Our Chalet Truck Camper

Our Chalet Truck Camper

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

April 25 – Fighting our way across Kansas

No wonder Dorothy and Toto went flying. Kansas is WINDY and no matter what direction you travel it seems to be head on. Mileage is dropping like a rock but the roads are incredibly smooth and not much traffic. Spent last night at the Cheney Reservoir as the only camper there. Pretty lake with good level parking place and lots of paths to walk.

Lubbers Ford in Cheney, KS took us in as a walk in to do an oil and filter change. Good dealership if you are travelling through. Joe noticed one of the Stable Loads looked odd so pulled on it to straighten it out and half came off in his hand.




With a bit of research and phone calls, we found that we shouldn’t be mixing Stable Loads with SuperSprings. (Stable Loads go with air bags, Supersprings go with the original pads). Lubbers Ford had none of the original rubber auxiliary spring pads in stock. Good old internet found some down Route 54 in the direction of our travel in Meade, KS. Joe has swapped the rubber pads out, keeping the Stable Loads so they can look them over and replace if under warranty.

Kansas is a beautiful state and must provide a huge percentage of the wheat grown in the USA. The farms are far apart and are so neat and clean. Each is surrounded by a wind break of trees and look tucked in for a big blow. The trees all lean one way so you know where the prevailing winds come from.



Many of the fields have small pumps in them. We are assuming these are individual oil pumps going to the tanks beside them that must get hauled off periodically.



As you enter small towns, you usually see the local co-op grain elevator. Easy to spot the towns coming along as they stick up tall on a very flat horizon.


These towns are usually one street long by four or five wide and are spaced about every thirty miles. The high schools are enormous and serve a big area. I wonder how many hours a day the kids spend riding the buses. Unfortunately, even these towns are beginning to lose their local flavor as they have Subway, McDonald, and other chains. At times you could be anywhere. As Buckaroo Bonzai says “No matter where you go, there you are”.

No comments: