Rawlins, WY

We had a leisurely morning and made what was to be a quick stop at the local Walmart in Ogallala before heading to Rawlins, WY.

When we were parking at Walmart I heard a noise coming from the left front tire of the Ford.  It sounded like a broken piece of metal inside the drum that fell to the bottom with every tire rotation.  We were concerned that it might be something serious, maybe the bearings going out, so we decided to stay and get it diagnosed before leaving.

We called AAA and they said they would be there at 10:03am.  At the same time I called a mobile repair guy, Mr. Mechanico (Bob), and he arrived around 11:30am.  He listened to the noise and took out his pocket knife, removed the wheel dust cover and found a second smaller dust cover underneath that had come loose and was making the metal sound.  Problem solved.

Even though his service fee was $125 to come out and $90/hr, he only charged us $60.  We were relieved that it was nothing major and were happy to pay it.

At 3pm, about 2 hours down road, we got a call from a Tow Truck guy that AAA had summoned.  He was ready to help us! We said he was no longer needed.  It really makes us question if we need AAA with that kind of service.

With the late start, we arrived at a Rawlins, WY, KOA.  As we were approaching, GPS started taking us down this dirt road which it said would be for 8 miles.  Karen quickly said, this isn't right.  So we made a U-turn on a bumpy gravel road and re-assessed.  Karen was right.  GPS was way out of whack.  We got back on track and found the KOA, about two exits back and right off the freeway.

This KOA was loud, as you would expect for being right next to the I-80 freeway, but a decent place to stop for the night and dump tanks.

Next stop, Utah!