What we won't miss
So now that I have told you what we will miss it is time to flip the coin and tell you what we won't miss.
I think it almost goes without saying but we won't miss having to get up every morning to go to work. I am not an early morning person except when I need to be and it will be nice to get on my body's schedule instead of a work schedule. Now on days I have to get John to work (and until recently) the days I worked it was up by 5:30 and for John to bed around 9. I have trouble going to sleep that early so for me it was more like 10-11pm. When we have had long vacations it seems our bodies fell into an up at 8 and to bed around midnight schedule. I am looking forward to that. Ahh, just to not have to wake up to an alarm.
Local politics is another thing we won't miss. Cedar Rapids is a small city that can't decide if it wants to act like a small town or a big city and it just gets ugly out there. The last straw for us has been the flood recovery from our catastrophic flood in 2008. Funny thing is that year the city had a theme of "the year of the river" as they were trying to develop a river side development plan. Well it certainly was the year of the river and from what I can see the river was saying "BACK OFF". There was an opportunity to do just that and make green space for all to enjoy and not have to worry about another flood bailout but no only a fraction of the area was bought up and as time has gone by, more and more building permits have been issued. Sometimes I'm just amazed that we think we can conquer Mother Nature, time and time again she proves to us that she can overcome anything we put in her way.
A town that refuses to make it safe for bicycles and pedestrians. It always amazed me how this city doesn't require sidewalks in residential areas. We have lived near three different elementary schools that if you went more than three blocks in any direction there would be at least one and usually two, and at the last one all four directions, that the sidewalk would end. If you wanted your children to walk to school often it was in the street - that sound safe doesn't it? As for bicycles, there is one bike trail through town and it is heavily used but to safely get to the trail you usually have to drive. There are very few bike lanes and the car traffic really doesn't care if your there they just want you to get out of their way. For the last few years John has tried to bike to work most days and I have to say I worried everyday about his safety. He would try to take the safest route to the bike trail and use it as far as he could. We have been is some very bike friendly cities like Anchorage AL, Vancouver BC, Fort Collins CO, and Madison WI, to name a few so we know what bike friendly looks like and this is not it.
Lastly, we will not miss the weather. We do love the change of seasons but Iowa seems to get the extremes. Hot and humid summers and in the winter cold and lots of ice. We actually like snow but most years here we would get more ice than snow. In Iowa usually the first thing you do in the morning is check the forecast. With retirement it will be nice to choose the climate, I know the weather will change no matter where we are but now if it snows we can stay put instead of digging ourselves out to go to work or worry about the ice on I380 to Iowa City for me. We are looking towards more temperate climates - we will have to see how that works out.
So here's to moving on and moving around to wherever the wind takes us. :)
I think it almost goes without saying but we won't miss having to get up every morning to go to work. I am not an early morning person except when I need to be and it will be nice to get on my body's schedule instead of a work schedule. Now on days I have to get John to work (and until recently) the days I worked it was up by 5:30 and for John to bed around 9. I have trouble going to sleep that early so for me it was more like 10-11pm. When we have had long vacations it seems our bodies fell into an up at 8 and to bed around midnight schedule. I am looking forward to that. Ahh, just to not have to wake up to an alarm.
Local politics is another thing we won't miss. Cedar Rapids is a small city that can't decide if it wants to act like a small town or a big city and it just gets ugly out there. The last straw for us has been the flood recovery from our catastrophic flood in 2008. Funny thing is that year the city had a theme of "the year of the river" as they were trying to develop a river side development plan. Well it certainly was the year of the river and from what I can see the river was saying "BACK OFF". There was an opportunity to do just that and make green space for all to enjoy and not have to worry about another flood bailout but no only a fraction of the area was bought up and as time has gone by, more and more building permits have been issued. Sometimes I'm just amazed that we think we can conquer Mother Nature, time and time again she proves to us that she can overcome anything we put in her way.
A town that refuses to make it safe for bicycles and pedestrians. It always amazed me how this city doesn't require sidewalks in residential areas. We have lived near three different elementary schools that if you went more than three blocks in any direction there would be at least one and usually two, and at the last one all four directions, that the sidewalk would end. If you wanted your children to walk to school often it was in the street - that sound safe doesn't it? As for bicycles, there is one bike trail through town and it is heavily used but to safely get to the trail you usually have to drive. There are very few bike lanes and the car traffic really doesn't care if your there they just want you to get out of their way. For the last few years John has tried to bike to work most days and I have to say I worried everyday about his safety. He would try to take the safest route to the bike trail and use it as far as he could. We have been is some very bike friendly cities like Anchorage AL, Vancouver BC, Fort Collins CO, and Madison WI, to name a few so we know what bike friendly looks like and this is not it.
Lastly, we will not miss the weather. We do love the change of seasons but Iowa seems to get the extremes. Hot and humid summers and in the winter cold and lots of ice. We actually like snow but most years here we would get more ice than snow. In Iowa usually the first thing you do in the morning is check the forecast. With retirement it will be nice to choose the climate, I know the weather will change no matter where we are but now if it snows we can stay put instead of digging ourselves out to go to work or worry about the ice on I380 to Iowa City for me. We are looking towards more temperate climates - we will have to see how that works out.
So here's to moving on and moving around to wherever the wind takes us. :)
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