Trip So Far

We are finally in Deming, NM, where we had planned on being Thursday evening. However, about 30 miles outside of Willcox, AZ, we blew the right inside (dualies)tire, which tore up a lot of plumbing, propane lines, vents, wiring, water lines, etc. above it. So, we spent almost three hours alongside I-10, one waiting for the tow truck driver and another two waiting while he disentangled the tires from the snarls of pipe, wiring and exploded tire and then wrestled the tires off to change the inside one.

While I was waiting, I got out my handy Motorola Droid phone, got on the Internet and googled RV repair places near us (using the GPS built in to the phone). I am absolutely thrilled with this phone! One, Dick's Tire and Auto, stood out among the rest with glowing reviews from satisfied customers. So, after we had the spare tire on we went back to Willcox, going to an RV park recommended by our nice tow truck driver. It was as he suggested, a very nice park to be in after our tumultuous afternoon. Early the next morning we went to Dick's Tire and Auto and they said they could fix the damage and replace our tires. We had planned on getting new tires soon anyway, so told him to go for it. The owners of this shop were absolutely wonderful people, and to a person all of the mechanics bent over backwards to make us feel safe and comfortable. The explosion of the tire had bent the steel frame that surrounds the water heater and the damage was so bad that Jake, our mechanic there, had to cut the whole thing out and fabricate a metal box for the water heater. Now, it is surrounded by thick steel should this ever happen again! He worked so hard on our motorhome, and finally got it all repaired and put back together mid-afternoon yesterday and we got back on the road and headed for Deming. No new problems ensued, and we had a very happy, happy hour since we were making progress at last.

It was an expensive occurrence, but we feel fortunate to not have had many mechanical problems in all the thousands of miles we have traveled. Plus, we did not get injured as can happen when a tire blows and causes you to lose control of the vehicle. I was driving when it happened and was able to lift off the gas and coast over to the side of the road. Standing alongside I-10 for that long, with all the 18-wheelers whizzing past so close was not fun! But, most of them were courteous enough to pull into the other lane when they saw us so we had no difficulties in that way.

So, tomorrow we hopefully will arrive in Chama and park the motorhome for a month! Then, we will explore and re-explore in all directions from there. Photos to follow!