We had not visited with Chad and family for two years, and it was time. Heading north in early March was risky, but given our schedule for the next four months, it made sense to go now. It required two stops to get there: Tonkawa, OK (pop. 2,980) and Merriam, KS (pop. 11,098), a Kansass City suburb.
Tonkawa Hotel & Casino and RV Park, 2 nights, 275 miles on I-35. We ate dinner at the Buffalo Bar & Grill inside the casino. The meal was OK, but the smokey atmosphere ruined the experience for us. The complex was located at an interstate plaza, and the town of Tonkawa was 3.6 miles east. I hiked there to get in my steps. This part of Oklahoma was extremely flat and windy.
Walnut Grove RV Park, 2 nights, 252 miles further on I-35. Weathermen were forecasting a winter blizzard for Iowa, but we arrived south of it in Merriam with strong winds but clear skies. Next morning, we worked out at a local AnyTime Fitness and stayed tuned to the weather reports. By that evening, winds gusting to 65 mph were being forecast, so we buttoned up for the night and crossed our fingers. In the morning, Sid and Arthur were covered with ice and a small amount of snow. Temperatures had also dropped into the low 20’s, which made packing up to leave a chilly challenge. My hands were nearly frozen.
Griff’s Valley View RV Park & Campground, Altoona, IA, for the week, 214 miles…still along I-35. This was where we stayed while last visiting Chad and family. Readers may recall during that stay, our RV park neighbor committed suicide. Fortunately, nothing tragic happened this time. The weather for the week turned unseasonably warm with clear skies, and we took advantage of it.
In the “big” news department, Chad had shared a week before we arrived that they had recently closed on the purchase of two acres near Dallas Center, IA (pop. 1,076). They planned on building a new home there, a home in which Jake would have his own, separate apartment. Let’s just say both he and his parents were over the moon about this pending arrangement. Chad wanted us to walk the property; listen to his ideas; review their initial plans; and share our thoughts, comments, and ideas.
He was meeting his architect at the site, so we drove out that morning and spent several hours walking the property, taking pictures and videos, and discussing some of the known and proposed details. The lot sat on a cul-de-sac facing northeast, and had a 30′ setback from the street to accommodate the utility easement. From the middle of the lot, a drainage swale began to widen as it dropped about 34 feet to the creek. Hiking it made the elevation change feel more like 50 to 60 feet. The ground then sloped upward from the creek to the back of the property line. Chad already had neighbors on both sides of his lot; however, the one to the northeast owned a double lot. He built his house on one, but the other lot adjacent to Chad remained wooded and likely will not have anything built on it.
Here were two videos taken while at Chad’s lot. In the first one, we’re standing at the front looking into the property and panning from right to left. In the second, we’re standing at 200′ from the front line, again looking toward the back and panning from right to left.
Chad’s architect was a very nice, soft-spoken guy who listened closely to what Chad and Elizabeth wanted in the design. Before we left Des Moines, the architect had shared several initial design layouts but hadn’t yet satisfied all their desires. The Bunner’s were excited about building a house so close to nature, and they wanted lots of tall windows to provide close-up views. They’ve included a swimming pool in the final design as well. It was an beautiful piece of land with great opportunities and possibilities.
Speaking of pools, Chad had one built at their current house since our last visit, and with the warm weather, we all hopped in and enjoyed ourselves for about an hour. Chad cranked up the heater and made it comfortable, right up until we exited into the wind and felt the real temperature. Brrrrrrr! The new pool made buying them Christmas towels an easy decision.
Jake mostly did his own thing while we were there, but he and I did get to play our traditional game of “Ms. Pac-Man” on his professional arcade-sized video game. It was an easy challenge really, I struggled to score 10,000, while Jake achieved his average score of around 150,000. I asked him what his latest high-score was, and he said about 284,000. The kid’s a master gamer. I enjoyed our “Ms. Pac-Man” despite the thrashing.
During our previous visit with Chad, we discovered an Airstream repair facility as a part of Blue Compass RV in Altoona, IA. They did a fantastic job raising the RV on the frame by installing 3″ lifts. We went over to say hello and pick up a new shade MFI had ordered for the skylight outside our bathroom. As luck would have it, while we were describing the damage experienced on Canada’s Dempster Highway, specifically to the chrome trim on our front rock guards; they explained how I could easily fix this by purchasing and installing new trim inserts that came manufactured with double-stick tape. You couldn’t image how elated I was. We purchased 10 feet (it came in 100′ rolls), and once the temperature rose above 70 degrees, I removed and replaced the inserts in about a half hour. Most of that time was spent ensuring the trim track was clean and replacing two track rivets. I had been fretting about how to DIY this fix for months.
Rather than sit around and watch too much mind-numbing TV, Chad and Elizabeth often enjoyed going to the backyard, where one hits balls pitched by the other. We were introduced to this during our previous visit. To set up the short video below, Chad had retrieved one of the balls after it had become wrapped in snow, such as, when one rolled a snow ball in snow and made it larger and larger. Before he pitched it to Elizabeth, who by the way was an excellent hitter, I asked he wait until I could video the blast. Too much pressure perhaps?
We each took the other couple out to eat during the week. We took them for dinner at China Cafe, their favorite Chinese place near the house. It was plentiful and tasty as we’d come to expect. They took us out to lunch in downtown Des Moines at another of their favorites, Home Grown. We each had a delicious meal, but what stood out for me was the specialty coffee I ordered at Elizabeth’s recommendation. It was called “The Honey Bee,” an espresso with steamed cream and honey. Absolutely scrumpcious! What also made the drink particularly symbolic was that Elizabeth teaches and manages a belly-dancing troupe called “Bee’Witched.” Understandably, the troupe’s theme/logo/favorite insect was the bee, and Elizabeth has a house full of bee related memorabilia. The talented barrista made it clear to me why she loved more than the taste of this particular coffee.
Our week with the Iowa Bunner’s flew by much too quickly. We had a great time and look forward to updates on construction of the new house. We loved seeing them “flourish.”
