Finally....the trip!! Beware, it is long!!

So, we left on Thursday (3/20) to go visit my dad and Lois. We left our house right at 9, and figured at the latest we would be there by 5 p.m. By the time we stop for lunch, and potty breaks the 6 1/2 hour trip wouldn't take longer than 8 hours! After a few hours of driving and only one potty break, we stopped in southern Illinois for lunch (KFC...and let me tell you...not good). After we eat, we decided we better give the kids some fresh drinks now, to avoid me climbing through the truck (the drinks were in the soft-side cooler in the back). So I get the cooler out of the back of the truck, and when I pick it up, I notice that there is water dripping out of the bottom of it. Since it was sitting on top of one of the suitcases, I immediately reach for the suitcase to see if it is wet....OF COURSE IT IS!!!! So I holler at Mike and ask him if he can empty the cooler while I check to see if the clothes in the suitcase are wet. OF COURSE THEY ARE!!! So I take what is wet out of the suitcase and try to hang them over the back seats so that they can dry. Mike emptied the cooler, and we decide that we will just stop at a local gas station and find one of those nice styrofoam coolers.

First gas station...no luck, second gas station....found one!!! Mike brings it out, and it was too small, so he went back in and got a bigger one. He put some ice in it, put the drinks and lunchables in it...and we hit the road. No biggie. I am not sure if any of you have ever ridden in a vehicle with a styrofoam cooler??? Well, within about 5 minutes, we decided that we were going to have to stop quickly to move things around in the back, because the squeaking from the styrofoam was about to drive Mike and I crazy!!!! So we drive a bit further and Mike can't take it anymore, so he stops and we rearrange the cooler to get rid of the noise.....at last...peace!!!

NOW...this is where the story gets a bit.....Chevy Chase Vacation like.

We are just a couple miles from the Metropolis, Il exit...and the message center on the truck comes on and alerts us (well Mike) that the tire pressure in the drivers side rear tire is going down. So we take the exit and head for the closest gas station. Mike pulls up to the air pump, and opens the door and all we can hear is a hissing noise (air is quickly coming out of the tire and it is going flat FAST!!!) We (or MIKE) has apparently ran over something in the road and it has put a gash in the side of the tire. Well, now what??? We decide to air up the tire and run into Metropolis, which is less than 3 miles from where we are, and see if we can find an auto parts store. As we get closer to town, BINGO...one of the first stores we see is an O'Reilly's Auto Parts. So Mike goes in and gets a patch kit for the tire, and any other stuff you would need to patch a tire, and we head back to the gas station (we needed the air pump) before the tire goes flat. ****I would have taken a picture of the gash in the tire, but didn't think that now was the time to bring out the camera and take pictures for my blog...don't think that Mike would have thought that was too humorous*****

So as the kids sit in the locked truck, windows were halfway down, so that they didn't get hot and we were obviously standing right there, Mike and I (I think I was just there for moral support), plugged the tire. We weren't too sure if the plug was going to stay, because at first it acted like it was going to pop back out. So we waited for a while, took bathroom breaks, got situated, and decided to hit the road. Plug looked good, and at least Mike didn't have to change a tire. We got back on the road and it was 7 miles to Paducah, KY. Well, in that 7 miles (which seemed liked 3), we had to cross a river, the Ohio River...I think. As we near the end of the bridge, the message center pops back on, and tells us that the air pressure in the same tire is going down....QUICKLY!!! Did I mention, we are still on the bridge...I am thinking to myself, this is going to be BAD!!! Mike got us off the bridge and as far as he could....to the side of the road...on the EXIT ramp!!!! This is not a good place to be, especially when there is a gas station down the ramp and around the corner, we can see it, but we can't get there with out ruining the tire even more, and the wheel (rim). So Mike gets out and attempts to get the spare out from under the truck, I stayed in the truck with the kids, but Mike had the hatch on the back of the truck open. So I was able to communicate with him...even if it was by yelling due to all the noise from the interstate. Mike tried, and tried, and tried to get that spare off...but it wasn't working. Who ever had put it on before, put it on too tight and Mike couldn't get the thing to release. As I am thinking to myself, I can't believe that no one would stop to help, I look up and there is a car that had pulled over in front of us, so I yell at Mike and tell him...SOMEONE STOPPED TO HELP!!!! And as these two guys get out of their car, I think...OH NO, this might not be good news...needless to say, they didn't look like the most upstanding citizens, and I was a bit worried. So Mike walked up to them as they asked if we needed help...Mike assured them that we didn't. So that is what I get for thinking people are rude by not stopping to help...might be better in this day and age if no one stops to help. I did appreciate the thought of them wanting to help, but they did scare me a bit. So as Mikes anger continues to grow, and I worry about one of the big semi's or other vehicles running him over as they fly by at extreme speeds...I decide that I am going to call 911. I have never had to call 911 before.....so when they came on and asked what my emergency was, I told the lady that I wasn't sure that it was an emergency, but we needed help!!! So I told her what was going on and she send a squad car to come help us.....at least to get people to slow down and move over!!!! And of course by the time that he got there Mike had just finished putting the spare on (tire change #1). So we pull off the exit ramp and go to the gas station...Mike decided that we would try to plug the tire one more time, but do it differently than we had done before. So he plugs the tire, I take the kids inside to use the restroom, yes again...it has been over an hour since the last potty break so why not try again. Mike takes the spare off and puts the plugged tire back on (tire change #2), and we decide to drive around a little bit to make sure that it is okay. About 20 minutes later we decide to hit the road...again.

