On Saturday, October 13, Pam, JoJo and I began our trip to Iowa and Wisconsin. The goal was to visit family and check out a few houses in Iowa that Pam had seen online. I’ll begin with the house hunt.
Let me start by observing realtor property descriptions are helpful but frequently incomplete. In fact, these descriptions omit crucial information that one can only confirm with a site visit.
A case in point was this ‘painted lady’ in Lake Mills; it looked good in photos but we found the window sills were rotten and the foundation had settled, leaving cracks between the foundation and the sill plate. A fixer is one thing, this was another.
Lake Mills house
Another house was advertised ‘river front property’ — but — the river was across the road and you would have had to jump over a guard rail to get to it. Some descriptions take a lot of liberty; here is a ‘walk out basement” (for a very short person) noted in one of the ads:
Walk out basement? For a gnome?
We also learned to ask if the house had been a rental unit; those properties we viewed that had been rentals were in pretty rough shape inside and out. Most renters just don’t take care of a property the way a resident owner would.
There were some nicer elements. One house in rural Elkader, Iowa had some of the historic woodwork we’re looking for:
Stairway in Fawn Hollow Road house
A place in nearby Volga, Iowa was tidy and updated, but small, with a very large tree-lined lot that was already partially fenced for dogs:
Part of the Volga lot. Plenty of trees!
Generally we were disappointed with what we saw. This may be due to the price range we are looking in; pretty much low end of the scale (the Volga house was priced at $51,500.00). Even the higher-priced places ($125k to 150k) did not offer that much more in housing. Some of the lots were huge, 6 acres or more. We don’t need that much land, we need more house.
The most useful outcome was our personal contact with two realtor agents, Penni and Kenny, a married couple. We hope this contact will result in locating a place more suited to our wishes. We also identified a specific geographic area in which to house hunt in the future — generally within 30 miles of the Mississippi River in two northeastern Iowa counties, as farther west Iowa flattens out and interesting vistas disappear. One town in particular caught our attention; Elkader is the county seat for Clayton County and is a charming place. The search continues, but with new direction.
The other goal of the trip was to hook up with relatives and catch up on family news and events. We met with my sister Carol and her friend Matt, Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne, and Pam’s sister Becky, and I went see my mother. An added, and unplanned, visit with my Aunt Gina Buhr (my father’s sister) rounded out this aspect of the trip.
My sister Carol and her friend Matt (whom we met for the first time) rendezvoused with us at our base of house hunting operations in the river town of Guttenberg, Iowa. It had been awhile since I’d seen Carol, and Matt proved to be an interesting guy. There was lively conversation over dinner — and again the following morning at breakfast — before we headed north and Carol and Matt headed home to the Chicago area.
Carole and Matt at a Mississippi River overlook. (Photo by a passerby.)
Our next meeting was with Pam’s brother Craig and his wife Dianne. It was Dianne’s birthday and Pam and I has shopped at an antique store in Elkader to find her a small gift. However, on the way to their lake house in mid-central Wisconsin, we received a call from Becky informing us that Dianne’s dog, Sophie, had just passed away on Dianne’s lap on the way to the vet. Dianne was understandably very upset, as Sophie has been a part of their family 14 years plus had been a gift from Dianne’s late mother.
This complicated matters a bit as I had planned to stay with Craig and Dianne that night. On to Plan B.
Craig and Dianne live in Bloomer, Wisconsin, about an hour or so away from my mother’s place in Greenwood. I drove to see my mother while Pam (and Becky, who had driven down from Rice Lake) went with Craig to meet Pam’s nephew’s wife Ellie (whom neither of us had met). Nephew Josh and Ellie have two children that Pam also wanted to see. Here is photo of Ellie with Marcie, their dog:
Ellie and Marcie, the dog. (Photo by Pam.)
Grady is the oldest child:
Grady. (Photo by Pam.)
Daughter Addy is the second child, here with Grandpa Craig:
Craig with granddaughter Addy. (Photo by Pam.)
Pam’s visit was brief and full of very active little kiddos. Pam felt it was valuable to connect personalities to Ellie’s Facebook posts.
My visit with my mother was mainly uneventful, a necessary health check. From my mother I learned that my Aunt Gina had moved into a residence home in Chippewa Falls. Plan B involved both Pam and I (and the dog) staying with Becky that night in Rice Lake. As we would have to go through Chippewa Falls to pick up our link to the interstate to head home the following day, we decided to visit Aunt Gina then.
Becky is still settling into her new trailer and we appreciated her willingness to put us up for the night. An added bonus was that Becky had prepared a hearty roast for dinner and it was waiting for me when I arrived in Rice Lake. The food was excellent and it was a thoughtful gesture on Becky’s part, one that I appreciated.
Now it was October 18th and time for us to head home. We found Aunt Gina’s residence and had a short visit with her. I am glad to say her mind is as sharp as ever and she had a few great stories about family life and growing up in central Wisconsin.
Then it was on the road for the long haul back to Colorado. We spent the night in York, Nebraska, and made it home to De Beque early Friday evening. The trip encompassed a bit over 3,300 miles.
York water tower
Along the way there were a few funny moments. We passed one restaurant sign that caught our fancy: “Ole’s Restaurant. Cold Beer. Greasy Food.” Truth in advertising? We also saw this slogan on the side of a semi-truck stopped in a rest area:
Only in the Midwest
Another sign + photo op was in Cylinder, Iowa. Pam though it was appropriate for me:
Sign for Cylinder, Iowa
In summary, the trip had high and low points. We had hoped one of the houses would be suitable for us into retirement, but such was not the case. We did connect with several family members, a good thing, and I hope we made Aunt Gina’s day a little brighter. We saw a lot of rolling farm country around the Mississippi River and a lot of forgettable land across Nebraska and western Iowa. Now we’ll have to settle back into our ‘normal’ routine and hope the contacts made with Iowa realtors (and Pam’s internet efforts) pay off in finding a suitable place for us to retire to.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Five Cents Worth:
Nebraska’s 2019 tourist slogan will be: “Nebraska. Honestly, It’s Not For Everyone.” Now there is truth in advertising. As Stephen Colbert noted on his late-night talk show, “Nebraska, are you OK? Do you need a vacation, someplace that is not-Nebraska?” Crossing that state seems endless, and on the way to the Midwest we traveled through snow flurries in Nebraska. Nasty.
Lots of miles traveled, and only five house visits scheduled. Two additional houses I was trying to schedule already had solid offers on them, and one property was eliminated prior to our departure (house empty for three years, furnace froze up, well abandoned). Property listings that sat all summer are now starting to receive offers (Murphy’s Law, I guess).
As Fields noted above, some general progress was made, however. We identified and connected with the realtor team at Ole’s 5 Star Realty in Elkader, we spent about an hour and a half in downtown Elkader. We drove along many charming and familiar types of little country roads, saw the harvest in action, I recited the poem “When the Frost is on the Punkin” for Fields’ edification. I bonded with the Mississippi River again. We narrowed down the geographical parameters of the future search.
Shocks of corn in eastern Iowa
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin’ turkey cock
And the clackin’ of the guineys, and the cluckin’ of the hens
And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence
O, it’s then’s the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best
With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock
“When The Frost Is On The Punkin” by James Whitcomb Riley
Family visits proved to include sorrow as well as new (to me) faces. Aunt Gina, possibly one of my favorite relatives on Fields’ side of the family, is 97 and as amazing as ever. So glad we made the time to briefly visit her.
The adventure continues.
Happy Trails.
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