After a three week stay in eastern Missouri at my daughter's home we were preparing to leave. After unplugging the coach I started the generator. Just as it was switching the current over to the generator it died. The error code indicated an overheat condition. It was a very warm day but we could get by without the air conditioners running so I decided to let this ride for now and investigate at our next stop. While on the way to Independence, on the other side of the state, I pondered how the generator problem would affect our schedule. I discussed several options for making an appointment with Cummins to get the generator serviced. We pulled into the Campus RV Park in Independence in mid-afternoon and settled into our campsite. The purpose of our stop in Independence was to visit my sister and her family. We enjoyed an evening of visiting and feasting before turning in for the night.

Sunday morning I was up early to wash the bugs off the windshield, I hate stale bugs so I try to wash them off while fresh besides, we have this huge windshield which gives us a great tour-bus view of the world as we drive so who wants to look at smashed bugs all day? I ran the generator out to check oil and water and added about a cup of water. We pulled off the campsite and hooked up the car. Once we were in our seats, seat belts fastened and ready to pull out I tried the generator. Surprise, it ran! All it took was one cup of water to take care of the overheat code. That is surprisingly sensitive. We enjoyed the roof air conditioner as we drove north on I-29 toward South Dakota on a warm August day.

Our next stop was a visit with our friends in Yankton, South Dakota. We stayed from Sunday night to Saturday morning. We played cards and golf, then played more cards and more golf. Our Carefree of Colorado replacement awnings arrived on Monday but one was missing. So I got on the phone and talked to customer service who transferred me to the person in warranty service who was gone until Wednesday. So I called on Wednesday and found out that the person who was supposed to be handling the warranty replacement wasn't, it had been handed off to someone else. I was given a phone number of the supervisor. It took several calls but I finally got the supervisor on the phone. I explained the problem with the remaining awning and sent a photo to verify my claim. The replacement for that awning arrived on Thursday afternoon. Friday I started installing the replacements. The fabric is held in place with a crimp in the channel and that turned out to be a real challenge. The channel is aluminum but it is 1/8 inch thick and doesn't bend as easily as I had hoped. It took four hours and help from my friend to get all four awnings done. As we explained to the ladies, we were learning as we went.

Friday afternoon I began putting away the tire covers and the sun screens. I got everything put away before the rainstorm hit. I had planned to unhook the utilities before the rain but didn't quite make that. After the rain stopped I dumped tanks (yes, they have full hookups in their driveway) and stowed the sewer hose. We had dinner, leftovers from a week of feasting on fine food, and played one last evening of cards before turning in for the night. Saturday morning we slept in, got up and ate breakfast next door with our friends. We pulled out about 10:00 with an uncertain route to Denver. We had about 600 miles to go but we had no campground to stay at until Monday afternoon, September 1. We could only find one campground that had a site available on that date.