Wind and a bad water pump April 30 & May 1

April 30, May 1-----After two good days of hard leg pounding, and a forecast of serious heat and high winds, we decided to take a day off and explore Kingman. We wandered the historical downtown, and found Redneck's BBQ Pit for lunch. It was a low key day, and on the way back to the RV, we decided to take the Jeep for a little twenty mile side trip into the mountains to check out Hualapai Mountain Park. It was a cool place with free grazing cattle, snakes in the road, and very expensive homes tucked in between some big mountains. There were picnic and camping areas, and some really steep atv trails. On the way up the mountain, Pam smelled 'something hot'. We checked under the hood and found nothing.
After laying in bed all night listening to the wind gusts, I decided another day of rest was better than riding 60 miles into a 20-30 mph headwind. Good thing, because we also decided to move to another campground closer to town. We were only going to move about twenty miles, but as I was driving the Jeep on I-40, the temperature gauge decided to red line, and I pulled over immediately. After deciding to blow the heater full blast, the temp dropped back to near normal, and I met Pam at the next exit. She was driving the RV, so we just hooked the Jeep to it, and moved on to our new destination. We drove the Jeep five miles to a Jeep dealer, and after wasting all day there, we need a new water pump, accompanied by a new thermostat and coolant. It was a good place to be because we were in a town with a reputable mechanic that could get us in and out by tomorrow, not in the middle of no where, (which is not to far from here).
The wind continues to blow significantly for the next few days, so we decided to just spend the weekend in Kingman, and partake in the Classic Car weekend on rt. 66, and maybe catch the races at the sand drag strip outside of town. That ought to be pretty cool, and we've never seen anything like them before.

Water towers in Kingman, next to train tracks.  Take a good look at the tower painting.

When we were driving to Hualapai Mt. park, the signs along the road said to beware of cattle on the road.  Yes they were!  This is our friend who was next to the road and posed for us!

Then Mike asked for a close up and he posed again!  Wasn't afraid of the Jeep at all.