Another flat tire

Yesterday on I-80 about an hour west of Lincoln NE, my right-rear tire blew out.

If you knew me two years ago, you may remember the trouble I had with tires on my van when I first drove it home. I bought my camper on eBay from a guy in Atlanta GA. (Eurovan campers are somewhat hard to find, and this was the best I could find at t he time.) I flew down Thanksgiving week 2007 to pick it up. The seller met me at the airport, showed me all the features and controls, I took him back to his house and then I started on my 3900 mile journey back to Seattle.

Outside of Shawneee OK the right-rear tire delaminated. That means it got all wobbly and herniated but didn''t actually blow out. I was able to pull off the freeway and into a tire dealer without much trouble, where they sold me a pair of replacement tires. They put the new ones on front, rotated the old ones to tbe back, and I was on my way again.

I continued on with my journey and picked up Zach in Moab Utah for the rest of the trip back. Near Boise ID the right-rear tire blew out, this time into smithereens. I pulled to the side of the road unharmed, and Zach swapped out the shredded tire for the spare. At a tire dealer in Boise I learned that I need 6-ply commercial tires, due to the heavy weight of the vehicle (as specified in the door panel and in any computer system specifying tires for this vehicle, which the guys in Shawnee didn't bother to check.). The first two dealers I stopped at simply wouldn't sell me replacements for the 'normal" 4-ply tires currently on the van (as the dealer in Shawnee had).

Unfortunately the size I need is unusual, so they'd have to be special ordered. And I'd need a complete set of four. So, sending Zach on his way with another friend passing through town, I stayed the night at a trailer park outside of Boise waiting for four very expensive new tires that were being shipped FedEx (on my dime). It was one of the low points in all my US travels.

Since then I've been pretty OCD about my tires. I check the pressure all the time, always do a visual check, all the stuff you're supposed to do to keep the tires safe. They didn't give me any trouble on my six-week trip around the US in 2008.

And so yesterday on I-80 about an hour west of Lincoln NE, the right-rear tire blew out. All the anxiety and frustration and self-pity that I remember from the 2007 trip flooded back. For about two minutes. Then I pulled out the tire tools, changed to the spare, drove into the nearest tire shop and ordered a pair of my fancy tires (no, they don't carry 'em in York NE neither, but at least the shop covered the shipping this time). Then I checked into a motel (with AC, Wi-Fi, a kitchenette, and full breakfast included), stopped at the grocery store (for Hoegaarden beer, Marie Callendar's frozen dinner, and Ben & Jerry's ice cream) and settled in to watch cable-TV movies with Max. Not a bad evening overall :)

Later this morning I'll head back to the tire shop to have the new ones installed (fingers crossed), and then we'll head out again, no worse for the experience. I should still make it to Milwaukee sometime on the 11th.