Remember we had stopped in Artesia, Colorado, to replenish our water supply and to seek mechanical advice. No advice was available and in fact, we now have an additional problem. The starter on the vehicle no longer works. We had to manually push the car to get it started. We really wanted to return home but the fear of the derision, mockery, and jeering that we would face made us forge on.
We still had to replenish the water on a regular basis, (It was almost like traveling on a horse) but the car seemed to go further between watering. I think the cool temperature of evening was helping. We decided that in order to make up for the time we had lost, we would drive late into the evening. So up the face of the Colorado Rockies we went. At 11:00 p.m. at a little town named Tabernash, the car stopped running. Nothing we tried would get the motor started. Dick also announced that he was not feeling very well. Now, we have a sick car and a sick companion. We reacted to these problems by laying out our sleeping bags by the side of the road and going to sleep.
The next morning we found that Tabernash was the location of a railroad switching yard. The only business in Tabernash was a small cafe that catered to the railroad workers. There was not even a service station and certainly not an automobile repair service. We asked one of the railroad workers where we could find a mechanic. He said there was one in Fraser, Colorado which was two miles down the highway. He also said he would tow us there for two dollars. Jack and I were delighted. Dick was so ill he could care less.
We arrived at Fraser and talked to the service station attendant. "Do you have a mechanic?" "Yes." "Could he check out our car?" "Yes when he arrives at work." "When will he be here?" "Whenever he feels like it. Maybe at 8:00, maybe at 10:00 and sometimes at noon and sometimes he doesn't come in at all." There must have been a sliver of hope there somewhere. What else could we do but wait? Fortunately, the mechanic arrived at 10:00 a.m.. But those two hours of waiting seemed like forever.
The Mechanic quickly analyzed the problem. "The motor just needs to be timed," he said. All three of us gathered around the mechanic like vultures. He was very accommodating and explained what needed to be done. We left Fraser relieved and happy. The car was not only running well but we all knew how to time a 1930, model A, Ford engine.
On to Denver
We arrived in Denver shortly after noon and decided we needed to locate a hotel or motel. Dick said he did not want do die in a sleeping bag. We found a seedy looking hotel that looked like they would accept us. The front desk clerk looked at us and said (even before we could inquire as to availability) "no we do not have a vacancy." I wondered why he was so unpleasant. Then I realized that he was looking at three young men who had been traveling for about twenty-four hours, had not had a shower or bath or shaved, their clothes had been slept in and wrinkled and one of them had a light green complexion. The clerk suggested, however, that we could try the YMCA.
Off we went to the YMCA and were readily accepted because we looked just like all the other vagrants who were staying there. The charge was only $1.00 per night. We cleaned up a bit and decided to do some sightseeing in Denver. Dick said he was just going to lay on the bed and die. Jack and I had faith that things would come out all right in the end (no pun intended) and left to explore Denver.
While we were gone another resident at the YMCA heard dick groaning and asked why. Dick repeated his self analysis of being constipated. The man had a suggestion. He said he had worked for the Barnum and Bailey circus and that circus happened to be in Denver at that time. If Dick could get him a ride out to the circus, he felt certain that the medical dispensary would provide some medication that would solve the problem. We, of course would do anything for our ill companion. We located the volunteer and were on our way to the circus.
We had some doubts about the man, but he was true to his word. The gate keeper at the circus recognized him and allowed us to drive through the gate into the employees parking area. He went to the dispensary and returned shortly with two of the biggest pink pills I had ever seen. Jack and I wondered if these were pills for a constipated elephant.
Since we were inside the circus fence we were told we could watch the show from any standing room area. We were able to stand at the entrance where all the acts entered the tent. We just had to stay out of the way and we enjoyed watching the entire show. We then remembered it was time to return to the YMCA and save our companion.
We gave Dick the pills, and they worked. He said that he had spent the entire night running between his bed and the toilet. When Jack and I awoke the next morning, Dick was as weak as a kitten but he was no longer constipated.
On to Kansas City, Kan. (See New York of Bust #3)
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