Home for the next two days at least. Today did not exactly go the way we had hoped, yet I really have no complaints. We got up early enough this morning. The kids managed to do their school work while Dave and I packed. We were traveling by 9am; on the road to Alabama. It was a relatively uneventful trip most of the way. We made the typical lunch stop at a Pilot for hot dogs and Subway subs. The kids did school work and played with their iPods while I made appointments for when we are home.
Suddenly, just twenty minutes from our destination, we heard a loud balloon pop! I looked out my window and saw part of the trailer trim flapping in the wind. We pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway, just before an exit. Dave and I got out of the truck and saw that the passenger side trailer tire basically "popped"! We couldn't go any further without doing considerable damage to the wheel. We had a jack and spare, so Dave resolved to fix it.
I should note that it was around 90 degrees today in Alabama, but I made the kids get out of the truck and stand in the field off the side of the road. I've heard too many stories of vehicles pulled over for one reason or another, only to get hit. Luckily, within the first five minutes of our peril , a Tuscaloosa police officer pulled in behind us; lights flashing.
Apparently, the jack we had couldn't support the weight of the trailer. The officer was amazingly helpful and called the Chevy dealer on the the hill above us. After a short wait, someone from the dealership's service department showed up with a better jack. Together, he and Dave changed the tire and got us situated to hit the road.
After pictures with the Tuscaloosa Officer and getting the kids back in the truck, Dave noticed one of the trailer tires on the drivers side looked considerable low. Our officer friend followed us off the exit to a truck service plaza. Unfortunately, they did not carry the size tires we needed, but they did direct us to a Texaco a little further up the road.
We managed to make it to the Texaco before the tire totally deflated. Again, they did not have the size tire we needed, but the did agree to pick one up. Within a half hour, we had another tire changed and we were back on the road.
The campground was truly only 15 or 20 minutes away...craziness. I'm so blessed that we made it there today though. How easily things could have been different. Just a few hours early I was watching the news about a family who lost their lives in a car accident at the Bronx Zoo. We had a tire blow, but it didn't throw us off the road, we didn't even really skip a beat. We fixed things and continued on our journey. For that, I am truly grateful.
The campground is beautiful and full of so much history. We didn't really get to explore yet, but this is a picture from the the window of the camper. After some school work tomorrow, we plan to check things out and do some trout fishing! Thank you all for coming on this journey with us. We love reading your comments and suggestions too so keep 'em comin'!
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