Day 229: Road Trip Day Two

Day two of the road trip started out great. We drank some free coffee at the hotel and started out on the road eating leftover pork tenderloin. We decided to pull into a rest stop to grab maps (turns out our cell phone signal sucks in southern Iowa).

That is when the trouble started. Smoke was pouring out from under the hood and liquid was pooling under the car. Every road tripper's worst fear come true.

Luckily, we were at a rest stop/welcome center. They had a card for a tow truck inside and the tow was there in 15 minutes. It drove us to the shop near Lamoni, Iowa.

We proceeded to have the best experience with a mechanic we have ever had. We stayed near the car, they explained everything to us, and they managed to find a spare coolant reservoir in a nearby junk yard for us. A couple of hours spent learning about our car and we were back on the road.

A bonus to our wait: the mechanic's place was right next to an Amish Country Store and Maid-Rite. Since we waited for the car, the Maid-Rite was open as we were leaving town. It made me quite happy:

Our trip continued down into Missouri and over to Kansas City. Then, we headed east for St. Louis.

Once we hit St. Louis, we got to see the arch:

The, we had a terrific dinner at the Shaved Duck. Given the name, I had smoked duck with cherries and grits:

It was a terrific day of driving and good conversation.

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