Journal Entry #6 - North Platte to Kearney NE

Wednesday 9/4/2002

Day Six

     North Platte to Kearney, Nebraska
     Starting mileage 89749 / Ending mileage 89851

Departed camp at 8:14am. David had a bad dream last night that woke up the dogs and him, (1:30am) so he checked on them & saw Tessa’s 2nd “accident”. We must be giving her water too late, and need to enforce the “last outs”. I’ll put a ‘wee-wee’ pad down for her tonight for sure. David’s stomach was upset, so it was a while before he got back to sleep.

I had trouble sleeping in general, so when 6:00am got the dogs stirring I got up & took them out so David could sleep longer. It was dark & warm & breezy. Very nice! Felt a few drops of moisture. Before we left I bought 2 magnets (NE & WY) and an Omaha Newspaper, which I read parts of aloud to David as we traveled. Good coverage of world and regional.

Just after 10 it was time for our mid-morning pit stop, and as we pulled into the rest area David smelled fuel, and the engine started running rough, indicating more trouble with the fuel injector tube. Poor guy had to crawl in the engine with the sun blazing directly on him. I took care of the dogs & *Tig, then came around front with a wet towel & umbrella for shade. Diagnosis: need to limp to nearby Kearney to find a Ford Dealership and get parts. Turns out we had to order them, and they’ll be in @ noon tomorrow.

Talked to Dad on the cell phone to give him our status. Found a local place to stay: “Budget Motel & RV”. There’s a library close enough to bike to, but later after it cools a bit. We’re frustrated over the mechanical problem, but not too agitated. It’s not like we have a tight deadline; we’re just eager to get to Ohio. Well, it’s 8:30pm now & we’ve had some time on our hands. Our site is in the shade, and David worked on the truck a little more.

I helped by laying in the sun in my bikini in my beach chair. It was very hot. Local TV weather people keep saying this is unusual for Nebraska in September. From 1:00 to 3:00 I watched my soaps.

Around 4:00 we got on our bikes and rode a couple miles to the library to receive & send emails. David was antsy because we didn’t have a library card, but I had permission from the librarian. My new bike works great, but even better is the level terrain here. And I mean level. We then returned to the trailer & I made dinner of BBQ salmon, red potatoes and salad.

Not much on our 2 channels of TV, so we played Scrabble & had brownies & drinks. At the moment, David-the-handy-man is fixing the flat tire he discovered on his bike when he went out to lock them up. If it’s not one thing… Oh, tomorrow’s another day.

*Tig is the gray & white striped stray cat that adopted

me a year or so before I married David.

End of Entry