Off we go.....no problems....we decide to pull over about 5 miles down the road and check it .....just to make us feel better, Mike thought that it looked like it might be coming out again, but I didn't think so.

Off we go.......about 5 minutes later, for piece of mind, one last time, we check it again....Mike still thinks that it is coming out.....I don't think so.

Off we go...AGAIN!!! About 25 minutes after we took off after tire change #2, we are driving, laughing at how crazy our day has been and I hear this pop noise....I look at Mike and say....Did you hear that...what was it??? He thought that it was something on the movie that the kids were watching. We laugh, Mike looks down and the message center says.......tire pressure 26....tire pressure 7!!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!! YEP, that plug was coming out Mike...why did you listen to me??? I don't know a thing about TIRES!!!!!!

Now, we have no choice but to put the spare on and drive the rest of the way, but here is the catch. Since the wheels/tires that are on my truck are bigger than the what the spare is, we have to put the spare on the front in order to NOT ruin the rearend/axle of the truck. So Mike has to take the front tire off (tire change #3) and put the spare on the front, and put the front tire on the rear(tire change #4)....following me???

In the mean time, the kids are being absolutely WONDERFUL, and continue to watch a movie...and ask 100 questions as to what Mike is doing, but that is okay!!! We decided that it might be time for those lunchables that are in the styrofoam cooler...buried in the back of the truck.

Mike gets the tire changes done, and gets in the truck and we get ready to go......puts the truck in drive...and NO GO!!!! The truck won't move.....WHAT THE HECK??? Mike gets out, looks around, gets back in the truck....BAD NEWS...how much more of this can we take???

Since the truck is lowered a little bit, and the spare is smaller then the rest of the tires, something is hitting on the wheel (rim) and won't let the front tire spin....(I am not sure exactly why...he told me, but I am not good with wheel/tire things so I am just giving the jist of the explanation). So now, Mike has to take the spare off the front (tire change #5), put the flat on the front (tire change #6), after he puts the flat tire on the front...he goes to take the jack out from under the truck, and he can't get it out...since the flat is on the truck he can't get the jack to lower far enough to get it out. So he uses these blocks to put under the flat tire thinking that it would raise it enough to get the jack out, well....guess what??? The jack broke....once again we are at...NOW WHAT???? FOR REAL...how much bad luck can you have?????
So as people are speeding by us, and we should have been at my dads at least an hour ago......our only other choice......911. Mike calls them this time, and as bad as we both wanted to say...YEP, it is us...again...with ANOTHER FLAT TIRE!!!! Mike told them what was going on, and within about 2 minutes there was a Kentucky state trooper parked behind us.

****Within that 2 minutes Braxton says he has to go potty......ONLY CHOICE.....pee along side of the road...this was the highlight of his day!!!!!*******

As the cop walks by the truck, Braxton very excitedly says....MOMMY, A COWBOY!!! Bless his little heart, he thought that the man in the hat was a cowboy....just rode up on his horse!!! So Mike tells the cop what is going on, and that COWBOY was so nice he let us use the jack that he had (in his saddle bad on the side of the horse) rather than giving us the name of a towing company that could tow us away. Then Mike has to take the regular tire off the back, the one that was on the front to begin with (tire change #7), and put the spare on the back (tire change #8)...then he has to take the flat off the front (tire change #9), and put the regular tire that was on the front to begin with, back on the front (tire change #10). I felt so bad for Mike...but he is a trooper and he did a fabulous job.

So now if you followed me through all this, you are probably saying........how can the spare be on the back...it will ruin the rearend/axle, because this is what I said earlier in the blog. You are correct, but by this time.....almost 7 p.m., we have decided to take our chances. Thanks to that very nice state trooper we avoided getting the truck towed, and who knows where the story would have went after that.

So off we go, 2 hours left, and lets just keep our fingers crossed that nothing else happens. On with the story, we drive for about 45 minutes until we see a gas station...Mike's hands were filthy, and he also had to use the bathroom...he didn't feel it necessary to use the side of the road. So, he checks the back end of the truck, and he said that he thought that it was okay...wasn't smoking or anything....thank goodness!!! We end up pulling into my dads house right at 9 p.m. So what should have been no more than an 8 hour trip, turned into 12!!!! But the kids were good the whole time, Mike has become a pro at changing tires...I think that he should put an application in to NASCAR, I think that he could change tires in seconds. And I, well...I will make sure that we have a spare that is the same size as all the rest of the tires on the truck before we go on another ROAD TRIP!!!! I was just glad to be at Dad and Lois' and know that I had a good 12 hours before I had to get back into a vehicle!!!!

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