Destination . . . Sheridan
By Deb Espelund
As mentioned in the last newsletter, the Marshall's and the Espelund's were headed to Sheridan, Wyoming. Steve Espelund does a leather thing and they were going to the Annual International Leather Show. Steve wanted to enter the leather carving of an eagle he had worked on for most of the winter.
"Hey, let's take the MG and have some fun," Deb decided. They invited the Marshall's on the adventure and an adventure it was. Thursday, May 18 dawned sunny and nice. This was not to last. As we watched the clouds to the west about 8:00 we decided to wait a half-hour or so to see what the weather would do. We decided let's just get on the road. That was the plan until Marvin "tried" to start his car. Yes, we hadn't eve left the driveway yet and already car woes.
I figured this is going to be a "fun" trip. Nothing major, just the solenoid. "No problem," Steve says, "I have an extra one packed. Anyone who travels in a British car knows you never leave home without spare parts and tools.
While the guys repaired the car, I had a chance to put on some warm clothes. Changeable Nebraska weather and our sunny day turned to rain and clouds in a matter of minutes.
Car repaired, warm clothes, tops up, and we're on our way. We drove in rain until mid-afternoon. Then the sun came out to brighten our day and spirits. Do you know how much an MG leaks when it rains? I, the co-pilot, kept busy toweling up drips and running water.
Our first night we stayed in Chadron, NE. We had a wonderful motel with a hot tub. Sue was really thankful for the tub. She was nursing a back injury from earlier in the week. I think the wine we had helped tremendously, too!
We had to be in Sheridan by 3:00 on Friday, so Steve could enter his picture in the show. We got an early start and had a great sunny day to travel-tops down and on our way.
We always take the less traveled roads because the scenery is wonderful. Taking the back roads sometimes takes a little longer.
It was 12:15 P.M. and we had 123 miles to go to get to Sheridan. No problem. We were there by 2:15 P.M. Those little cars can really scoot when they have to.
We entered Steve's picture, found our motel, did some antique shopping, and had a wonderful prime rib dinner for the second night in a row.
Saturday we spent several hours (maybe not enough for some) at the leather show. It was very interesting. There were many items on display and for sale. One saddle we encountered had a price tag of $12,000. You could buy a really nice British Car or lots of parts for that price.
Saturday evening we headed for the hillsã mountains that isãWyoming 14A, over the Bighorn Mountains. It was absolutely beautiful and FREEZING. Poor Sue, with her tender back and inflexible driver, guess we were trying to freeze her to death and blame him. No matter how cold (and it was COLD) you can't put the top up, that's not cool. There was still ice on the lake and lots of snow. We saw deer, elk, and moose.
Marvin's car was tired, clogged fuel filter. So, as we coasted back down the mountain, we wondered what we would do when we ran out of downhill momentum. No problem! We pulled (coasted) into a handy parking lot and had her purring again in no time. It just happened that the parking lot belonged to the local tavern. NO PROBLEM. The owner came out and offered to buy us a beer, and you know the rest of the story.
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