Riggins with little brother Charlie and little sister Sadie.

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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tuesday in Iowa

We were up at 04:30am had our coffee, Donna said she had to work tonight instead of later in the week one night at  the restaurant so I decided that I would head up to Iowa today  instead of tomorrow. So after Donna left for work I hitched up the trailer ad headed north un Hwy 61, I had what it said was 3/4 tank of fuel so I figured I would stop up in Alexandria before crossing into Iowa because diesel is cheaper in MO. I was about 5 miles from Alexandria with 1/8 of a tank showing and no low fuel light and the truck quit, Out of fuel, after I coasted to a stop, the low fuel light came on after I had rolled to a stop.,I checked the range on the computer it read 55 miles, so much for accuracy.  I had a plastic 5 gal can with about a gallon of diesel in it but after I poured it in it still wasn’t enough to prime the injector. Luckily an 85 year old man stopped with his wife and offered me a ride to get fuel, I gladly accepted and then after I filled the can with 5 gallons he brought me back to the truck, after putting the fuel in and pumping the primer about 40 times it finally fired up, The man just waited to make sure I got going and then refused my offer of money for his trouble, he said I hope someone's there when I run out. Another example of paying forward a good deed. It was a good 4 or 5 miles to the gas station so I was really grateful but that killed an hour on the side of the road.

I had left ay 06:30 and I would have been in the campground by 09:30am as it was I drove in at 10:45am no big deal, but I learned not to get below 1/4 tank ever, diesel’s don’t like to run dry.

Got set up and went to the Railroad station and shot a couple of pictures.

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Stopped at McDonald’s on the way back to the campground to check my mail, but I had a strong wi-fi but it wouldn’t let me connect for some reason, I decided I would go back later tonight after the rush as it was lunchtime and they were really busy. If not I will find a library to post this tonight.

It’s pretty warm today here in Iowa but the weather is supposed to be sunny for the rest of the week and it will cool down a little in the evening. I don’t plan on much activity today just relax and watch train’s, Life is good. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

7 comments:

  1. WE ALMOST RAN OUT OF DIESEL ONCE...WHEN OUR FUEL WARNING LIGHT STARTS DINGING, IT IS ALMOST TOO LATE...WE WERE IN NOWHERE, AZ PULLING OUR COUGAR. WE ALWAYS CARRY 5 GALLONS OF DIESEL, DEN PUT IT IN AND WE MADE IT TO THE NEXT STATION WITH DIESEL..BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH..SOMETIMES IT'S HARD TO COME BY!! HAVE FUN WITH YOUR TRAINS...YOU NEED TO PARK IN OUR BACK YARD FOR A FEW DAYS...YOU'LL GET YOUR FILL AT ABOUT 40 PER DAY...

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  2. Boy its to hot to run out of fuel and what good luck someone nice stop to help.

    Did you have Riggs with you?

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  3. You were pretty lucky to run across a good Samaritan out on the road Sam. I haven't run out of diesel yet, but I came much too close a few years ago, and like you said, from now on I fill up whenever my tank reaches 1/4. Great train pics again.

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  4. Sam, I am glad there was someone there to give you a lift to the gas station. What a bummer to run out of diesel. Lesson learned without too much hassle.... thank goodness.
    Take care & be safe.
    Mike & Gerri

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  5. Well now that was a bit of a rough day there, Sam. Glad a good Samaritan came along to help you out. Lessons learned like that are not easily forgotten. Enjoy the rest of the week.

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  6. Glad you were lucky to have someone to help you out. It is great to know there are so many people out there that are willing to lend a hand. We so often hear about the bad people and not the good ones.

    One thing with running out of gas, you now know where the low line is and to never go past that again!

    Have a great day watching trains.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  7. I'm going to make sure my wife reads this post. She is always running our diesel low and relying on that computer.
    --Rod

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