Colorado Day Twelve

We left our hotel at 7:00 this morning for another day of mostly driving.  I think everyone was pretty tired because as soon as Levi had finished the morning devotional most of the bus promptly fell asleep.  It was cold and rainy which wasn’t conducive to perky alertness either.

Several hours later at our first stop I was marveling over the long row of gleaming stainless steel stalls in the restroom.  Nevada is to be congratulated for their obvious concern regarding their tourists.  I wanted a cup of hot coffee in the worst way but with memories of dead ants floating through my foggy brain, I decided not to risk the vending machines.  I’m not sure I will ever be able to try that route again.

Since we would not be eating lunch until 1:30 today, the snacks came out as soon as everyone started waking up.  Sarah had brought spice pretzels along to share but could not get the plastic container open, no matter what she tried.  Dave tried as well, with no luck.  One of the things we noticed with the altitude changes was the pressure it created in our make-up and lotion bottles.  They would make hissing noises when we opened them.  Presumably this same phenomena had affected the pretzel container as well and no amount of twisting, prying, or turning yielded any results.  Finally Paul went back to try his hand.  Or should I say knee, since that’s what he used to try to hold it in place while he forced it open.  It opened, all right!  The whole lid exploded and it sounded somewhat like a gunshot.  Everyone was now awake.

Anna Mae finally announced the winner of the scavenger hunt.  A completed game sheet, finished honestly and with no cheating whatsoever, had been turned in about a week ago.  Since neither our tour guide nor the person who won had told anyone, the rest of us on the bus, or at least those not as lazy as I am, were still scurrying about trying to find everything on the list.  Paul was rather bitter about his inability to find a black and white cat.  One day when the aroma of a skunk was wafting about someone asked if that would qualify as a black and white cat. Anna Mae said it had to be a tabby they were willing to pet.

Pearl won the prize, a one thousand piece puzzle of the Colorado Fourteeners.  It was perfect for her.  She loves puzzles, and the Colorado Fourteeners refers to the mountains over 14,000 feet in altitude.

Later Anna Mae passed out a number of items and told us to inspect them carefully then hand them back in.  I assumed, incorrectly, that we were going to have to try to remember all the items.  While I was busy memorizing what they were, I was completely missing the information I actually needed to win. 

“How long is the tape measure?”

“How big is the measuring spoon?”

“What color was the spool of thread?”

One thing is sure: I should never try for a career as a detective.  I was pretty much oblivious to all the details and didn’t even come close to winning.  We had a lot of fun though so it didn’t matter.

At a little after 1:00 we arrived in Kalona, Iowa where we had a hot and delicious home-made meal waiting for us.  I had arranged for Paul’s niece, Dorothy, who lives nearby, to meet us there and eat with us.  Her husband Lowell was joining us too.  Several other people had relatives and friends from the area coming too.  What Paul didn’t know was that his brother Ray from SC was visiting his daughter and was also going to be there.  Paul was very surprised but totally delighted. He said it was a highlight of his trip.

After lunch a local tour guide boarded the bus for a brief tour around Kalona.  Dorothy suggested Paul and I join her and she would bring us back to meet the bus in an hour, along the tour route. So we went to her house to say hi to her kids and to her mother who had stayed there with them while we had lunch. 

After we were back on the bus we stopped at a local cheese house to by some curds (always squeaky good fun!) and I asked some friendly girls coming out the door if they would mind taking our group picture.  They were most gracious and happy to help us out.   

Then it was several more hours of driving until we reached our hotel in Ottawa, Iowa.  We walked to a nearby restaurant for supper and then back to the hotel for a final card game. Our much-anticipated trip is winding down and while we are all sorry to see it end we are also ready to be home in our own beds again.