August 28, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

Fires and a Flat

The next day we started off feeling excited, but a little worried about the fires. We had been in contact with Deb and Steve the day before and they were closer to the fires and were dealing with a lot of smoke. Plus, a crazy storm happened the night before and there were several downed trees and road debris. Ellen and Mario seemed OK as they were farther back like we were, but I was getting nervous about what we were getting into. Part of our drive was HWY 2 and we knew part of it was shut down but we weren’t sure which part and in any event the situation was constantly fluid. Because of all that we decided to take the longer way around and stay off 2 all together. I did want to stop and dump first though because I was worried about what would happen if we got rerouted or evacuated. Didn’t want to drive into an unknown situation with full tanks. Well, there are only two places in Helena that have dumps. One is on a slight hill and you would have to pump up..weird and no not doing it. The second one was a standard dump but someone put a second trash dumpster in the place where you make the turn and it was TIGHT. Lee got so far and then we couldn’t make the turn without either scraping the tire against the curb, (how we got the flat the first time) or hitting the logs that were on the border on the other side. We got out and looked and talked and Lee pushed the timber with his foot and it came loose. One of them was removable (obviously someone else had this problem) and with gentle negotiating he made the turn and no tires scraped. He did a really good job and we stayed very calm with each other and helped each other which was great. Whoever designed that turn though..not cool.

Finally we got out on the road and since 90 is a major highway we felt pretty confident we wouldn’t have to deal with closures. What we didn’t count on was the steep grades. Lee is a really good driver and did a great job navigating the road, but when I saw he was using his brakes on occasion (instead of letting the engine slow us down) I knew it was really steep. I breathed a sigh of relief when we hit flat land again, but it was short lived. We felt a jerk (as if the trailer had come unhitched) and then looked and saw smoke coming from the back right trailer tire. Lee pulled over immediately (always, always pull over immediately) and the tire was not only flat it was shredded. Thankfully though he stopped in enough time that the rim was not damaged at all that we could see. After taking a few deep breaths and saying a quick thank you to God because the flat could have happened coming down the hill, Lee pulled out the Rapid Jack we had bought after the last flat tire. So here’s the thing. We rapidly found out the jack was not so much a jack. The idea is you can roll the good tire onto it and it will lift the bad tire enough to change it. We were on a two lane highway and pulled over into the gravel, as you would be in this scenario. He rolled the tire onto the jack and it immediately sunk 6-7 inches into the gravel. So not enough height to put the spare on. Lee pulled out these rubber mats we have to roll tires onto and tried it again, but again the good tire was not high enough to put the new one on. Plus the good tire was smushed alarmingly by the whole process and I started to worry we could have a second failure. OK, so now what? Well, we decided to call Good Sam roadside assistance. The experience was largely the same as last time. It took over 45 minutes to find someone to dispatch and then another 45 for them to arrive. I think the problem here is Good Sam just doesn’t have enough people to call. Both times we were less than 30 minutes from a major town so seriously it should not be that hard to find someone to dispatch. Although I am grateful to have someone come, and in both cases the people who came were very proficient, when this is up for renewal I think I will change to AAA. I also want to mention here that parts of the tire were wrapped around the brake. He had to use a special tool to remove it and even if the jack had worked, Lee doesn’t think he would have been able to get the tire off.

Shredded Tire

Trying to get jack to work

These guys stopped the train before hitting the mountain and walked over to see if we needed help…amazing

At least the view was good while we were waiting

So I am sure your first question was “Did we have TPM or Tire Pressure Monitoring?”. The answer is yes, and we were getting a low air warning light, but it wasn’t extremely low and this is not uncommon in the mornings before the tires heat up. The difference this time was the all the other tires went to normal pressure but the fourth one didn’t. We discussed checking the air and were actually talking about the next rest area when we hit the mountain pass that was unexpected. Should we have pulled over before attempting the hill? Maybe, but it had been a big morning with the fire smoke, route change, and dump station from hell and we had a lot on our minds. Also I will say, I am not convinced that the low pressure is what caused the problem. Everyone knows these E tires are absolute crap and we absolutely have to spend the money to get new ones. It’s not just about the money though, the coordination to get them all changed is difficult and with the way our schedule has been we haven’t been any place with enough time this could be easily done. Since we are headed to Susanville for 2 months for Lee’s work kamping job that should be the best place to do it and we will just have to bite the bullet and get 5 new tires, because seriously, we could have died.

