Sunday, September 18, 2011

It wouldn't be a road trip without ...


A flat tire.

We were leaving Oakland California after a great visit with our good friend Michael and his son Alex. We and our clothes were clean and we were heading off to Sacramento to visit Sara and Yossi and their kids Brenna and Issac. All was tickety boo and we were back on the highway (7 lane highway) when the low pressure light and beeping alerted us to the problem.

Within seconds we heard the sound you do not want to hear, going 55 miles an hour, knowing there were still 7 lanes of trafic to navigate through. Safely off at the next exit, we found a gas station and started the process of changing the tire.

The tire as you can imagine was a mess by that point and a new tire was required to carry on with our trip. Funnily, we had been commenting in each town we have passed through, how many car repair shops there are. It all made sense now! We were organized in no time at a Firestone Tire, with a very nice young man who looked after us with a smile, and assured us he would check all of the other three tires and fluids and we would soon be on our way.

Off we went to find a coffee shop with wifi to debrief. The coffee was great and we were able to thank our lucky stars that we were in the middle of civilization, where tire stores are a dime a dozen and not at the top of some windy mountain highway with no shoulder!

Nothing like a flat tire to ground you and make you realize that you are indeed vulnerable. Back on the road a couple of hours later, with our new AAA membership paid for and activated, tire pressure and fluids checked, we were ready again to take on the world!

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