In the early morning in Des Moines, Iowa, we discover that a brake line has completely exploded and we therefore have no brakes. Well thank goodness we made it to the hotel first, but gosh darn it if the whole experience wasn’t so disorienting that I forgot to take a single picture of the fiasco!!! We slow roll to a Midas, 1st gear and emergency braking. Brandon jumps the curb and plows down a cone while the Midas techs stare at the Big Red California Van and then promptly send us to another Midas 5 miles away. The scruffier, tobacco chewing, metal music listening crew at the new Midas agrees to give it a go after a bit of convincing that we are nice people who kinda know what we are talking about so don’t try and scam us BRO. Oh yeah, and PS there is a CAT inside. Meow.
Anyhoo, after a nice breakfast at Perkins and a 3 hour wait awkwardly chatting about drug and gun laws with the very nice Iowans who are slowly but surely stitching Van back together, we are back on the move and finally crossing the Great Mississippi. Go Van Go!
