June 27, 2020
Day one dawned in the Boomtown KOA. An odd but serviceable overnight stop after the Getaway Day’s adventures. Odd I think because KOA’s aren’t exactly how I remember them from when my cousin, brother and I used to go on camping trips with our grandparents. I have many memories of the pools and playgrounds at KOA parks – mostly good ones. But KOA’s have changed in the intervening 40 years. They have been both gentrified in some ways (“Kamping Kabins”, stores, cafes and other services I don’t remember) but they also seem to have become semi-permanent residences for what I am beginning to understand to be a significant population of full time RV’ers. Many of which, it seems, are full time not because that was their choice of lifestyles, but full time because it may have been the only option they had left.
On this morning, the long term neighbor next to Gidget had some sort of machinists operation going. I couldn’t see what was being built, but seriously, how long can one grind a pvc pipe and more importantly why would you?
Trying desperately to shake off the previous day’s setbacks and wanting even more desperately to believe the Universe (and more specifically 2020) was NOT against us making this trip we started the day. I text my Aunt to tell her we would be to her house around 9:00 – at 9:15 I told her 10:15 ish and we pulled up to her house around 10:45 a.m. Don’t judge me! I suck at being prompt when I am on vacation. I save all “promptness” for working hours and only when I REALLY REALLY have to be there, well, promptly.
We had a great visit with my Aunt Char. It was good to catch up and see that she is doing well in our strange new world. We pried ourselves away from our lovely visit around 11:45 only to find a VERY large bolt in the second tire on the passenger side of the trailer.
By the time we pulled up at a Les Schwab the back tire was quickly deflating.
We would like to thank Joe at the Les Schwab in Reno for his help that day. He not only patched the tire but expedited the job for us as we were on our way out of town. Les Schwab didn’t even charge us for the service! This is the website to the specific store that helped us out. Thank you!! https://www.lesschwab.com/store/?storeId=960
Joe told us that boldts, nails and other debris are more common in the back tires of double axle rigs as the first tire runs over the object and kicks it up for the second tire to be impaled. The boldt that Joe took out of the tire is flat on the bottom. It boggles the mind how this boldt was set up so precisely as to puncture the tire the way it did.
In the end, we are grateful that we found the boldt BEFORE we got on the road for real. Had we been at highway speeds when we became aware of the boldt it would have lead to a blow out – or * gulp * worse.
On the road we have seen evidence of tires blowing in the skid marks that scar the highway. The whole thought just terrifies me.
We decided to call this setback a GOOD omen as it was caught prior to a disaster. It was 12:45 p.m. – goodbyes were said and NOW we were on the road.
Travels with Gidget 