After a night sleeping just miles from a forest fire, Kevin and I both woke up with stuffy noses from the fine mist of smoke that settled in over the area.
We packed up once again and continued our journey north. Today would be one of the most eventful days of our trip, but we didn't know it yet.
On our way to our campsite, we took a detour to the state Capitol of Wyoming--Cheyenne. Our friends told us to check out a store there--the Sierra Trading Post--so we decided to make it a stop along the way.
The Sierra Trading Post did not disappoint. We found some awesome folding chairs to take on our trip to the beach later this month and some new hammock straps. I can't believe that we hadn't heard of the STP before.
We were hungry after shopping, so we stopped at a diner that used to be a working traincar. The food was yummy, and I bought the largest cinnamon roll I have ever seen for 5 bucks. It was ridiculous. It will feed Kevin and me for several breakfasts!!! The Banana Cream Pie was delicious, too!!!
We had one more stop to make before heading to our campsite for the night--the grocery store. We stocked up for a few days and started loading up the coolers as we noticed an ominous cloud in the sky.
I looked for a weather report...it looked like the worst of the storm had already blown over north of us and the next chance for rain wasn't until 10 pm. Boy. Was that forecast wrong.
We had just pulled on to the freeway when the skies opened up on us. At first it was rain. But then the hail began. It was so white and windy that we had to pull over to the side of the road. There was no turning around. There were no bridges. All the other vehicles and we could do was pull over and wait it out. It was hailing so hard that Kevin and I couldn't hear each other through the noise. We could only brace ourselves and hope that the windshield didn't break.
Eventually--as all storms do--the cloud blew over and all was calm again. The highway was covered in an inch of hail. We knew the brand new truck was badly damaged...but we didn't want to risk getting out of the truck on the side of the road to check it out. We decided to forge ahead to the campsite and then assess the damage.
I don't know how the motorcyclists and animals that were caught in the storm made it through unscathed. It was a storm unlike anything I've ever seen.
A two mile drive down the worst gravel road I've ever seen brought us to a campground on the banks of a pretty river. It was a sight for sore eyes.
Once we pulled into our site for the night was when we realized just how bad the damage from the storm was. The side and hood of our truck has hundreds of dents. The brake light cover is shattered. The windshield has several divots. Two of the windows in the Scamp were cracked. The tire cover was shredded.
All of these things can be replaced, though, and our trip is coming to an end, so we spent the next few hours trying to make the best of things. We cleaned the glass and water from the inside of the Scamp. We put up a clothesline and used the spectacular breeze to dry out our sheets and bedding. Kevin duct-taped the windows. I called the insurance company to start a claim.
It's all part of the "adventure." It's a pain, but I'm willing to take the risks in exchange for the experiences we have had this summer!!! It can all be fixed!!!
Once we were back in working order, we took Scout down to the dock so he could swim and we could try to relax after such an eventful day. The breeze, the lapping waves, and the sunset were just what we needed. If only there weren't flies everywhere! (We discovered later that the trash hadn't been collected in awhile...hence the flies. :( )
One of our "neighbors" came over to talk when he saw us working to get our Scamp back together once everything was dry. What a small world--he grew up in Dublin, Ohio!!! It's neat meeting so many different people out on the road. Everyone has their own stories, and some hit close to home!
Once the sun set, we noticed thunder and lightning on the horizon once again, so we decided to head to bed to rest up with hopes that the duct taped windows would hold!
We wanted adventure...we are getting what we asked for. I can't believe it's almost over!
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