.::wednesday, september 28 cont'd::.

Jerry.

Jerry owns the crummy shack, which he calls a museum. It's a museum alright. There isn't a piece of history that's NOT displayed in his shack.

We were a bit apprehensive at first when we saw the rickety open door leading to the sha-- museum. Jerry was there to greet us with bright eyes and the energy of an eight-year-old.

We assumed from the giant "SEE 6 STATES" sign on the museum that the tower was intended to be climbed for a reason.

"One dollar," Jerry said, and he reassured us that we could make our money back if we could guess what ten items in a row were used for.

Ten items? Which ones? There must have been ten BILLION in the first room alone!

One by one Jerry picked up a random item, asked us what it was, and immediately made a quirky joke that made me think of my grandfather. We giggled along with him (I was dazzled, while Val was in full competition mode, ready to fight to the death to make that buck back). Val caught a few toughies, but alas, neither of us broke even. We asked if we could go up the tower now, and he pointed in the direction of the stairs.

And this is where I filled up my camera.

These pictures hardly communicate the amount of junk that filled the museum.

Boo!! Gotchya :)

Now imagine turning a corner and being face-to-face with the two-headed beast. Luckily, Jerry had a bathroom.

Val and I finally found the stairs...

... and although the view was only as exciting as the contents of the shack, we took in all (supposedly) six states.

On the railing at the very top, there were hasty notes written in the same China marker, roughly describing what we were looking at. "Arrow, Wyoming. Arrow, Oklahoma. Arrow, Kansas."

Spectacular view, but I was hungry for more colored bottles and random junk.

Still giddy about Jerry, I finally asked him if I could have my picture taken with him.

"Sure!" he replied, "Let me dress like an Indian!"

I have no idea what this mask has to do with Indians, but I didn't ask. Jerry was quick to hand me a stack of hats to choose from, and a heavy rifle. Val was a good sport and snapped a picture.

I bought a very home-made tee shirt advertising the place, and we headed out to find a place to stay, once again losing daylight to the quick sunset.

The KOA we hit that night was a bit quieter (except for the nearby train, which was actually soothing and reminded me of home), and it had a hot tub! Unfortunately, we missed the hot tub hours by about ten minutes. And it was particularly cold that night.

But the next morning we woke to something very warm.