We were headed along I65 North to Bowling Green and our first stop. We were supposed to have a late lunch at my grandmothers house and then I was going on to Dayton Ohio with the the two younger boys and the dogs, while Chris and Rusty pressed most of the night to get to WV for the morning appointments. It seemed like things were finally going our way. I was on the phone ( of course ) talking to my mother telling her how well things were going, when I looked in the side mirror just in time to see it happen.
The left tire on the boat trailer disintegrated. I hurried up and said goodbye to mom, pulled over quickly, and called Chris as he was leading for the first time during the trip and was driving away from me in a hurry. Thank goodness I looked back when I did. Now, I was sitting on the side of the road in Alabama with a 15 year old blind dog, a hyper miniature dachshund, and a 135 pound Mastiff who is afraid of riding in the car. Oh yeah, don't forget the 19 month old and Rusty. It was 110 degrees out -- traffic was murder, and I had half a small bottle of water to split between the dogs. I couldn't exactly let the baby down to run and play on the side of the highway.
Although it may seem at this point that things were not going our way, God was obviously helping us the whole time. We lost the tire at an exit with the only Lowes store for miles around. So, Chris got off at the exit and went to look for a replacement tire. Meanwhile, I sat on the side of the road walking the dogs, and thankful to have Rusty with me to help with Caden.
The first person to stop was a local police officer. He was very nice, and stayed and chatted for a few minutes. Then, a highway aid truck stopped. He was also nice, but I told him my husband should be back any minute with a replacement tire. He was however able to give me some water for the dogs. That was great. Shortly after he left another man stopped and said he live close by. He gave me his number and said to have my husband call him if we needed anything. Finally, Chris got back with the replacement tire -- or should I say tireS. He had decided to change both tires while he was at it and even bought a third tire for a spare. We spent the next 30 minutes changing the tire. Of course we also realized at this point we were not going to make it to Grandma's house for a late lunch -- it would need to be an early dinner. Since we were now 3 more hours behind, we decided that we would all stop at my parents in Dayton for the night as well. I called the phone company to reschedule and Chris called the guys and told them not to bother coming out we would be a day later. The local police officer stopped by again just as Chris was finishing up the first tire and we were packing up to get off the highway and change the other tire. He and Chris talked a few minutes and we were off again.
We drove the half a mile to the closest exit and pulled over in the parking lot of the first gas station, so Chris could replace the other tire. Things seemed to be moving again. I bought drinks and snacks for everyone and water and ice for the dogs ( it wasn't getting any cooler out ) I called my mom to let her know everyone would be coming now and we would be really late, and then Chris jacked up the trailer again to change the other tire. That is when it happened. The second tire--wheel and all-- just fell off. If we had tried to drive any further we would have lost the entire wheel and perhaps the entire trailer or worse. Thank God he told Chris to replace all the tires. Of course now we had to find a place that sold wheel bearings for a small boat trailer and Chris would have to do the repair job right there in the gas station parking lot. So, off he went in the 26 foot Penske truck with mama and puppy and Zeke, to find a auto shop.
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