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New to Iowa

8K views 37 replies 9 participants last post by  danakscully64 
#1 ·
Anyone here from Iowa? I recently moved here. Ames area :)
 
#3 ·
We haven't fully settled in, there are still quite a lot of boxes. It took my body a solid 4 days to recover, I felt like I had the flu (body aches). Part of it was moving boxes, straining my back, dropping something on my foot, splitting my foot open at the heal, and tripping on cement and hurting my knee. I'm very accident prone, as you can see :p We haven't had any corn yet, but I have some in my fridge. The odd part is it's been imported from another state :lol:


So far, I really like the area. It's calm, our apartment is amazing, and the city has so much in it. We have Starbucks, Target, game stores, restaurants, fast food, Best Buy, a book store, etc.
 
#4 ·
We haven't fully settled in, there are still quite a lot of boxes. It took my body a solid 4 days to recover, I felt like I had the flu (body aches). Part of it was moving boxes, straining my back, dropping something on my foot, splitting my foot open at the heal, and tripping on cement and hurting my knee. I'm very accident prone, as you can see [emoji14] We haven't had any corn yet, but I have some in my fridge. The odd part is it's been imported from another state [emoji38]

So far, I really like the area. It's calm, our apartment is amazing, and the city has so much in it. We have Starbucks, Target, game stores, restaurants, fast food, Best Buy, a book store, etc.
Moving is hard on the body, that's for sure! I'm glad you are settling in. :)
 
#5 ·
You're less than an hour away from Iowa Speedway, so there's a good thing.

If you plan on traveling at all, get used to corn fields. Endless corn fields. Punctuated by soybean fields and very occasionally sunflower fields.
 
#12 ·
tonight I am having a cheeseless pizza from the local caseys, I'd be willing to share, or at least trade, for a bowl of vegan mac!
Dinner is at 5 :D

Casey's.... General store? You can get real pizzas from general stores? Not just the little microwave burritos and such?

A box is a whole serving, but I may be able to send you a few bites your way :p
 
#15 ·
I know its weird, but Casey's general store/gas station makes really nice pizzas for order. they also make donuts and subs in stores as well.

They handmake the dough for the pizza, donuts, and sandwiches, in store. I highly recommend it ;)
I'll check it out! :) Apparently Kum and Go has a kitchen for sandwiches in the morning? That's what the commercial said. That's just weird. I'm used to gross gas station convenient stores :p I will miss the crunch ice of AMPM (which I rarely got anyway, it's like Sonic's ice)

This makes me want to move to Iowa! :)

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Come on over, it's nice here! It snows though, and rains. It's weird, stuff comes from the sky other than sun :sunny:
 
#16 ·
Iowa is a weird place. good weird, but weird nonetheless. some of the deeply rural restaurants make me long for a gas station's fare. LOL.

People love deep fried pork tenderloin sandwiches and made-rite loose meat hamburgers down were I am. If the resturaunt specializes in either of those items, I know I'm going to have an interesting time trying to find something on the menu for myself.

Sometimes you gotta make do with a pint of budwiser, an order of fries, and a crunchy iceberg salad. Oh well, I like beer. ;)
 
#17 ·
Iowa is a weird place. good weird, but weird nonetheless. some of the deeply rural restaurants make me long for a gas station's fare. LOL.

People love deep fried pork tenderloin sandwiches and made-rite loose meat hamburgers down were I am. If the resturaunt specializes in either of those items, I know I'm going to have an interesting time trying to find something on the menu for myself.

Sometimes you gotta make do with a pint of budwiser, an order of fries, and a crunchy iceberg salad. Oh well, I like beer. ;)
If you lived in Des Moines or Ames, I think you'd be happier with Iowa :p

California can be the same way though. People love bacon there. I've had to go hungry many times before.

Beer? I don't see beer in anything you just listed. I read water, fries, and salad. Budweiser is water, isn't it? :lol:
 
#23 ·
You're relatively far south for the really cold stuff. Winter will probably be pretty OK for you.

So .... have any experience with tornadoes?
 
#25 ·
Ignore him, he's from MN. His brain is probably still frozen. ;) Winter will suck.

Tornadoes suck as well.
:lol:

It gets below zero here, that's not really cold? :p

I worry about tornadoes, but I know when people move to CA they worry about earthquakes (when they're not so bad). According to people around here, tornadoes aren't a huge issue here (not like OK).
 
#26 ·
It gets below zero here, that's not really cold? :p
It gets a little monotonous when we go several days without cracking a degree, but that doesn't happen too often.

And cold? Worse I've seen was a stretch in the late 90s, when the gas pedal on my car actually froze to the floor for close to a week.

I worry about tornadoes, but I know when people move to CA they worry about earthquakes (when they're not so bad). According to people around here, tornadoes aren't a huge issue here (not like OK).
I'm a lifetime resident of these parts and I've never had a touchdown closer than a mile away. From 74-79 my family was in north Iowa, and going in the basement was dang near a weekly occurrence. Scary, yes. But not much more than that.
 
