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The next day, Friday, we got no respite. It was as hot as ever, perhaps even more so. Again the diary says "100°+" and "HOT." I'd assume we were pretty well bushed that day after the miserable night in Kansas City but we pushed on at 7:30 a.m. and finally arrived in Vincennes, Indiana, at 8 p.m. We agreed it made sense to drive on to Louisville because it was cooler riding than during anything else. So on we went across Indiana in the moonlight-—and had a puncture! I can still remember vaguely changing that wheel as we stood over at the side of a gravel road in the moonlight and then pushing on again, praying we wouldn't have another one! We reached Louisville at 12:30 a.m. after a 550-mile trek. It was hotter than ever in Louisville. But perhaps it only seemed that way because driving along in the moonlight had been beautiful as well as relatively cool and a distinct relief from the terrible heat wave that had been sweeping the country, one of the worst on record. we found that all of us had lost all the weight we'd gained at Estes Park. But we'd made it successfully in spite of all obstacles and were home safe except for the run to Erie and that didn't loom as much after what we'd driven. The last entry in the diary is dated Saturday, June 27, 1931 at Louisville, the day after our arrival, and says "Hot--100°" and that is all. I assume Mother and I drove Dodgem back to Erie and I returned to work Monday on schedule, Willie and Bab following on the train shortly afterward. But it had been a great and memorable trip and experience in general and I'm glad that I kept at least the brief diary which has permitted me to record it here in a bit more detail and I believe accurate detail for the most part.

I'll close this trip section out with some comment on the performance of Dodgem IV. Leaving Erie, the speedometer read 11,429 and on our return to Erie, it read 15,369, which says Dodgem was practically a new car as well as the fact the trip covered 3,940 miles. I kept track of the gas from Erie to Hays, Kansaa, on the return trip, or 2,523 miles, and this indicates we got 14.4 miles per gallon. Also, we used about one quart of oil every 200 miles. The gas mileage is almost exactly whar we got with Abe (our 1962 Continental) on a trip, a much heavier car driving nearly twice as fast-—but on much better roads on the average. The oil consumption, of course, looks awful but I guess it was average for that time and the conditions encountered. On August 24th, at 17,400 miles, we had the Dodge "gone over" to the tune of $27.15--carbon cleaned, valves ground, rear axle adjustment, plugs, points, etc. and the diary says. "It is now okay till 30,000 miles according to McIvor. The 'speedometer now says 17,400, so that wasn't bad for the first going over." All of which would appear to indicate that there has been considerable improvement in automobiles since 1931. We had at least three punctures on the trip also, which indicates a similar improvement in tires over the last forty years or so.