First Days In Iowa

Jesse and I arrived safe and sound in Iowa on June 23^rd. We made it to the hotel and checked in pretty early since the drive from Sioux City, SD was only a few hours. Even though it was a bit early for dinner we decided to head to Boulder Tap House only a mile away to get some food and relax a bit after our drive. We lucked out and it was a tap take over from a brewery in Des Moines! We sat and enjoyed our beers when one of the guys from the brewery came over and gave us two free glasses and chatted a bit. That is one place we will have to visit when we head to that city. Our time in Iowa was already pretty great.

We decided to drive over to our apartment so we knew where it was and see what was around. What a wonderful surprise when we found out that our apartment backed up to a huge park with a wooden playground, some fun musical art, a garden area and a 1912 steam engine. That is someplace we will be spending a lot of time.

Since this town is just not that big we decided to drive into downtown Mason City. It is adorable! They have some great old buildings and one is a very pretty hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. There is also a house here that he designed as well. Jesse and I enjoy living in small towns and this one is pretty cool. Downtown they have a central park and also a courtyard between some of the restaurants and stores where a local instrumental band was getting ready to play. After walking a bit we saw some of the sculptures that are along the sidewalk. Evidently there is a walking tour you can take of all of them and they vote at the end of the summer. The sculpture with the most votes is bought by the city and it becomes a permanent piece of art. Mason City also has a brewery which we had to visit and sample some beer. It is a little place with only beer but they do have games and a chalkboard with upcoming bands and events.

Friday was move in day! We went to the apartment complex and met with the very nice man that manages the property. He showed us around and told us a little about the area. After that we started unpacking. We are on the second floor for the first time so that was new, hauling our bins up the stairs but it was our fitness for the day. It didn’t take too long to unpack since we are getting pretty good at this. We spend much of the day unpacking but did find time to take a break and go to Lorado’s for a great sandwich lunch. Finally the apartment was all unpacked and we found the nice big grocery store. They make sushi there so we got some of that and some cold salads for dinner (again we do not have a microwave). We ate out on our awesome porch and watched the cars go by.

Saturday had us getting up early since Jesse was headed to Minneapolis airport so he could fly to Buffalo for some fun times. After he left I was home alone to explore Mason for the weekend before I started work on Monday. I made a hair appointment for Saturday late morning while I was still living in Washington so I had that to look forward to. I like to get a whole new cut and color when I move to a new area. Our apartment is located about a mile from downtown so I decided to walk to get my haircut. It was a bit warmer and more humid then California or Washington so I felt bad I was a little sweaty when I sat in the chair but it was a beautiful walk. The main street you take is State Street and it is lined with all these older restored homes that are just beautiful. There are even plaques on the sidewalk telling you the year and style of home.

After getting my haircut I walked to East Park. They had cars parked there that were part of The Great Race, an event where they drive from somewhere in CA to somewhere in IL. They stopped briefly here in Mason before continuing the race. Cars from all years and styles were there, they even had a few that had been flown over from Japan. It was quite a sight to see. I hung out at home a bit and got some stuff done so I decided to walk back into town for a nice dinner with myself. Jesse and I had tried to go to a place called The Quarry for lunch back on Friday but they stopped serving food during the middle of the day to get ready for dinner so I went there and had their mahi mahi special and it was incredible! I must take Jesse there when we have time. The evening was spent on the porch with my dog, a book and a drink. I think I will like our time here in the Midwest.

Clear Lake is a town about 10 miles away that is pretty popular for boating and they have a little sandy beach for those that like that kind of thing. Did you know that the town of Clear Lake is infamous?  It’s the site of the plane crash that came to be known as “the day the music died.”  The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly played at the Surf Ballroom before their plane crashed after taking off from Mason City Airport. The Surf as it is called is a popular destination and they have a memorial to the singers as well. Before I went there I needed to find some gas for my car though. She is a fun peppy little thing that takes super premium gas and I had yet to find anything above 89 octane here in Mason but I lucked out and one gas station has 93! My girl has not been spoiled with that since we lived on the east side of the US. That is a unique problem to have as we drive across the US; some of the smaller middle of nowhere gas stations have some odd choices for fuel and usually not any of the good stuff. Thankfully we have not had a huge problem so far. My work is about 3 miles away so we should save a lot of money on gas living here.

As you would imagine Clear Lake is a nice little lakeside town with wonderful homes, shops and restaurants. One of which is a place that makes cookies and they blow the sweet chocolate air out onto the sidewalk, very smart business practice I would say. I took some pictures, had a great lunch at a deli and headed home. I made a few lunches for myself for work the next couple of days and spent the evening relaxing.

Even though I have had six first days in the last two years, each time I get excited and nervous about what I will find when I get to work. Will it be a big lab? Will the people be nice? What will the analyzers be like? Will I be able to learn the computer system fast enough? This place was a very pleasant surprise. The people are very nice, the analyzers are new and everything in that lab has a labeled spot to be. They must have done the whole Lean/Six Sigma thing. I like it. As a newbie it sure makes it easier to find supplies and things. The computer system I struggled with a bit but it is starting to make sense. This feels like it will be a great assignment!

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