Lightning Can Strike Twice...

I would normally start this posting with an attempt at some humor, but I lost it today at about mile marker 275, just west of Cheyenne, Wyoming on Interstate 80.  Things were going so well.

We woke up to a quiet, cool-ish morning and I felt the need to shoot something.  Then I remembered we were camping next to Cabela's and the urge subsided.  We took our time packing up and heading out for our next leg of the trip to The Tetons.  Miki was on the phone catching up with Ron, an old neighbor of ours, when I felt something in the steering wheel.  A  deja vu moment directed my eyes to the side view mirrors of the truck.  First the passenger side, then the driver's side.  It was then I saw a site I had hoped to not see again this soon (or ever).  The remnants of a shredded trailer tire littering I-80 at almost 70 mph.

This would be the approximate view we had while taking care of business.
Off, way off in the distance, the high plains transitions to the mountains
that would lead us to the Tetons.

Since this part of the world is not that crowded on a Saturday morning, we were able to move off the road relatively quickly and came to a stop safely.  At that moment, I felt my hands grip the steering wheel with some aggression, I took a moment and took a breath, and we exited the vehicle to see the hand that was dealt THIS TIME.  

Without too much consternation, we shifted into gear.  We assessed the damage to the trailer THIS TIME and realized it was similar, but not quite as bad as the FIRST TIME, a.k.a. THE LAST TIME.  After our previous (first) blowout (see post June 13, 2012), my learning curve on handling the situation was nearly vertical and I was like a sponge, observing and learning from our Mr. Good Sam Roadside Assistance man, James.  As soon as we got home, I assembled my own road hazard tools and tricks for the OFF CHANCE we would find ourselves up that creek again.

Miki watched the traffic as parts that would flap in the breeze were removed and the shell of the tire was replaced by our lucky spare.  By this time, it seemed all of Cheyenne was awake and traveling to see us in the form of semi tractor trailers.  One by one they crested the hill to see our hazard lights flashing.  My worst fear at that point was seeing the trailer keel over on its two good tires from the whoosh of the trucks that could not get over in the passing lane soon enough as they passed by us with the look of "better you than me" on their faces.

My Good Sam buddy James did not have the banana shaped "jack" helper
under the first tire seen above.  My internet skills made it possible for me to
add this to my bag of road side assistance tools.

With the pieces of the scene collected and stowed away, we were back on the road within 30 minutes of THIS TIME.  We were impressed with ourselves, but couldn't be too taken with our road savvy prowess because we no longer had a spare and of course I figured we were just minutes away from the NEXT TIME.

We forged on to Laramie, WY and Miki used our phone to track down any tire dealers that might have an RV replacement tire of which they could set their own price.  The first one closed at noon...it was Saturday after all.  She did secure a dealer that would take care of us.  Once we found it in downtown Laramie, Miki took the dogs for a well deserved walk to a nearby park while I placed some duct tape Band-Aids on some small places that needed to be "weather" proofed protected.  By the time the Dr. Wallie was done with his first aid, the new tire was remounted, balanced, and ready to blow, I mean go!

Peerless Tires of Laramie, WY... our hero.

With a bit more confidence in the back of the truck (the new tire), we pushed on to Rawlins, WY where we would fill up on some $4.40 a gallon diesel (that is some nice diesel) and head north to where we will rest our heads in Lander, WY for the night.  As we approached Rawlins, not to be confused with Nawlins (thank you Issac for sharing some of the rain that drenched Nawlins with us, even though we were gone) we saw an approaching storm.  We hightailed it out of town and eventually got out ahead of it with just sprinkles and a lot of wind.  Enough wind that combined with passing semi's going the other direction...the buffeting affect made half the freezer stuff fall out when we opened the door for dinner.  We are both amazed the trailer hangs together.

Approaching storm in Rawlins, WY as we head north to Lander.  From 4 lane
to 2 lane, from relative smooth highway to relatively not byway.

It has been a long time since the two of us have been in this part of the country and as desolate and dry as it appears, it does have beauty.

You can now imagine my thoughts as we head up Hwy 287...it has been more than two hours since the LAST TIME we had a blowout.  And since all I see now on any road surface is the residue left from some other poor saps blowout, the narrowness of 287 lingers and toys with my NEXT TIME.  The good news is that this road was so sparsely traveled while we were on it, we might have been able to change a tire without any witnesses.

We did finally arrive in Lander before dinner time to find our host, the Sleeping Bear RV Park, in such good spirits, I never thought we would make it to our site for the night.  The couple running it were so darn friendly, it took an elderly couple outside getting pissy with each other for them to let me go.  We got set up and went to town looking for supplies and a town river walk only to find another storm approaching with gusting winds and an unfriendly appearance.  We turned around and went home to batten down the hatches.  Only lasting 15-20 minutes, it blew pretty good and rained a bit, then said goodbye with a nice rainbow trailing in its path.

Lander is at the foot of the Wind River Mtns. and has a cute "old" traditional downtown.  We will take another shot at exploration tomorrow, if the Goodyear gods are on our side.

Overlooking downtown, 30 yards from our trailer.

The main drag in downtown Lander.

THIS TIME was better than LAST TIME and I can only hope that NEXT TIME, well...I think I am learning that I can't worry too much about something that hasn't happened yet, but I am pretty good at imagining

My Zen from the Road:  Shit happens.  How you step in it is up to you. You can quickly wipe it off your shoes and hope no one saw you or you can stop to think about the road it took to get to you and appreciate it for what it taught you.  Have a nice walk!
This is actually an adapted version of Miki's Zen from the day...hers was way too positive.