They camped in Colorado last night (in the rain), in the Northeast corner. They have taken the advice to travel the non-Interstate routes and liked it so much they now seem to be avoiding them. Since none of them had ever been in Nebraska they made a quick detour on a local road and spent a few hours driving in Nebraska just to be able to say they had been there. They are most likely taking the Loveland Pass route later today or tomorrow as they have some people to visit near Estes Park.

The car is still going strong. The windshield was replaced a few months ago, and it seems the replacement is not really well sealed. In the rain they had a little water start to drip into the passenger compartment in the upper right hand corner (passenger side), which is a new ailment. I passed on some instructions concerning what to look for when it stops raining, including the inspection of the sunroof drains. They were getting a drop every twenty or so seconds.

She is fully AAA registered, and has a cell phone. Believe me I know the cell phone works because I have to check the minutes left on the family plan before I use it. We signed up for 700 free minutes of call anywhere per month and I thought we would never use it. Little did I know about who else she might be calling. But it is good to know she is staying in touch with everyone, so it seems to be a good investment.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, they got a real kick out of finding the geographic center of the United States in Kansas and cruising through lots of hills and dales, seeing some of the United States close up. She and the group wanted me to pass along a big Thanks to 240DieselDog for the suggestions. By the way, she has a geology degree now and so the geographic center of the country was uniquely entertaining to her.

While there she said they all piled into a chapel on the spot, sized for about 4 people. Her grandmother has been searching for the 1 year old or so Maine Coon Cat that has not reported back into home for 4 days, so my daughter made an appeal to have the kitten come home safely. Well, the kitten was found in a tree in a neighbor's back yard at about the same time! Leathermang, I know if you are reading this you will detect a lack of community involvement between neighbors in the Northeast, as after the commotion of getting the kitten out of the tree the neighbor told my Mother-in-law they noticed the kitten up there all four days. And by neighbor I mean they share back yard fences. Well, it is not like that all over the Northeast as I am sure if I had a cat hanging out in my neighbor's tree, he would be after me to get it out so it would stop bugging him.

Thanks again, and I will post more as they make progress. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)