(Phone ringing) Ring, ring!
(Wife realizes it is not alarm clock, picks up phone, and wonders who is calling? After confusedly trying to figure out whose phone number it is, realizes it is Husband's cell.)
Wife: (groggily) Hello?
Husband: Hi. I have a flat tire.
Wife: Hmm.
Husband: There is no patching it.
Wife: Hmm.
Husband: I am between Knoxville and Attica and it is pitch black out here and I cannot see anything to change it.
Wife: I should come and get you.
Husband: Yes.
Wife: I cannot leave Julia here. (saying things outloud she really means to be saying only in her head)
Husband: No.
Wife: Where are you?
Husband: On 5 between Knoxville and Attica. Take a left at the Casey's. It does not say it is Highway 5, but it is. It is the Dragoon Trail... (continues to give directions)
Wife: Take 14?
Husband: Yes.
Wife: I will call you to find out the rest when I get there. I am trying to process.
Husband: Okay.
Wife: (putting on glasses, trying to swing pregnant body from bed) I am up. I have to get Julia and then will be there.
Husband: Okay.
So, off Julia and I went to pick Adam up in the dead of night just south of Knoxville. Me, having listened to my husband, drove out to Highway 14 and went over the Mile Long Bridge and drove past the County Fairgrounds / Knoxville Speedway and conveniently drove right by the light-less Casey's (and I didn't take a left). However, thankfully between TomTom and my knowledge of Knoxville, I knew I would hit Highway 5 directly anyway, and upon doing so, called Adam, and about five minutes later, I found him and his truck on the side of the road, hazards flashing.
To say he had a flat tire or that it was pitch black out was an understatment. It is more like his tire blew up and looked like a split turkey, and well, were it not for his hazards flashing, it was dark enough out that I probably would have driven by him and had to turn around because I would have seen him too late.
And, seeing as how we had church at 9:45 in the morning, we didn't figure spending time on the side of a state highway in the middle of the night was a real smart move.
So, we headed home, and of course, to stay awake, I jabbered Adam's ear off. Adam didn't fall asleep till after 3:30 and I was still up at 4:00 am. (And Julia was kind of whacked too; she kept sitting up in bed holding her blanket.)
Side Note: I should point out at this time that Adam gave me directions (as seen above) and I followed them mostly AND found him, only to realize on the way home that he meant T-15 - NOT Hwy 14 - and the Kum & Go - NOT Casey's. Please note that I DID take Hwy 14 and would have turned by the Casey's had I seen it in time and I still would have found him. Thank goodness for small miracles.
After church yesterday, we drove back and found Adam's truck, and I... uh... supervised... while he changed the tire (and of course, took some pictures). It is a good thing we did not attempt doing this at 2:30 in the morning... there were some frustrating enough times doing it during the middle of the day with the sun out and fully awake!
Oooh. Bad.
Definitely on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
Another view of the bad tire.
Hmm... got the spare off... now what... what's next...?
Why am *I* being punished because daddy's tire blew up? LET ME OUT!!! (I eventually let her crawl around the backseat of the car while we were outside. The road was so busy I couldn't even think to let her out of the car. I was smart and left the car running with the air conditioning on AND rolled the driver's window down enough to get my arm in there in case she locked us out inadvertently. )
These... ugh... lug nuts... ARGH... are on... OOOF... too tight!!! I know... I'll jump on the wrench to loosen them up!
Whew, tire off. Let's put it in the back of Erin's car.
This is what I think happened...
Mom, there is a TIRE in the back of the car.
A close up of the damage.
Spare on...! Time to head home!
(For time refererence, I took the first picture at 1 pm and the last at 1:30 pm. We had some clean-up after the last picture. We rolled into home at 2 pm and I basically had to talk loudly at Julia the last five minutes of the trip to keep her awake and then promptly took her to bed for her nap. I am thinking maybe I should have left her with a babysitter or something... oh, well!)
Adam will be calling about the tire this week. Sadly, this tire (and the other three) have less than 25,000 miles on them. This would be his third tire on the truck (I would say third "set", but we are NOT replacing the other three). His truck just barely has 60,000 miles on it and is a 2003, so having a third set of tires is a bit premature. My Escape, on the other hand, is only on its third set of tires and has almost 120,000 miles on it. And never a flat tire (knock on wood). Go figure.
erin
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