Gettin' Out of Dodge

When was the last time you drove out of town? Where'd you go and why?


Now that's a good question, but it depends on the definition of "out of town".  I mean, I live "out of town" if you consider that my little 'burg is 40 or so miles from a mall, bookstore, Starbucks or Home Depot.  When we want to do some real shopping, it's a day trip to Cedar Rapids or Dubuque.  Woo Hoo....Mama and Daddy go to the big city!

If "out of town" means a real road trip to some far away place, that would be our convoy from Maryland to Iowa when we moved the whole brood here.  Hubby driving the 27' U-Haul and me in a minivan with 2 cats, three kids and a rather large dog.  We underestimated the time it would take to make the trip with a fully loaded U-Haul truck.  What should have taken 14 hours (a simple overnight) took 23 hours.

My next trip out of town will be in  the summer when I meet my friend in Virginia and we take a wild road trip back to Iowa.  We're going to stop in the northern Indiana Amish area and do some serious flea market shopping.  This is a trip we started planning 30 years ago and just let life interfere with our plans. 

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Hangaku Gozen
I love small towns, especially the rural college ones like Iowa City and Northfield here in MN. However, there is a grave disadvantage: seeking health care, especially for procedures that require a team of surgeons and complex aftercare. The brother of a friend of mine who lives in Waterloo had to be sent all the way to Des Moines to get a triple bypass. It was traumatic for his family, who had to live out of a motel room in order to stay with him through his surgery and recovery. He also had to stay in Des Moines in order to go through physical therapy and post-op checkups. He didn't get to go home until almost three months later, and the bills were just enormous. I hope reforms in health care include a better distribution of resources, rather than have, say, 12 hospitals in one urban area, as we have.
Prairie Robin
Boy, you have that right. Rural health care is a major issue. We have a regional hospital here with 38 beds. The ER is ok for minor things, otherwise you get sent to Cedar Rapids or Iowa City. If all you need is a GP, we have enough. Twice a month, St Luke's in CR sends various specialists (Ortho, Neuro, etc.) The really serious lack is in the mental health area. There are no Child Psychiatrist within 100 miles so the U of Iowa Med Center utilizes a video link to their Child Psychs. It works pretty well but not the same as in person.

Moving here from the DC area was total culture shock, but not always in a bad way. I've just had to learn to slow down, plan my shopping needs and learn the difference between "wants" and "needs".

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