When we left Kansas City Tuesday morning and made our way to Iowa, I expected the terrain to flatten. To my surprise, we drove through rolling hills all the way to Des Moines, which is in central Iowa. I’ve been to Iowa a couple of times before but I never drove across the state.

Our cat Ozark started out fine but quickly wore down on the drive. I think there’s too much visual stimulation as we cruise along the highway. She gets unsettled and seems anxious. I stopped about 40 miles short of our destination at a Pilot/Flying J travel center for fuel. I topped up the tank with 62 gallons of diesel fuel. I use the Pilot/Flying J RV Plus card when I fuel up there.

I like fueling at the travel center because I never have to worry about tight quarters. I usually go through the truck lane. I’ve read that most RV collision insurance claims happen in fuel stations where RVs hit pumps, posts or other vehicles. Some people complain the Pilot/Flying J fuel is too expensive. With the RV Plus card, you get a discount off the cash price even though you’re buying on credit. We paid $2.62/gallon which is fair for this area. Even if I had to pay the regular price, it’s worth the peace of mind knowing I can easily maneuver in and out of the station.

During the fuel stop, Ozark calmed down. She was good for about 20 minutes before her anxiety level rose again. She started climbing the screen door which is inside our regular door. Donna had to get up and take her off the screen. She would sit in Donna’s lap for a few minutes then go back to the door and climb it again. It was tiresome. I hope she acclimates to road travel soon.

We found the Des Moines State Fairgrounds where we planned to stay at the RV campground there. The campground doesn’t take reservations but we were assured over the phone that a pull-through site would be available. When we arrived, the main entrance to the fairgrounds was closed. We continued past it and found another entrance off a side street. I drove in and went through a midway area where workers were assembling food vendor trailers.

I had no idea where to find the campground or if I was heading for a dead end, which would be trouble. Donna flagged down a worker going by on a golf cart and asked him where the campground was. He told us to follow him. We drove up a big hill and found the campground entrance at the top.

I stopped at the office to register. I asked for a pull-through site for five nights. I was astounded when I was told it would cost $210. The web site showed 734 full hook-up sites at a cost of $28/night. They also showed about 1,500 sites with water and electricity (no sewer) for $26/night. I asked why I was being charged $42/night. The lady told me that the pull-through sites for big rigs with trailers are essentially two sites. You pay $28/night for the main site and half price – $14/night for the secondary site. If I wanted a $28/night site I would have to drop my trailer in a different lot, well away from our campsite. To make matters worse, she added that our site would be 30-amp service! Out of approximately 2,300 sites, they only have four with 50-amp service and they were all taken. I paid the $210.

Another guy on a golf cart led us to our site. Actually he led us to our site area and told me I should go with him and look things over before deciding which sites I would take. I mentioned how we drove along rolling hills. Well, the fairgrounds are in the midst of hills. There isn’t a level site to be found. I picked a site that was as close to level as I could find. I put down jack pads and had to raise the front and right side of the coach considerably to get it level.

Our site at the fairgrounds

Our coach is set up for 50-amp electrical service. I had to use an adapter also known as a dog bone to plug into the 30-amp pedestal. I know, going down from 50 to 30 amps doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal, but it is. Here’s why – a 30-amp service has three contacts. One prong is the hot lead, one prong is the neutral and then there’s a safety ground contact. It provides 3,600 watts of power (120 volts X 30 amps). A 50-amp service has four contacts. Two are hot leads (L1 and L2), one prong is the neutral and there’s a safety ground. The coach is wired so the loads are split between L1 and L2. Each of these contacts provides 120 volts at 50 amps – 6,000 watts. You have total of 12,000 watts available. So a 50-amp service provides more than three times the power of a 30 amp service.

Dog bone adapter between 30-amp pedestal and electrical management/surge protector

In simple terms, the 30-amp adapter connects both legs (L1 and L2) of our 50-amp system in series. The cumulative loads demanded by our 120-volt electrical system cannot exceed 3,600 watts or the breaker will trip.

Donna found this out right away. We haven’t been on a 30-amp circuit for a while and she wasn’t thinking about it when she turned on the air conditioners, put something in the microwave oven and then turned on the Keurig coffeemaker which we shut off for travel. Pop! Circuit breaker shut down at the pedestal. Our inverter was charging the house batteries plus two A/C units and the microwave and coffeemaker on top of that was too much load. On 30 amps, we should only run one A/C unit and take care not to operate too many appliances at the same time.

Once we were set up, I took a ride around the fairgrounds on the scooter. I found out what all the workers were doing. There’s a big Good Guys car show here this weekend and they’re preparing for it. One guy told me they expect 500 RVs to arrive by Thursday afternoon and more than 3,000 cars in the show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A large crowd of spectators is expected. That should be fun.

When I returned, Donna wanted to stretch her legs and get some steps in, so she took a walk. Here are a few photos from her walk.

At the playground area

Sheep barn

Glider transportation to the main midway

First church in Iowa

One of the things I did before hooking up our water supply was change out the cartridges in our filter system. I’ve written about our two-stage system before. The first filter – a spun polypropylene sediment filter wasn’t too bad. The center 1/8″ was still clean meaning it had a little life left. I also changed out the second filter – a carbon block element.

Old filter cartridges

Donna prepared a mango salsa while I grilled blackened chicken. She usually serves the mango salsa over Jamaican jerk chicken. The mango salsa was every bit as good over the blackened chicken.

Mango salsa over blackened chicken with brown rice and green beans

Yesterday I scootered Donna downtown to Meredith Publishing. She spent the day taping videos on cleaning and organizing for Better Homes and Gardens. After I dropped her off, I rode to the west side of town to Petco where I bought a small cat crate and other cat supplies. We’re thinking Ozark may travel better in a crate. I need to have one anyway so we can take her to a vet.

I had the scooter stacked with the crate and supplies. Rain was threatening. I made a quick stop at the beer store on the way home. I unloaded the scooter and put the cover on it. Just as I stepped inside, rain began to fall. I spent the rest of the day reading. It stopped raining before I rode back downtown to pick up Donna at 4:30pm.

Last night, we slept with the windows open and it got down to 64 degrees in the coach. We’ve been running the air conditioning constantly since we left San Diego. Being able to open windows was a welcome relief.

It may rain again, but I think I’ll get on the roof and start cleaning the coach. It’s so dirty from our stay at Turkey Creek, I can’t stand it any longer.