By the time all this was done we were seriously behind schedule and we still had to travel Route 93, which although it’s only 112 miles takes a good 3 hours to traverse. There was lots to look at though as we went through several small towns and it gave us some time to settle down before getting to Whitefish Lake State Park. We even took a few moments and stopped to look at Flathead Lake which is a huge lake that is very popular in Montana. Have to say though that after spending a month at Lake Kabetogama we weren’t that blown away.

The view helped with the stress

Flathead Lake was beautiful

By the time we got to the campground we were pretty beat. A 4 hour travel day had turned into an 8 hour travel day, but thankfully Steve and Deb made dinner for us. Plus, when we pulled into our site I saw she and Ellen had decorated it for my birthday. So, so nice especially after such a day and I almost started crying. They were so thoughtful and I was so glad to be where we were supposed to be… it was a great feeling and how wonderful to have such nice friends. We had dinner and then I got some awesome presents (everything does two things) and then we had cupcakes for dessert. They both went all out and you can see from the smiles on my face what it meant to me.

Mario, Ellen, deb, Steve, and Lee

Dinner was yummy

Cupcake for desert

A Camper photo frame!!

They bought me sunflowers and Ellen pt them in this cool teapot she found in a thrift store

They bought me sunflowers and Ellen put them in this cool teapot she found in a thrift store

I loved that Deb wrote on this rock for me…so thoughtful since she knows I love rocks

Plus a big rock with a tiara

Hurley, deb’s dog. not such a fan of the tiara lol

Deb Mario and Steve

So so nice

Tomorrow we are all going to Glacier and I am so so excited. Hope the smoke doesn’t ruin the experience, but I choose to think positively and believe I wouldn’t travel all this way and not get to see the thing I have been looking forward to.

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June 17, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Time getting a Flat Tire

Saturday, Lee and I left Alum Creek State Park very early because we wanted to get to his parents and go to Amish country for the day. As he was pulling into the dump station though, he hit some debris in the road and got a flat tire. My reaction was pretty much “this was bound to happen sooner or later” and since we have an extended tire warranty on the rig and Good Sam’s roadside assistance I was not worried. Lee went ahead and dumped the tanks and I called Good Sam’s. We have had the roadside assistance through Sam’s the entire time we have been camping and I was feeling very confident when I made that phone call. After all, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when, we got a flat tire and we were in about the safest place we could be. Plus it was early in the morning, so I thought I would have no problem. Unfortunately that is not the way things unfolded. I will walk you through my experience and please keep in mind I took notes as I went so the information is extremely accurate.

Flat tire

The initial call was placed at 7:10am. The dispatcher verified my card number and location and stated he would find someone in the area. I received a text from Good Sam’s (as promised) at 7:18am stating that Alum Creek Towing had been dispatched with an eta of 10:27. What??? This seemed very long to me, especially considering we were just outside a major city. So Lee called the number provided to speak directly to the towing company. They notified him that they were not equipped to handle tire changes on a trailer and would be unable to help. I called Good Sam back and talked to a second dispatcher, pretty annoyed that a company that specializes in RV assistance would have a provider in their database that was not equipped to handle trailers, but still willing to chalk it up to an anomaly. I was assured that they would verify on the phone with the next provider that we had a fifth wheel trailer tire and was sent a text at 9:02am stating the towing company had been dispatched and would arrive at 10:12am. Well at least the ETA was shorter, but just to be sure, Lee called the company. Their dispatcher stated he wasn’t sure the tech could work on a trailer, and would verify it and call back in 10 minutes. 25 minutes later Lee called back and was told they were still trying to find a tech. By this point it was 9:25am and I was very frustrated. I called Good Sam’s and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told one was not available, but they were trying to find a third provider as the second provider had just cancelled the call. When I heard that I had had enough. I again asked (or demanded, as I was pretty hot) to speak to a supervisor and was connected to Monica. I have to say Monica did a nice job calming me down. She assured me she had two agents working on it, but held firm she could not stay on the phone with me until it was resolved because she was the only supervisor on the floor. She also stated the regional account managers were responsible for making sure the vendors could change a trailer tire and was as upset as I was that two providers had been unable to handle the service, but she could only escalate on Monday.