#29 ·
It gets a little monotonous when we go several days without cracking a degree, but that doesn't happen too often.

And cold? Worse I've seen was a stretch in the late 90s, when the gas pedal on my car actually froze to the floor for close to a week.

I'm a lifetime resident of these parts and I've never had a touchdown closer than a mile away. From 74-79 my family was in north Iowa, and going in the basement was dang near a weekly occurrence. Scary, yes. But not much more than that.
Does that mean you didn't have to go to work for the whole week? :D

We don't have a basement. Apparently they're not in every home around here. Is that a good sign?

According a website: "Ames, IA is a Moderate Risk area for tornados. According to records, the largest tornado in the Ames area was an F5 in 1976 that caused 9 injuries and 0 deaths."

I understand Iowa is prone to being struck by meteorites too! :eek: Actually, the good news is, as long as it's below freezing, there will be no tornadoes....
Meteorites? Neat! But hopefully they just hit crops :p

Every once in awhile you'll get thundersnow, but that's cool. A lightening storm crossed with a snowstorm ...
We got a thunderstorm on our first or second night. I like thunderstorms! The cats aren't too sure about them though.
 
#27 ·
I understand Iowa is prone to being struck by meteorites too! :eek: Actually, the good news is, as long as it's below freezing, there will be no tornadoes....
 
#30 ·
Does that mean you didn't have to go to work for the whole week? :D
If memory serves, I took the bus. At least I think that's where my memories of walking a half mile to the bus stop when it was 20 below come from.
 
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#32 ·
I used to live in Council Bluffs, IA which is over the Missouri River bridge from Omaha, NE. They have about 3 Hy-Vees in Ames? Hy-Vee has a pretty good vegan/vegetarian section. Ames has the Wheatsfield Cooperative. I wonder how Vegan friendly? I never had much problems finding anything I wanted in those states. They may have Indian, Asian markets as well.

What I have to rely on now living in a tiny town in NM is an over-priced natural foods store and Amazon's free shipping, which I think is a great deal considering I need to buy quite a lot from them. They neighbors probably think I am running a business out of my home, as many UPS trucks that come by my house.

I love that area, and will be moving back to "near" there. Kansas City, MO because I want to take classes at the Kansas City Art Academy.
 
#33 ·
I used to live in Council Bluffs, IA which is over the Missouri River bridge from Omaha, NE. They have about 3 Hy-Vees in Ames? Hy-Vee has a pretty good vegan/vegetarian section. Ames has the Wheatsfield Cooperative. I wonder how Vegan friendly? I never had much problems finding anything I wanted in those states. They may have Indian, Asian markets as well.

What I have to rely on now living in a tiny town in NM is an over-priced natural foods store and Amazon's free shipping, which I think is a great deal considering I need to buy quite a lot from them. They neighbors probably think I am running a business out of my home, as many UPS trucks that come by my house.

I love that area, and will be moving back to "near" there. Kansas City, MO because I want to take classes at the Kansas City Art Academy.
I think we have 2 Hy-Vees. I've been to Wheatsfield, it's okay. They had Field Roast, which is awesome. I've found some oddball items there too like Gardein BBQ pockets and some Cookie Butter vegan ice cream.

I love Amazon :D
 
#34 ·
Welcome to the Midwest :D I've never lived in Iowa, but spent a good chunk of my life in Missouri and now live in east-central Illinois. Lots of cornfields here, too. Our apartment had cornfields on two sides of it, then we moved to our house ... which backs to more cornfields. We also have Casey's Pizza here, although I haven't tried it yet. Unfortunately, there's no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods without a road trip. I miss them both! Is Iowa super-flat like central Illinois? We were very surprised by how crazy windy it was here without the windbreak of hills and trees. Great in the summer, brutal in the winter. The lack of hills did make the snow and ice easier, though. No sliding through red lights on icy hills. I hope you enjoy married life and your new place!
 
#36 ·
Iowa is pretty flat. I'm used to some mountain ranges around me :p I lived in So Cal before where it was windy often (and we have the Santa Ana winds), so this isn't much different. I haven't experienced a winter yet, I'm worried.

Thank you! :D So far so good!

Did I hear on the news that Iowa just had a tornado? [emoji33]

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Not Central, I think in the SW.
 
#37 ·
The tornado was in Adams County, and hit a couple of barns. Ames is in the center of Iowa right above Des Moines. (Pronounced Duh-moin).

Gosh Ice and snow. Once you get above Arkansas that is kind of the reality for much of the US. Excluding maybe the California/Washington coast line. The great thing about winter up there is that they know how to deal with it. The bad news is you have to dig yourself out of it. Buy a snow blower. Get it when it is on sale. You should have no problems. All weather tiers is another good investment. And a front or all wheel drive. If you have a back wheel drive vehicle like a little datsun truck, you will be in danger on the roads.
 
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