Blowin' in the Wind ...

Snow, rain, sunshine, clouds and high winds as we headed across the prairie on I-70 Eastbound

      Wednesday, May 3rd, we hitched up the car at Dakota Ridge RV Park in Golden, Colorado, as the skies spit a mix of rain and snow and temperatures hovered around 37 degrees.  We planned a two-day drive, 629 miles, to Kansas City.

      We filled 81 gallons of diesel at a cost of $201 at the Flying J in Aurora, which was not an easy task, our card not reading at the pump, which was slowwww in the rain and snow flurries!  And then we had to pay an additional $6 as George apparently stopped and started the flow and it wouldn't allow us to charge it on the same card.  Two machines were out of Diet Coke syrup.  Oh well, we probably actually hit the road around 10:30 a.m.

Deer Trail Rest Area on I-70 Eastbound

      George was ready for a break fairly soon after driving through Denver in the rain and snow with construction and traffic tie-ups.  Valerie checked the All-Stays app on her phone and let him know it was over 40 miles to a rest area.  Next thing she knew he was pulling up an exit ramp for a quick driver change.  

      At the next opportunity, Valerie pulled into the Deer Trail Rest Area to check the tires and walk the dogs.  Just as she re-entered the highway, she heard a thumping noise similar to a noise we've heard in the past during extremely windy conditions, which turned out to be the TV antenna mounted on the driver's side roof.  George woke up and checked and he raised it slightly which seemed to affect an improvement.

What's causing that noise?

The ladder and Gorilla Tape to the Rescue

      We drove awhile longer and felt a wind gust and heard a strange sound and continued along the route.  We stopped at the Kansas Welcome Center near Goodland, Kansas.  The winds were intense on the driver's side of the coach and an unfamiliar flapping noise was obvious.  George asked Valerie to run out the front slide on that side and bring it back in while he watched from outside.  Western Kansas has some nice picnic areas where we were able to circle around to get the wind blocked and tried running the slide out and back in without interference from the high winds.

Kansas!

       Valerie went out to take a look and immediately noticed that the guard for the slide topper was completely gone!  George got out the ladder and the Gorilla Tape and went to work securing the fabric to prevent the wind from creating further problems as we drove down the highway.  We waited and worked until the wind diminished and headed back out to make up for the lost time.

There must have been a good bit of snow lately.

      We lost an hour entering Central Time Zone and pulled into the rest area near Grainfield, Kansas just before sundown.  George got the dogs walked, we had dinner and caught up on the news.  Temperature is supposed to drop down to around 35 tonight.  Hopefully we can get an early start and the wind will cooperate tomorrow.

Time to relax and unwind for the night at the rest area in Grainfield, Kansas