First Jedediah Smith Trail 1822 — 1824

Day 11: August 26th, 2009 Kansas City — Sioux City

Map Kansas City to Sioux City

Thanks to my ear plugs I sleep pretty well. I only wake up two times, because they put little pressure on my ears. But eventually I am able to sleep. Just before eight in the morning I wake up and have a reasonably good night’s rest. Outside, the sun is shining and I take a shower first. When I get out of the shower, it is already getting darker. It seems like I have to hurry up to not be forced to load my truck in the rain…

So I rush and really make it just before the big rain rolls in. When I check the engine oil level it is already starting to dribble. In fact, the level is at the lower mark. But this should be okay for today. I quickly wash my hands, then a heavy shower already starts. In the pouring rain I return my room keys and walk to my car.

Then I drive to I–35 in southern direction to reach the Cracker Barrel. This one is really busy. But I am still able to receive a table. However, this one is in the middle of the room which is pretty uncomfortable. But well, I have no other choice…

Around eleven I pay and take one of these worry stones with me. Unfortunately, they are out of Angels of Hope. But instead I take the one of Faith. Then I drive on to the next gas station. I just see the entrance to the Phillips and hit the brakes — and slide like hell!

Well, in the rain these tires are a catastrophe. I almost slid at the boardwalk. And next to me the Sheriff passes me. Lucky me, he hasn’t seen this. Otherwise I would have had probably to answer a bunch of questions. Because I didn’t made it to stop my car I take a turn at the light and take the second entrance. This shock really hit me in a way that I promptly drive at the wrong side of the pump. It seems I have driven too long German cars with the filler neck on the passenger side. So I must start the engine again and turn around.

Despite the rain, it is still warm and humid, around 70 degrees!

I–435, Kansas City, KS

I–435, Missouri River, State Line KS and MO

I–435, MO

Then I drive back to the Interstate. On the Interstate the rain starts again and I switch my wipers to permanent. But the happiness doesn’t last long. Suddenly my wipers stop working again! Damn, then it was not the battery! Indeed, I already had my doubts. But I was running out of time to investigate this further. Great, now I have rain, still 470 miles to drive and no wipers.

I leave the Interstate on the next exit and jiggle the wiper arms. Suddenly they work again! It seems like the gear is so much worn out that it sometimes misses the teeth. So I drive back on the Interstate. But after a short amount of time, it happens again. Therefore I leave the Interstate again, jiggle the wiper arms — and it works again!

I–29, MO

I–29, MO

I–29, MO

I–29, MO

I–29, MO

I–29, State Line MO and IA

I–29, IA

Okay, if this works out this way then I can myself arrange with this situation temporary. To not overtax my luck, I only use my wipers on intermittent. So I make good progress.

At the last rest area before Omaha I have my lunch break and try to figure out where Darrel’s gas station was. Unfortunately, I have not written down his address back then. Otherwise I would have stopped there. But the weather starts to clear up and the wipers made it so far. So I drive on.

I–29, Council Bluffs, IA

I–29, IA

However, soon the rain starts again. But I am afraid to use anything different than intermittent wipers. But at some point I must go to permanent. Additionally my gas gauge is reading low and there is no gas station nearby. Finally I have luck near Onawa and leave the Interstate. At the local Phillips I gas up. Outside it has cooled down pretty much. My outside temperature gauge shows only 60 degrees!

Just when I hang up the nozzle someone asks me for a village where he can find it. I have no clue and he asks for Des Moines. Okay, I have a rough idea where it is. But I am not able to think of where exactly it is. At the moment, my head is full with the wiper problem. But I quickly get my old and messy Rand McNally and give him the chance to look up where we are.

He says thank you and swears heavily, because he has now driven around 50 miles too far north. While helping out this guy I completely forgot to request my receipt at the pump. So I quickly write down the data for checking things back home. Then I continue my journey.

But now my wiper is finally gone. When I turn on the ignition, I only hear the gear chattering. With a lot of effort I am able to get the wipers down. Then they are completely dead. And it is now pouring! I try my luck now anyways and drive back to the Interstate. But I am barely able to see a thing. Therefore I stop and try it again with jiggling. But nothing works anymore!

Damned, I have no other choice than to drive this way. So I start driving very carefully and have the luck, that no one is driving here. And just a little bit later the rain slows down. As soon as the road construction is passed and I am allowed to drive faster, things are again getting better because the wind is blowing the water drops from the windshield. Nevertheless, I think about only to drive to Sioux City today. Mitchell is way smaller and who knows if I am able to get spare parts there.

I–29, State Line IA and SD

When I arrive there I miss the exit for the Motel 6. But I wanted to take a look at the city before anyways to see if I have a chance to solve my problem here. But I am very optimistic. At the north end I leave the Interstate and check what mechanics, motels and restaurants are around here. I still decide to go for the Motel 6, because the Outback Steakhouse is only a couple of miles away.

However, on my way back I take the correct exit but drive back on the Interstate on the other side again. I took again a wrong turn and must continue now to the next exit. But also this one has a surprise for me: The bridge across the Interstate is closed! Therefore I must again drive back to the Interstate and continue to the next exit. There I am eventually able to turn around.

All in all, these are again another 20 miles which I have been driving for nothing. Just before 5pm I arrive at the Motel 6. At least it has warmed up a bit and we have now temperatures in the 70s.

After a little bit of waiting at the reception it is my turn and I can check in. I have a nice chat with the reception lady and she suggests that I should try it first at Pioneer Auto in this city. I say thank you for the advice and park my car. Because there is beside my wipers also my blower gone, I check again the switch. But all voltages are correct. So this is not the problem. At the front I have no chance to access anything for measurements. But I take a look at the schematic. This can now only be the relay. The motor itself cannot be broken again after this short amount of time. Therefore I stop my investigation here and fill up the engine oil. The transmission will be done tomorrow.

Filling the oil up from the big can works pretty well. So I will have always one of them with me in the future. Then I put my stuff into the room and have the next shocking moment: This is definitely a smoking room! So I just put my stuff in there and walk again to the reception. She was absolutely sure that I wanted a smoking room. But she apologizes anyways.

That’s not a problem. I receive a new room and put my luggage in there. Then I bring back the room key. During all this time a Mexican or Puerto Rican guy is on his mobile phone at the door. I also decide to fill up now my water can. There, he is still on the phone. And when I carry my water can back to my car 10 minutes later, he is still on the phone! Seems like he loves to be on the phone!

Next I look up where the Outback Steakhouse is and store the coordinates. Then I look for a Walmart. This one is also not too far away from here. Just to be sure, I also store this coordinates. Just before seven I leave the motel.

Without any searching around, I find the Walmart. But they don’t have my FireWire cable. So I quickly take some Ibuprofen with me, which I forgot at home. Then I go back to the Electronics department. Now a salesperson is available and I ask, if they have a FireWire cable. He sends me to Best Buy and gives me also directions to the shop. It seems that this one is on my way to the Outback Steakhouse. But unfortunately I miss it and end up directly at the Outback Steakhouse.

There I am nicely welcomed and receive immediately a table. My server is then not so nice like the one in the other Outback. She has more a commanding voice. But the service is fine and so she receives a good tip.

Around nine I pay and drive back to my motel. There I write my diary first. Then I check my video taping and pictures of today. Finally, I check in the phone book for possible mechanics. Altogether, I write down eight different mechanics, whereas Pioneer Auto is number one on my list.

With this list I should be able to get it done tomorrow. But until I have finished everything, it is already half past eleven. And as noisy as it is around here (this time not the Interstate but the other guests) I will most likely be forced to sleep with my ear plugs again…