July 7, 2009

View of the day-The overnight campground where the trains were running all night.

It was another late start to the day since we knew we wouldn't be leaving the bins until 3pm. We got things organized at the camper then went for lunch to Pizza Hut. After paying the fuel bill...not as bad as anticipated...we got the camper hooked up and left Great Bend for the bins. A great day for driving with a SE wind, clouds and mid 80's for the temp.

When we pulled into the bins, we were surprised to see a pickup truck hooked onto a flatbed trailer carrying some type of pipe trusses...and they were working a jackall to change a tire that looked pretty much like the camper tire did a month ago. Al offered them the shop to use the compressor and tools but they said they were getting paid by the hour, so they didn't mind doing it the slow way.

We got the shop trailer hooked up behind the camper, then decided to take a quick look at the ignition switch in the General. It had been giving Al fits by losing connection on the rough roads we travel and would just shut the truck down. We had this problem before and had gotten a spare ignition switch just in case of a calamity...now was that time because the blade that the battery wire hooks onto on the old one had melted the plastic housing and was pretty much falling out. We got the wires cleaned up and were hooking up the new switch when Marilyn got a bit exuberant with the wrench and twisted off the bolt stem...no amount of 'Mickey-Mousing' would get the thing to work...so we unhooked the camper and drove back into Great Bend to get a new one...make that two new ones...just in case.

We were a lot more careful putting this one together and by the time it was mounted back in the dash it was better than it had ever been...and this one didn't have any cheap plastic housing. We hooked the camper back up and left the bins for the last time this year...only two hours later than yesterday. We tried to figure out where we would stay the night...if we would make it all the way to Ansley, or stay in Elm Creek...but decided to shut up and drive until it got dark and let the chips fall where they may.

We got to Elm Creek and thought we would stay there, but the parking lot was packed with semis and fortunately Marilyn went in ahead to check out the lot because if Al had tried to find a spot, he would have been backing out a long way...it was a tight enough fit for Marilyn to get around all those rigs after scoping things out. We decided to forge onward even though Marilyn was getting as low on fuel as the sun was getting in the sky...and we still had 4o miles to go. The Lord hates a coward so the hammer was down.

Clouds were looming in the west which meant the sun was going down prematurely, but still we kept driving. Thankfully the pickup has one of those computers that tells you how many miles you have until empty...it looked like we might have 20 to spare, but this was mighty hilly country so the pickup really had to work. It was a good thing we didn't meet too many vehicles on the last 10 mile stretch because it was pretty much dark by the time we made Ansley...except for the beautiful harvest moon that was coming up. We got into the lot, got the General parked beside the Freight, unhooked the shop trailer from the camper and went to fuel up.

While Al fueled, Marilyn went into the station to see if there was someplace to park in town...didn't that give the locals something to talk about. We had stayed there a few times over the years and had always parked at the motel next to the station...which was now closed. Someone suggested the town park but the only thing we needed was not available there...power...that's all, since we had filled up the holding tank with water before we left, anticipating such an event. Our next option was to drive to Mason City, the next town...only 5 miles away and use their town park...which is exactly what we did.

We found the town, then found the park and the power pole, backed into place, dropped the back jacks, put out a couple of slides and left everything else hooked up. We had to cross the train tracks to get to the park and the camper is parked, maybe 75 feet from two tracks...two very busy tracks...and right next to an intersection which means the horn gets blown plenty and the ground shakes...nice lullaby...and no internet until tomorrow sometime...sorry.

You gotta love new experiences...