The family. We are a strange little band of characters trudging through life, sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that binds us all together.

- Erma Bombeck

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Realities of Living on a Dirt Road

We knew that we needed to replace the tires on our Expedition...but like everything, it was taking a back seat to our daily expenses.  Well, today the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" took on a whole new meaning.

I was driving into town to pick up the boys from school.  Rocks always hit the bottom of the car, but a particularly loud rock startled me for a moment.  It was no more bumpy on the dirt road than usual, but for some reason I was thinking to myself, "This road is so bumpy, you would never know if you had a flat tire or not."  A car passed me and I looked in the side mirror to make sure that I wasn't going to "dust her out."  That's when I noticed how many rocks my tire was flipping up.  Then I realized that the rocks weren't rocks at all...they were small black chunks of rubber.  Then it hit me...I had a flat tire.

I pulled over and got out.  What I saw wasn't just a flat...it was a shredded tire.  I must've been driving on this tire for at least 1/2 a mile before I realized what had happened.  Luckily, the wheel looked ok.

I called a friend to get the kids (first priority).  Then I called AAA to get someone out here to tow me.  They weren't sure that they could come up our dirt road, but when I told them what had happened and how close I was to the pavement (about a mile), they agreed to get me.  The driver towed me to Les Schwab where we were lucky enough to find a set of barely used tires that fit our wheels and our budget.

Next thing we're gonna have to do are the shocks.  I don't think I have any left on this car.

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