A cooler day - only 104 degrees

Miles driven today: 335 Total to date: 11,008

We left the hotel in Wichita, KS around 8:30PM. As I was walking out, I saw a newspaper headline: "It's a Record 111 Degrees." Lucky us we were here for that record!  All morning the road seemed long and boring. Highway 400 by passed all of the little towns that break up the monotony of driving. Ray says it is worse than driving interstate because there aren't even billboards to look at.  We didn't break for lunch but continued to south Missouri where the roads became windy and narrow. We got close to Branson but didn't venture into the town.  After crossing the border to Arkansas, we spent the night in Harrison.

Ray & I have noticed throughout our adventure how courteous the truckers have been. This is true all over the country and in Canada with the exception of Missouri.  In Missouri, the truckers blow their horns, go around you and then cut you off. We are not on the interstate when this is happening. I don't get it because it is easy to pass a vehicle. You can see for miles on these state highways and there are frequent passing lanes.

Tomorrow we will do some touristy stuff in Memphis. As I have never been there, I am looking forward to it.

Hot as H...!

One of the many stockyards we passed today.

Interesting shirt.

Look close: it is 104 degrees.

Today we went a little over 300 miles. We drove a little slower because it was so hot. This is the first day in a long time we didn't have any mountains to look at. I miss them. We drove Hwy 50 to Dodge City. It is straight and flat. You can see for miles. We went through many small towns like Holly, Coolidge, Loucks, & Pratt. We looked ahead and saw what looked like a skyline. As we got closer, we realized that it was silos and grain elevators. We passed a big Tyson Chicken Plant close to Garden City.

After an interesting 3 hour tour of Dodge City and Boot Hill, we left driving Route 400. At this point the temperature was high 90's. It got worse. Both cars started to act up. Ray added some Mystery Oil to ours and it cleared up. Jim tried a similar thing but it didn't work for him. Several miles down the road it was still acting up. Ray remembered something similar that happened to us a few years ago in Williamsburg. He told him to get rid of the micro filter in the sediment bowl. That took care of the problem. When we arrived in Wichita,KS, we were told that the high today was 110 degrees. No wonder we were all so hot! Tomorrow we should make Springfield, MO. It is only supposed to be 102 degrees there.

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.

Taking a break in Denver

We left this morning at 10:30AM. The late start was because we only had 150 miles to get to Denver. About an hour from Denver we had a severe weather forcast. It was easy to tell that a storm was coming by looking at the sky. We went to a gas station to wait out the storm. The good news was that it went northeast and missed us but if we would have continued, we would have been in it dealing with strong winds and hail. It was well worth the 45 minute wait.

We arrived in Aurora and went to see our daughter-in-law and son. Rose & Jim went with us but they got a call from some friends in the area so they left to go and spend the night with their friends. We are all having the first home cooked meal in almost 6 weeks. Yum! Tomorrow it is on to Kansas. Since we have the use of a garage, Ray is changing the oil in our car and doing some other routine maintenance.

Laramie, WY tonight; Denver tomorrow

This sign was over the door at a gas station/restaurant/liquor store/convience store/information center.

We took a scenic route again today, Route 191 for over 100 miles.  The Grand Tetons were gorgeous to look at. This morning, a hotel clerk told everyone to be careful hiking because yesterday in Yellowstone a man was hiking with his wife and came upon a female grizzly bear and her two cubs. She killed the man. It was the first time a bear has killed anyone in Yellowstone since 1986.  A short distance outside of Jackson or Jackson Hole (It was explained to me that the town used to be called Jackson Hole but the town leaders decided to change it to Jackson & the surrounding areas called Jackson Hole) A trucker had stopped along side of the road. He was looking a the biggest moose that I have ever seen. We stopped and after taking some pictures,  it finally hit us that it was a fake. I wonder how many people think that they saw a real moose there.

In Farson, WY we ate lunch at Mitch's Cafe. The locals said that it was not only the best place to eat but the only place to eat. The population was 368.  Ray said that it was the best hamburger he had eaten in a long time. It was a 3rd generation restaurant and had just good ole home cookin'. After we hit I-80 the landscape started to change to a more desert like appearance. The mountains disappeared for a while too. At the end of our ride, we ran in to a little rain but we made it to dinner and back before the big storms came.

We have driven just about 10,000 miles now.  The only car issue today was that Jim had to use his reserve gas today to make it to an exit where there was gas. Tomorrow will be a short ride. We will be in Denver & are looking forward to seeing John & Marcia (son & daughter-in-law).

Wed. July 6th: Yellowstone & Grand Tetons today

Old Faithful

We left around 8:30AM after a trip to the NAPPA store. We were out of fan belts. The drive was west to Bozeman and then south to Yellowstone. We crossed the continental divide 4 times today. Got gas at a station that had: a casino, convience store, gas, & Subway. Quite a combination.

Last night at the hotel, there was a brochure for "Our Lady of the Rockies." It was a 90 foot statue visible from the hotel, on top of the continental divide.

Lunch was at The Old Saloon, Established in 1902. It had all kinds of memorabilia from the area. One sign in the saloon read: Lost House Saloon Where the beer is colder than your ex wife's heart.

It is hard to describe Yellowstone. We did not see many animals: 2 elk, 1 bison then a herd of bison, 2 wild horses, a herd of deer. I was a little disappointed in the animals but it was hot outside. However, the geysers were amazing. Jim was leading. We came around a curve and saw a lot of steam. We were so glad that it was not his car, just a geyser close by. I finally saw Old Faithful, something that I wanted to see for a very long time.

I almost forgot to mention Jackson Hole. It is definately a tourist town. In the center of town, there is the town square that is a park. Each of the 4 corners have arches made for elk antlers. It is a tradition that started in the 1950's. All of the antlers are from local elk. There is a reserve here for the elk.

The cars ran fine today. Tomorrow we will be in Cheyenne, Wyoming. After that, Denver.

Fantastic Scenery in Idaho

We left around 8:30AM continuing on Highway 12 East through Orofind, Kamiah, Lowell to Missoula. We followed the Clearwater River for a long time. It is beautiful, with lots of white water, tall pine trees along the banks, waterfalls, and a very curvy road. In fact, there was a sign that said "Winding Road next 99 Miles" It was true.We traveled 100 miles, much less as the crow flies, it took 4 hours.  The road was also called "Northwest Passage Scenic Parkway, Lewis & Clark Trail & Nez Perce Trail.  When we crossed over Lolo Pass we were in Montana. Several times the words "Moose Crossing" were written on the road. I guess we were on the moose's road.

We got on I-90 and all was well. We were about half way to Butte when Jim passed us & pulled over. He had a broken fan belt, an easy fix. It wasn't long until we were back on the road again. This was the first car issue since June 28th.

Mileage today:  317   Total mileage is about 9,500.