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Show much quicker than harnessing a team of horses to a buck-board or a wagon to accomplish his hauling. And he used the car for that purpose far more than Virginia thought necessary . During the first summer of driving the Overland, they decided to take a motor trip to Vernal, in the Uintah Basin. Virginia wanted to see some family members who lived there, and John K was interested in seeing new country about which he had heard so much. They invited Eph and Thurza to go with them and took two of their children along. Pearl went with them, and Aleen visited her grandmother in Freedom while the family was away. And what a trip that turned out to be. There were no automobile roads at all, only unimproved wagon roads, and no service stations, of course. Extra gas for emergencies was carried in a small drum. John K knew nothing about the mechanism of a car, but he was able to change a flat tire and there were plenty of them for tires were anything but sturdy in those days. Often he hunted for and found a blacksmith shop to get a tire mended, since there were no repair shops or garages, and blacksmiths were beginning to carry patches for vulcanizing. In later years, John K and Virginia smiled at the brave hearts that started so blithely on their first motor trip; and they laughed at the trials of traveling in undeveloped country while they were still novices at driving an 161 |
