Monday, December 23, 2013

Flap flap flap flap….Oh…What A Day!

We figured we’d get up early so we’d get some miles done. It was very dark and only 5:00am when we left the Wally Mart at Lynchburg,VA.  We were still within town limits when my my ears were picking up a strange sound from behind. Something wasn’t right. It reminded about the all too familiar sound of a deflated tire trying to get off the rim. I stopped at an exit pull-out to check. Rounding the rear of the trailer I noticed the likewise familiar smell of burnt rubber. The next second I saw it. The front trailer tire on the passenger side was in shreds. God gracious…have mercy, I thought.
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Luckily we carry a spare tire AND a jack plus a tool box. We were also parked under a street light and heck…it wasn’t snowing or cold. In fact the temperature was 67F (19C)
It was time to get the hands dirtied. I placed the scissor jack under the axle and started turning it up. Got the damaged wheel off the rim and hung the new one. It all took about an hour, but we got it done. Not even the cops stopped by to see what was up. I bet the officer was on his way home to mama.
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Later we stopped at a gas station and I checked air pressure in all tires. Sometimes it was raining and then again it was dry. We started out on Hwy29 but changed to I-85 south of Greensboro, SC heading towards Atlanta,GA
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Gas prices were getting lower as we traveled farther south

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South Carolina is greeting us with this peachy symbol.

We never made it to the big southern city!

Rain started so badly that we and many others drove with the hazard flashers turned on. At Spartanburg we turned into a Pilot Truck Stop and found a spot on the end of a long line of trucks. Water was running every where.

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But contrary to some 300,000 households between Michigan and New-England we had power from our truly-yours HONDA Generator. So we hunkered down watching an old movie from 1952. Movies made in my year of birth are always good, simply because it was a good year. :-)

Hopefully, tomorrow we will reach our destination, Freeport, Fl.

 

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4 comments:

  1. I'm sorry about the tire, but thank God you heard it before there was any damage to the trailer, or an accident. That's definitely on the top of the list of "When it's Nice to Have a Man Around the House." Good job!! I don't think I'd remember how to change a tire.

    It's nice, isn't it, to be off the grid and have all the things we need on board. Cozy and warm with our own power. :)

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  2. Good thing you got the tire changed safely. Hope you get a new spare soon. Our friends had two flats on their trailer, last year 30 minutes apart and were stranded.
    Keep travelling safe and keep warm.

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  3. Well that totally sucks, but at least you caught it before it got really nasty and did damage to the trailer, or worse. We were very fortunate with the tires on the RV we once owned. Mind you, at about the six year mark I changed them all out ($$$)
    Has to be done.
    Enjoy your rest.

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  4. That is so not fun. But at least you had the spare and the jack to get the job done. I often think about all those folks without electricity and all the cold weather up north and I am so glad we have a generator - just in case. We don't have the quiet Honda but in an emergency I wouldn't care. Be safe.

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