Chapter 32 - Day 1: Onto Wyoming

(June 10, 2006, 3:20pm)

The Platypus, with Larry as the new passenger, got onto CO Hwy 119. They traveled through Niwot and stopped by Longmont to get gas.

They went to the nearest Dinoco to fill up.

"Okay, Possible troops. We will be stocking up on snacks and drinks here." James insisted. "We are not going to stop from now until the time we get to the hotel in Cheyenne."

"How far away is that going to be, Dad?" Kim asked from the back.

"An hour and twenty minutes, Kimmie-cub!" James said to her.

"Then it's a good thing that the Tweebs added a plug in jack for the Kimmunicator." Kim added, pointing to the adapter.

Anne got out of the car first, followed by Jim and Tim. James, meanwhile, was filling up on the car.

"You coming along, Larry?" Kim asked her cousin.

"Nah, I'm gonna be sitting here, getting enthralled in issue 209 of Space Passage." Larry replied as he was more concentrated on the comic than on his cousin. "But can you bring me one of those chocolate bars? I do need all the energy for the comic-con."

"I can certainly do that." Kim replied. She headed to the convenience store.

Ron, inside, was stocking up on a bag of nachos and cheese.

"Ron, you can certainly survive a few hours without Bueno Nacho. There's not going to be one between Fort Collins and Cheyenne." Kim inisisted.

"Don't wanna take any chances, KP!" Ron said, "Especially if we break down in the middle of nowhere!"

"I would definitely appreciate it if you do not jinx the trip." Kim muttered. "I'm gonna go ahead and use the ladies' room."

Kim headed towards the women's restroom. She emerged from it, re-unhooking the right strap to the overalls as it dangled behind her back and keeping the left strap on her shoulder. The overalls became slouchy again and the bib partially flopped.

"There we go. Now that is more my style." she insisted. She bought a couple of chocolate bars for Larry and a couple bottles of water for herself. Ron followed behin with the nachos and cheese.

The two of them went into the back seat with Larry.

"Here you go, fellow cousin. Two chocolate bars coming right up for Larry!"

But Larry rejected them, "Um, cousin, you do realize these are regular chocolate bars. I want the dark variety! Regular chocolate bars usually make my stomach all queasy."

Kim took a deep breath.

"My mistake, Larry. I'll get you the dark chocolate bars, ASAP!"

After a few minutes, she came back with the two dark cholocate bars.

"Thank you, fellow cousin. Much better!" Larry replied, hugging the chocoate bars.

"No big, Larry!" Kim nervously giggled as she sat in the rear in between her boyfriend and her cousin.

James started up the engine as the Platypus made its way out of the Dinoco. It would only take them 15 minutes to get from Longview to Interstate 25.

Ron bitterly complained about his food.

"Yuck! The nacho cheese is too cold!" he whined, eating the nacho with the cheese dipped but it did not taste good whatsoever. "Can convenience store owners make regular nacho cheese without it getting cold in 5 minutes?"

The Platypus was about to enter the intersection between Hwy 119 and E County Line Rd when the traffic signal turned yellow.

"Whoa!" James exclaimed, slamming on the brakes to the Platypus. The van skidded to a complete stop. At the same time, however, the convenience store nachos flew out of the tray of Ron's hands due to the motion of the vehicle. The nachos and half of the cheese cheese ended up spilling on the floor of the third row of the van.

The other half ended up on Kim's right overall pantsleg. Thankfully, the cheese was cold so it did not make any burns on Kim's skin.

James looked back and said, "Woops! Sorry, everyone! I didn't want to run the red light!"

"Awww...man!" Kim moaned, looking at the mess.

"Oh man!" Ron panicked, "Should I get you a towel, KP?"

"We actually have one right here!" Jim said, grabbing a towel from the second row. He tossed the towel at Kim's face.

Kim snarled, taking the towel.

"I'll remember to take that in consideration."

She wiped off the cheese from her overalls pantsleg.

"We'll have to clean it up once we get to Cheyenne..."

Once the light changed to green, the Platypus continued its way on CO 119 and headed up to Interstate 25 North. Little did they know that Genna and Richard were following behind them, no thanks to the GPS tracker they put on the trailer.

(4:05pm)

All seemed to be quiet in the van. Kim was watching the latest Britinia video on her Kimmunicator while Ron and Rufus were asleep. Larry was reading his rare issue #241 comic of 'Brain-Eating Aliens'.

But Jim and Tim had to disturb the peace.

"Can we use the bathroom?" Jim asked.

Tim complained, "My bladder is full from the soda!"

Ron was startled awake by the Tweebs' complaining.

"Now you two, remember what I said!" James insisted, still keeping his eyes on the road. "No bathroom breaks until we get to Cheyenne! Didn't you two use the restroom in Longmont?"

"We tried to but..." Jim said.

"... the toilet was broken." Tim added, "You do not want to know what was leaking through there."

"Ugh...way to ruin my appetite from the ruined lukewarm nachos..." Ron muttered.

"I don't know! Could there be some possible clue that you two need to use the restroom!" Kim joked, "Like looking at a water fountain, or someone pouring lemonade..."

"Okay, Kimmie-cub!" James interrupted, "We do not need to get graphic."

"But the boys are right, James. They really do need to use the restroom." Anne agreed.

James sighed, "Very well, Ann. We'll take the Dinoco in Ft. Collins. But we are not stopping any more until we get to Cheyenne! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" came the unison reply from the Tweebs.

Kim shuddered, "That is so creepy sometimes..."

(10 minutes later)

The Platypus took exit 269-A off Interstate 25 to head to the Dinoco on CO 14 east so that the Tweebs could take care of their business. It was about 2/10ths of a mile from the interstate.

The van pulled into a spot and the Tweebs got out along with James.

"Boys, you two are going to go in, do you business and get out!" he instructed them. "We aren't going to be involved in any distractions!"

_

(20 minutes later)

James and the Tweebs were running out of the bathroom, screaming in terror. A little bit of smoke was billowing from the men's restroom. The left pants leg of James' jeans was missing.

"What's gotten into those three now?" Ann asked.

"Mom, I'm willing to bet you that it was an experiment gone horribly wrong..." Kim muttered.

James got into the passenger door as quick as he could. Jim opened the sliding door of the van and both he and Tim got in. James put the key in the ignition and started the van. He gunned it out of the Dinoco parking lot.

"Let's go! Go! Go! Go!" he exclaimed, stepping on the gas.

"May I ask to explain what went on in the restroom?" Anne asked.

"Ah yes, honey pie, about that." James nervously chuckled. "We were trying to figure out the hand the boys decided to reverse engineer the hairdryer. And...well...it sucked up a part of my pants."

Ron gave a light chuckle, "Looks like I'm not the only one with the pants problem!"

"