As we were traveling down I-90 in New York state, an SUV pulls up next to me and the guy has his window rolled down. As I look next to me he has his hands cupped to his mouth and is yelling something at me. I roll down my window and I can barley hear with the wind rushing by, he is yelling, "Your trailer tire is flat."
Oh crap!
I immediately get on the walkie talkie with Greg to let him know I am pulling over for a flat tire. Jen just happened to be on the phone with Beth and told her the same thing. As I begin to pull of the road I hear a kapoom! And, I see in my mirror a small cloud of smoke and dust.
Jen and I step outside and assess the situation. It is not good. the tire is shredded and came off the rim.
We jump into action. Jen crawls into the back of the van and gets the car jack and tire iron. This was not an easy task because the bikes were hooked to the back of the van and all of our stuff (coolers and bins) were in the back of the van. I start to put the jack together as Jen goes to the back of the camper to take the spare tire off. As she is doing that, Greg comes to help us too. They had pulled off the road a little ways ahead of us.
Jen had trouble with one of the lug nuts and screws, the screw kept turning as she was turning the tire iron to loosen the lug nut. She called me back to help and I noticed that the spare tire was flat.
Double crap!
I said we should call AAA. While Greg and I were working on getting the old mangled tire off the camper and ground, Jen pulled out a small bike tire pump and tries to pump up the spare with that.
We put on the spare but it did not have enough air pressure to be driven on, so I called AAA. Of course, the girls have to go to the bathroom, so Greg takes them with him up to his vehicle which already has the boys and Beth in it. The girls crowd in and they drive to the next service plaza which is 36 miles down the road. Since the back seats are taken out to accommodate the camping gear, Mikah had to share a seat with Luke while Lilly sat on the floor.
Meanwhile, I am on the phone with AAA and giving them information about what I need. I am trying to be vague about it because I am pretty sure the camper is not covered on our plan. They informed me that they will be contacting New York Roadside Assistance to come help with the problem because their regular drivers are not allowed on the turnpike and that it would be thirty minutes. As we wait, Jen calmly pulls out the iPad, sits in the grass Birmingham and starts taking notes and playing games. I'm trying to meditate to stay calm. I keep wondering how the brand new tires that I bought just weeks ago failed.
Forty-five minutes later, a tow truck with flames decals on the front pulls up. The driver puts out his cigarette to study the situation. I tell him, "All I think I need is some air". He gets a portable air pump and starts filling the tire to 32 psi, per the recommendations on the tire. At my request, he also grabs a portable ratchet and tightens the lug nuts even more. One final inspection and we are back on the road. We meet up with everyone at the service plaza. I checked the tire pressure and it reads 29 psi. In my head I am thinking, hmm, is it losing tire pressure or did he just not fill it up to 32 psi? I figure we'll find out soon enough.
After a short break to use the restroom and grab a few snacks, we get back out on the road. About an hour away from our hotel stop, Luke needs to use the restroom. We pull of at the next service plaza and this time the tire looks noticeably flatter. I check it again and this time it is only 19 psi. Not good!
After using restroom, I go and pump up the tire, this time to 50 psi to give me a little extra to get us there. On the way to the hotel, we detour to Wal-mart and look for fix a flat, an air pump and possibly a new tire. Fix a flat, check. Air pump, check. New tire, no luck. In the wal-mart parking lot, the tire pressure was already down to 35 psi. And when we checked into the hotel, the tire pressure was down to 30 psi.
Greg and I decided to use the fix a flat and drive around for a few milea as the directions stated. The fix a flat filled it to 40 psi and it seemed to be holding. Good.
Jen and Beth took the kids swimming while we were out. Upon our return, we met them at the pool and it was so crowded that Greg and I decided not to get in. So, Greg and I walked over to the KFC next door to get dinner for everyone. We enjoyed our chicken. Then I researched replacement tires and played words with friends on the iPad and we called it a night.
In all, the flat tire set us back an hour and a half, not including the Walmart stop. Reflecting back later, I could think of a hundred worse places or situations that we could have broken down. It could have been raining, it could have happened in a construction zone, there could have been no civilization around, we could have been in the windy mountains, we could have been alone, or we could have gotten a flat at the beginning of the trip instead of the end. All-in-all, it could have been a lot worse.
Before I went to bed, which was around midnight, I went out and checked the tire which had dropped to about 38 psi. It seemed to be holding. I was just hoping that it was not going to be flat in the morning.
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