish washing, etc… In most cases, we will be in a campground with full hookups or an area with fresh water and a dump station to empty the black and grey water tanks, but there will be times when we won’t have easy access to these amenities. We need to figure out a routine to be able to last three days without having to deal with filling/emptying tanks. We will practice and experiment until we get our water protocol mastered.
The surroundings, as mentioned, are beautiful. We saw hundreds of geese walking around, sharing the golf course with the golfers.
A small waterfall, lakes, and the Winnebago River are all part of the Forest City campground. We’ve struck up some nice conversations with other RVers, mostly retired folks like ourselves, who are happy to share tips and information.
Sima and Bill
This is a “test comment” as my first comment relating to the Encore production seems to have gone into a black hole. Bernie is a week after his hip replacement, resting at home.
Sounds amazing. So happy for you that you are able to do this.
When possible, please include photos.
Surprising that the geese are “sharing” a golf course. They can be very aggressive & I’ve read stories over the years of them becoming major problems on golf courses.