IT AIN'T HOME 'TIL THE WHEELS COME OFF

September 1, 2012

After a wonderful summer on Bass Lake, and a couple of camping trips to Pattison State Park and Grand Rapids, MN we are back in the RV and heading northeast.  We left home at 7:00 a.m. for the 7 1/2 hour drive to Copper Harbor, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we could still see the full-blue-moon.  Mark and Cindy Johnson, friends from the lake, are traveling with us on the first 4 days of our 6 - 8 week trip.

About 1 hour into our adventure, just a couple miles from Turtle Lake, WI the RV started to vibrate and shake.  Jim pulled off the road and we discovered that the rubber on the outside rear dual tire peeled off.  De-ja-vu!  Two weeks earlier, while driving back from Grand Rapids, the drivers side outside dual tire lost it's rubber.  That tire had been replaced with a brand new tire and all the other tires had been checked and inspected.  We thought we were good to go.

We drove slowly to Turtle Lake to Norton's Repair Shop, which we found was closed due to the Labor Day Weekend.  We called Good Sam's Emergency Road Service, told them our dilemma and waited for a call back.  After 1/2 hour Good Sam called to tell us that they were still looking for someone to come to our rescue, but being it was Saturday and Labor Day weekend, they were having a bit of a problem.  They did say that Nobles Tire in Barron, WI was open until noon and had the tire we needed, but they couldn't come to help us.

Barron is about 8 miles from Turtle Lake, so we decided we would limp along to Nobles Tire and get it changed.  We told Darryl (the tire repair guy) to check the other tires and replace them if needed.  He said the tires were fine and didn't replace them.  Yeah!  After being delayed about 3 hours, we went merrily on our way.

About 35 miles later the RV started to vibrate and shake.  I got on the CB to Mark and Cindy, who were ahead of us, and radioed "Houston We Have A Problem!".  After Jim pulled off the road, I jumped out and to my horror saw the rubber had peeled off the inside dual tire. I heard a horrible hissing sound coming from the brand new tire and was horrified to watch it go flat before my very eyes.  Cindy immediately called Darryl at Nobles and said "Darryl, come quick and bring 2 new tires!"

Darryl and Ed finally showed up with their big ol' tire repair truck and replaced the damaged tire, and put a new valve stem on the tire we had just bought.  With the luck we were having, we weren't going to take any more chances for the last tire to blow, so we had Darryl replace that one too.  Waiting around for all this tire fixing, Cindy entertained us by singing that great old country song "It Ain't Home Until The Wheels Come Off".

It was now about 7/12 hours since we left home, and we should have been arriving at Copper Harbor.  We had only gotten 100 miles, and in case you lost count we had purchased 3 new tires...Cha-Ching, Cha Ching.  We asked Darryl and Ed if they wanted to follow us in their tire repair truck and join us for the weekend in Copper Harbor; they almost took us up on it.

Around 4:30 we stopped in Ironwood, MI to top off the gas tank and Mark noticed that the outside duel on the drivers side (bought 2 weeks earlier) was going flat.  Cindy used her phone magic and called Greg's Towing and Repair.  We couldn't believe that his shop was still open; after all, it was Saturday and Labor Day Weekend.  Greg had the cutest U. P. accent,  looked at the flat tire and said "dat valve extension broke off.  Dose tings can be trouble".  He fixed "dat ting" (Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching) and told us we were good to go, and we said "ya, we've heard that one before".  Greg laughed and said "ya, I bet cha heard dat before, eh?"  Gotta love those Yoopers!

We finally got back on the road grateful that in spite of all the unbelievable tire disasters of the day, the tire angels were looking over us because we always found someone to help us out.  Oh, did I mention it was Saturday and Labor Day weekend?  It took 14 1/2 hours to get Copper Harbor, which was hosting the the Fat Tire (which will forever be referred to as the FLAT Tire) Bike Race the next day. 

We arrived at Wilkins State Park, found our campsite, and set up in the dark.  Poor Mark and Cindy had to use flashlights to set up their tent.  With a sigh of relief, a couple FLAT Tire beers were cracked.  Jim and I are so grateful that Mark and Cindy were with us and were so patient, good sports, and kept a sense of humor about it all.  However, I'm not so sure they will ever want to travel with us again.