corn fed white bread

took some time before my stint in NC to visit our best friends from CA. They are originally from here and moved back to be nearer to family and escape the CA rat race. They came to Des Moines (DM from here on out) due to a job landed by Tom, the man of the house.

Wow, what a nice place. The author fully realizes that humidity and winters come into play. But, 1 acre and about 2200sq.ft + 1400sq.ft walkout basement for 200k is enough for me. 5 min from airport and 10 from downtown. Gorgeous neighborhoods. The newer neighborhoods remind me of CA which is BAD. Really, housing design has fallen apart. In an effort to grow more quickly and keep prices down, I guess builders have homogenized to the detriment of the US psyche.

All in all however, the houses and neighborhoods are very different, beautiful, and give u the sense that you're "in the country". Funny for us from CA...no one puts up fences and walls really between yards (can u say crap on the neighbors yard fido). Yikes! That actually makes me nervous. Can you tell I'm a CA native? I'm nervous about the level of interaction between neighbors. I'll get over it at the first backyard bbq.

Tom and Gina have 1 acre. You can't see the roads, houses, or anything behind them. Feels like being at a cabin in Big Bear w/o actually driving 1.5 hours from Corona.

More later. I can and probably will move here.