Blow OuT

Lyndon and I were headed to WF 2 weeks ago when just as we entered the divided highway the left front tire blew out!  We were very lucky because I had the grass in between the oncoming traffic.  It scared me to death & Lyndon started crying.  I don't blame him-for a few seconds I didn't know what happened: it was loud and it was like I slammed the breaks on.  Everything on the console was in the floor.  Once I got the pick-up stopped and calmed Lyndon down I called Cody.  I told him I would feel a  lot safer on the right hand side of the road.  It wasn't slopped over there and there was a huge area before the two lanes began.  He told me to drive over there and he would call me back.  It happened Daddy was in WF, but he was sitting in the waiting room for a dr. apt.  Cody called a local farmer he has known for years.  He and his son came to our rescue.  The son jacked the pick up while the dad worked on getting the spare down.  I really felt sorry for both of them because it was extremely HOT!!!!  They could NOT get the spare to unlock.  Finally after they messed with it and laid under the bumper on the HOT pavement I decided to get the owners manual out.  It turns out that there is a special latch system to  prevent theft.  They followed every step in the manual but the spare would NOT come down.  Finally the dad ran to his shop to grab an old Chevy spare he had while the son cleaned up.  Afterwards Cody heard of several others who couldn't get their spare down either with this special latch system.  Cody is redoing the latch system so we won't have the same problem again.  About 1 1/2 hours later we were on the road again.  We could only drive 55 mph because the spare wasn't the same size as the others and that could ruin the transmission (NO stress there!!!!)  Lyndon and I returned our Home Depot items.  We brought Cody's pick-up because we were returning the extra cabinets from our laundry room reno and picking up a bike I bought from Heather for $10!!!!!  As I am leaving Home Depot to go get the bike Cody calls and says I need to be at the local tire store before 5:00 so they can order new tires.  I start doing the math in my head: we can't drive over 55mph, we have had nothing to drink except the melted ice we shared from my diet coke when we stood on the side of the road for 1 1/2 hours, and Lyndon is starving.  We called Heather and told her there was no way we could make the trip to her house.  We were bummed because we were excited to get to see her new home.  We stopped at Sonic and headed home going slow mind you.  I am not a slow driver at all!!!!!!!  As we were leaving town we suddenly heard a loud thumping.  I stopped to inspect but couldn't find anything.  As soon as we get to about 25 mph I hear it again and I can even feel it under my feet.  I look again and do find the 4 wheel drive plug in, but couldn't imagine that little plug would be making that much noise.  Tuck it behind some 'stuff' and we try it again.  We still hear it.  I am scarred we are going to ruin something else so I call Cody.  He says not to worry about it-whatever it is he will fix it when we get home.  His philosophy is: He just wanted us home safe, he isn't worried about how much it cost to fix something @ this point, he is stressed because he can't hope over to us as he is an hour away, and stressed because the last person he knew who had a blow out on the front left side went head on with oncoming traffic.  My philosophy: I DO NOT want to buy something if I don't have to-period!!!!!!  Finally after stopping about 5 times I see that the front fender is slapping the side of the pick-up.  Just as I noticed it Chuck passed us.  He of course noticed it and called  Cody to tell me to pull over and he would fix it.  We just pulled it off because it was missing the rivets.  Chuck asked Lyndon to ride with him back to town.  Lyndon has been wanting to ride, but has turned Chuck down because his trips have been too long in Lyndon's eyes (3 hours one way-too long for him!)  Of course they were waiting on me because I could only go 55mph!!!!!  You can barely see them through the windshield.    The pick-up is as good as new with all new tires and a trip to the body shop to replace the fender, wheel skirting, trim, and a few dents.  Lyndon still talks about the blow out.  He also has noticed that our blow out remains are still on the side of the highway every time we pass by which starts the conversation all over again.  Lyndon has really gotten into asking tough questions this past year like: "Momma would you rather have a blow out in your car or Daddy's pick-up?"  When you say neither one, that is never good enough you must pick and then be able to give reasons (lots of them) as to why you picked the answer you picked.  I am sure I will miss this some day! :)

It seems insane to have such a long post over a blow out-sadly we have done nothing in the last four weeks except school, so a blow out deserves a long post! :)

Just for the record: I have changed a tire before-Momma made me do it when I turned 16 just to prove I could if I had to; however, I probably never would for fear of who might stop.  Luckily I have never been stranded on the road except this one time.  Lyndon wanted to stand outside and look at the tire, but I wouldn't let him until Art arrived because I was scared of who would stop when they saw a mother and child staring at a tire.  I am sure everyone would be a very nice helpful person trying to do a good deed, but I am a WORRY WART!!!!!  I wouldn't have been able to get this spare down anyways.