Day 2 July 6, 2021
After a good night’s rest we were ready to hit the road by 7a.m when Steve realized he left at home a crucial item that is necessary for these road trips..…his toolbox!! Luckily, we hadn’t had any trouble so far, but if we did all he had was a wrench! Needless to say our first stop of the day was Ace Hardware. They aren’t the best tools, but at least it’s something!
There’s not much to see in Nebraska or Kansas besides farm land and cattle and definitely nothing to stop at . Unlike yesterday, today was cooler and It was nice driving. We were making good time so after a stop for lunch in Norton, KS we decided we would try to make it to Colorado tonight.
Those plans quickly changed. As we left the restaurant rain drops started to fall. We were hoping it would be a quick shower, but that wasn’t to be. The sky grew darker and the rain came down hard. When it rains like this the first thing I do is get the towel, lay it across the bottom of the front window and try to block all the leaks. The towel also comes in handy to wipe the windshield when it fogs up! Steve’s job is to keep the car on the road! It was a white knuckle drive and we were totally drained of energy.
It’s rained a lot in this area and farm fields and roads were flooded. The ditches were full, too! It wouldn’t have been so bad except we shared the 2 lane highway with dozens of semi-trucks and cars coming both ways. Every time a Semi passed us it was like someone pouring a bucket of water on the car. Finally, the “A” couldn’t take it anymore and the engine died. Luckily, as it died we turned onto a side dirt road instead of being parked on the narrow shoulder. After about a ½ hour I was going to call Triple A for a tow when the “A” successfully started and away we went. It was still raining, but lighter and so was the traffic as we made our way into Oakley, KS.
Oakley is where Buffalo Bill got his name and start to fame. As it was still early (4:00) we did make a quick stop to visit the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center and try to recover from the tense drive.
After that it didn’t take us long to decide this is where we were staying tonight!
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