Hi Sweetie,
What a day, and not in a good way. Woke up bright and early after a decent night sleep, managed to get packed up and even out of the RV dump by 8:30, ahead of schedule. Was very happy that it looked like I was going to arrive by 3:00 or so, which would give me plenty of time to scope out a good site. I deliberately avoid I-94, since that is the worst interstate I've ever been on, and was doing quite well until I was just south of Lansing, when I heard a tire explode. After all that trouble to get new tires a few months ago, I was sure I wouldn't have any tire problems for a good couple of years, so you can imagine my disappointment. I had just passed an exit, so I pulled off of the acceleration lane, which was as far off the road as I could get. When I went out to look at it, imagine my astonishment when I realized that not only did I have a flat tire in the front on the passenger side, but the back wheel was completely gone! All eight lug nuts had snapped, and the brake hub as sitting on the ground, with no wheel in sight. It was no wonder the other tire shredded, since it would have been impossible to carry that much weight on one tire. Grrrr! I tried to call my insurance company for road service and got some woman who could barely speak English and kept asking the same stupid questions, who couldn't send me a text to confirm my location, and on and on. I finally gave up and just started calling around myself. By then, the state troopers arrived and gave me the name of a towing company right at the exit I just passed, and they sound out a gal who thought she was only changing a tire with a spare (which I would have done by the time she got there, if that was the only thing), and she ended up calling her boss, who came out and saw the rest of the problem. We did change the spare out, and managed to limp to a rest area that was just over half a mile farther, thank goodness. Then I had to call around and find someone who could change the hub, or a least put in new lugs, and to get a new wheel and tire. I also go on Facebook and asked for help in case I needed to get the horses safe, but it turned out the rest area had a lot of nice grass and was edged by woods, so as the day dragged on, I decided to just stay here rather than transport the horses somewhere else. I had lots of response to my request, though, nice to know how many horse folks are out there willing to help! I managed to find all that I needed, but not everything was a perfect replacement. The tire guy said he had an aluminum wheel, but turned out he didn't, so now I have on steel wheel (I'll make it my spare once I replace the other tire), and last guy took a long time to find all the stuff he needed. He thought he had the right hub, but didn't, then thought he could change the lugs out, but ended up running around finding the right ones. He didn't get back to the trailer until about 9:30 this evening, and is still working on it as I write this. Fingers crossed he's able to complete the job and I'll be able to get out of here, though I'm already late for my shower and bed, which will make getting up at the crack of dawn (which I did this morning) all that much harder. But at least I'll be able to make it to South Branch tomorrow, hopefully, though I hate to go that far without a spare. I'll need to order one to match the original ones, and have it sent to someplace near South Branch, though I'll still have one odd brand out. Can't be helped. Anyway, it's been a long, exhausting day, can't wait to take my shower, put in my earplugs, and go to bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
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