Sunday, September 11, 2011

A Series of Very Fortunate Events


Normally, such an image as the above might be taken as a harbinger of doom, given that it happened less than a half hour into vacation.  Curiously, such was not the case, and to understand that you must know the full tale; a story at least slightly more strange than fiction.

It began with our annual preparation for Burning Man, that festival of arts, bacchanalia, mischief and chaos to which we have committed the week before Labor Day these last 9 years.  My dear wife (aka Ranger Beauty) had noticed that the tire cover on the spare trailer tire was in need of replacement.  After she had removed the cover we noticed that the spare tire itself was in no better shape.  We hadn't replaced it since we bought the trailer (used of course) - a bit over 6 years ago.  Fortunate event number 1 - we had never needed it, followed by fortunate event number 2 - it could be replaced before we had need to use it.

However despite the considerable array of wrenches I was able to muster, the nut holding the spare to the mount would not budge.  Figuring that the tire shop had pneumatic wrenches (which I did not), I removed the arm of the mount from the bumper with the tire attached and threw the whole shebang into the back of the truck and off we went.  As expected, the tire shop was able to separate the nut from the bolt and it turns out it was a common plastic-lined 'lock' nut - that in the desert heat had fused to the bolt and was only removed through substantial mechanical torque.  In short, I never could have freed the spare from the mount had I ever needed it.  Fortunate event number 3!  We return home with a new spare and re-attach the mount to the bumper (and the spare to the mount with conventional lock washer).  Then we awaited the arrival of the new tire cover - which landed a mere two days before the day we left.

We departed for the Black Rock desert on the morning of the last Thursday of August.  As we merged onto I-15 I asked my wife if Thanksgiving had been moved up to August.  She replied that as far as she knew it had not.  This puzzled me due to the number of turkeys that were operating motor vehicles on this particular Thursday.  There followed a point where the freeway narrows and we were obliged to merge with traffic in the neighboring lane.  Just behind me was a commercial truck - not a semi, but still larger than our truck and trailer.  He graciously dropped back and allowed me a comfortable merge and I mentioned this to the wife and said that one act of courtesy had just expunged in my mind all the idiocy we had been subjected to up to that point.  We rolled on down the highway waiting for him to pass us, as we were well laden and in no particular hurry.  He eventually did, passing us on the right and giving us a friendly wave (which we returned).

Not two minutes later a semi passed us on the left, honking and gesturing and I knew something was wrong.  We immediately pulled off to the side of the freeway, flipped on the warning lights and both hopped out to inspect.  My first suspicion was with the bike carriers on the camper shell - but all was well there.  We then continued back when she called to me "do you smell something" just as I spied the shredded tire you saw at the start of this post.  Fortunate event number 4 - the trucker had seen it blow and was able to signal us - I hadn't felt it go.  Fortunate event number 5 - the other tire on that side held despite the blowout.  We got back in the truck and limped up the off-ramp we had stopped just short of, turned and found a spot to change the tire.  With the new spare on the mount that was now usable.  Fortunate event number 6 - a convenient and safe place to do this.  I was able to change the tire while she phoned a friend for a quick computer search and the nearest tire shop - which turned out to be an outlet of the company from which we usually buy tires.  By the time we were ready to roll again, she had us an appointment less than 5 minutes up the road from where we were.  Fortunate event number 7.

As it was, the tires on the trailer were old, and I was pushing it planning on another 1200+ mile trip on them.  We replaced the full set, which Discount Tire did - pulling out four floor jacks and popping the trailer up like a Formula 1 pit crew.  And they were almost as fast.  Fortunate event number 8 - we hadn't even damaged the rim with the shredded tire, no doubt thanks to the prompt signaling of a semi driver whom I wasn't even able to thank.  Had any of these fortunate events not happened, the whole thing would have unraveled, and me - being the ever-patient and even-keeled soul that I am [not]... well, let's just say it wouldn't be unexpected for my head to explode in reaction to such.

With the spare back in its proper place, and four new tires on the trailer, we continued our journey - which was entirely uneventful.  And that is always a fortunate event.  As for the week at Burning Man, I may post on that - though it was such a smooth and easy year that there isn't anything dramatic to talk about.  I can say that we fared much better than many in getting there and back.  Funny, but every trip there has some thing that goes wrong, some thing that needs to be fixed, some thing that gets forgotten on the way out and has to be replaced or lived without.  Considering how badly this could've gone I am nothing but thankful that fate was so gentle with us.

As a coda, we returned to Southern California during the black-out, and arriving home pulled the generator out of the trailer so we could power the house fridge and freezer until electrical service was restored (about 4 or 5 hours later).  Another fortunate - if tangential - event.

2 comments:

  1. Great narrative, sir! I think we have all had experiences like that, the key is to realize how fortunate you are as things keep hitting you.
    Much love,
    B

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  2. We had a blowout on our trailer headed to Carlsbad a couple years ago - same deal - I didn't feel it (3 axle trailer) and someone passing me pointed it out. I too bought our trailer used, and unfortunately not acquired the key to the padlock holding the spare underneath, so we had to wait for my wife's grandpa to show up with his torch. Several lessons there - and I'm very anal about checking the tires prior to a trip now...

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