Day 34: Wednesday 28-Jul-1999
From: Stratton, Colorado
To: Kingdom City, Missouri
Distance: 600 mi (960 km)
Alarm on 4:00 am, but we did not get up until 4:30. Outside temp had dropped from about 100F (38C) when we arrived to 64F (17C). The same morning procedure as usual and on the road by 5:30.
The plains in Kansas are much greener than we had expected. Really nice landscape. The altitude dropped gradually from Denver (at about 5000ft) to the east end of Kansas at about 700ft (200m). We can really feel how the truck has regained some horse power. Before it used to unlock 4th at 70mph. Now, we can tow up smaller hills, with 4th locked, at 60mph. Fuel consumption has also improved. We're now at about 9.5mpg (24lit/100km). We went through quite a lot of road constructions that forced us into a single lane. When Lillemor was driver she got really nervous in the one lane sections, seeing the long line of trucks and cars behind (probable swearing over the slow trailer). We stopped for lunch at a rest area before Topeka, Kansas. It was very hot outside 100 F. This rest area did not have any nearby tables so we ate in the trailer with the windows open. It was windy so it did not get too hot inside.
Hot afternoon. Quite a lot of road constructions and bad roads. Just before Columbia (Kansas) we heard the truckers on the CB radio talking about 8-10 mile backups due to road constructions. Typical! We only had 20 miles to the campsite. To prepare for the worst we stopped for gas so that we would not get stuck in traffic and run out of gas. It turned out to not be so bad, perhaps 2 miles of slow traffic. That was it. It was 102F (39C) in the shade at the gas station.
We pulled off at exit 144 and went to Crooked Creek campground about 2 miles from I-70. We had to drive on VERY dusty gravel roads. The campground was quite nice except for the dust and some 1 inch sized biting flies around the pool. They had had no rain for along time, which explained the dusty roads. We parked near the office so that we were close to the playground and the pool. We parked with the truck still hooked up to the trailer and that is when we found a way to make the truck and the trailer in level (if the ground isn't level). We put the wood blocks under the front wheels of the truck. That worked really well.
Isabella took a stroll in their "nature" trail to the creek. She was so excited when she came back. She had seen lots of frogs, minnows and crayfish. But unfortunately she came back with poison ivy marks. This must be the n:th time this season (n=3). It was very hot and humid so we absolutely had to run the air-conditioning. We had a real TV dinner for the first time in 5 weeks, pizza (made by the campground owner) and a movie. We were all so excited! We made sure to close all windows, due to the dust.