Rain and hail today

John & Marcia

Working on the fan belt

Dust Bowl?

Last night, Jim & Rose spent the night with their friends, Ed & Joyce Hastings. They were treated to fresh grilled trout. Ray & I spent the night with our son & daughter-in-law, John & Marcia. We all enjoyed the home cooked meals and we got to see the house in Colorado Springs that they will be moving to in a couple of weeks.

We met at Walmart in Aurora at 1PM to head east. Our first stop was at a rest area to get a Colorado map and some hotel coupon books. Ray decided to be proactive and change the fan belt because it looked worn. We started the trip with 2 extra and Jim had one extra. Jim used up his and one of ours. We used the other. In Butte, we tried to purchase another one but the only one they had was not quite right. The guys ended up taking Jim's fan belt off of his car and putting it on ours. Jim was able to make the fan belt that he purchased in Butte work on his car. So about an hour later, we were on our way again and we never did get the map or hotel book. We got off of I-70 and headed south on US Hwy. 287. The first town we went through had a NAPPA store. The guys were able to purchase a fan belt and some wheel bearings. We continued on our way again and it started to rain...hard... and then it started to hail (pea size). We pulled off of the road to wait out the storm but we were in the middle of nowhere so there was not any place to go for cover.

 In the town of Kit Carson, we found a gas station...two pumps. Not only was it self serve but there was no one around. We were able to get the gas and we continued on to Lamar, CO for the night. I guess you had to charge the gas or you couldn't get any. Just outside of Lamar, we passed a huge stockyard. When we passed it, the aroma stayed with us for a while. Rose was so glad that we were not stopping at a hotel close by!
Our mileage today was 206 miles. Total to date: 10,350 miles.