Boone Iowa all the way!

We made it 130 miles today! The Cadillac ran on magneto and ran so well that at times I had trouble holding it back. (Sue, call Art and tell him, because we know he'll never see this here)

We started the day with a call from Doug McNair in California giving us an update on the weather. We were surrounded by storms, with chances of tornados, hail and heavy rain. The sky looked ominous. Dark and heavy. I have sworn off watching Storm Chasers. I know just enough about tornados to be really nervous. I told Malcolm if I saw that truck any where near us I was driving fast in the opposite direction. The rain hit us just as we drove into a gas station. We filled up and hid under their cover for a bit as we battened down the hatches. The attendant came out to tell us that the storm was just north of us dropping huge amounts of rain and hail. We had to get moving. As we started off, the rain slackened but the wind was still a problem, and the sky looked nasty. We had no trouble and the sun eventually came out. By lunch time we were under blue skies and it was getting hot.

Dorothy had problems with the T so she rode with me a bit until we could get somewhere to fix it. Ate lunch then worked on the T, it was running better so off we went. We battled cross winds and headwinds which, at times, made it difficult to hold a straight line. Tail winds blew us up and down the hills of eastern Iowa. We stopped for a late snack at Niland's Cafe in Colo. There we met Iona who graciously showed us the restored gas station, and fed us rootbeer floats and the best chocolate cake in the entire world. Niland's was a 'one stop' on the Lincoln/Jefferson Highway. Definately worth a stop if you are ever in the neighborhood. If you do, give Iona a big hug for us she is a lovely woman. Later we met Randy, a big Iowa guy who wandered over and asked if he could give the crank a try. He was the most enthusiastic man I have ever met. So, sure we let him crank. We thought we might need to weight down the front, like I said, big guy. He lit me up with one pull and off we went into the sunset. We ran through Ames with our lights on, the new headlights work really well. Into Boone just as dark settled in. All in all a good day.