While all this was going on there was a dog that barked consistently the entire time. I love dogs but there is a special place in hell for people that tether their dogs outside at a campground, leave them for hours and hours, and allow them to bark that way. Plus it was getting hot and the downside of our safe place was that it was next to the dump station. So as people started to leave they stopped to dump and we were the recipients of at least 5 different poop smells that morning. And of course every single man that pulled up offered us his jack to change the flat. We had a spare and the truck jack, but Lee was not comfortable with changing the tire himself. He did start calling companies himself and talked to three semi-truck companies and none of them would touch an RV. Not a good sign for when we get out west. I will say that about 10 that jack was looking pretty good, but I received the third text stating that Wells & Son Tire Service would be coming at 10:53. Here’s where the story gets better as the tech not only showed up at 10:29am but fixed the flat in about 10 minutes. He gave us very good advice on where to get another spare and did a very nice job. He also shared with us that he almost hadn’t come because Good Sam had dispatched him in March and after 52 minutes of driving they had cancelled the call when he was 5 minutes out. He didn’t mind that the customer had found other assistance, but wanted paid for his drive time but Good Sam refused. He said the only reason he accepted this call was because it was only 20 minutes from his house and he agreed before he knew it was Good Sam calling. So there you have it. My recommendation on Good Sam Roadside Assistance is: Proceed with caution and have another solution.

Speaking of another solution, in one of Lee’s calls to get the spare replaced he was told about a product called Rapid Jack. This product allows you to roll one wheel onto it lifting slightly the second one. It will work on dual axle trailer tires or the outside dually tires and after watching this video Lee went and bought one on the spot. So if it ever happens again we are all set. It only cost $60 which is a small price to pay for never being in that situation again. Update: Absolutely do NOT buy this product. When we got our second flat tire and tried to use it on the side of the road it sunk into the gravel and would not lift the tire enough for Lee to remove it himself, so we had to call a professional. Their videos show it working on solid pavement, which may work, but since when is the side of the road payment? So we made it to DeDe and Denny’s with enough time left to go to Amish country. We had a terrific day, and here are the pictures to prove it.

First Stop FANTASTIC buffet at a run by Amish restaurant

Even the Amish eat here

Although most buggies look the same here are three that are different

Amish Farm

After a fantastic reasonably priced lunch at Mrs. Yoders (some of the best fried chicken I have ever had), we went to Lehman’s a large mercantile store that caters specifically to the Amish. If you weren’t aware, the Amish do not use electricity, so Lehman’s carries products you would not usually find in a store. If you think about it, the Amish are the original Boondockers and have found many creative ways over the years to do without electricity. We had a terrific time wandering around, and found some neat little stuff in the clearance store for an additional 25% off!! Cori and Kelly I now have a chip and dip bowl; it’s very exciting!!! Plus as a bonus they had a small exhibit right when we walked in the door of diarama’s carved from one block of wood. They were beautiful.

Carved from onesolid block of wood

This was my favorite

More non-electric lamps than I have ever seen

Lee and Dede humored me

Amish romance novels…oh yes they have them

This bell was made in Troy NY which I have been to many times

Denny checking out the gardening section

Farm folks make recipes in BIG quantities

Not happening!!!

This is not happening either

But I did love Butane iron …VERY cool.

A cast iron stove with a cook top for the posers

A cast iron stove look-a-likewith a cook top for the posers

This cast iron frigerator is completely modern on the inside. Very neat

This cast iron look-a-like refrigerator is completely modern on the inside. Very neat

Compost toilets for my RV friends

A cider press

Butter molds...why doesn't out butter some this pretty?

Butter molds…why doesn’t our butter come this pretty?

What I really wanted to look at was a propane residential fridge I had seen in the catalog. It was really awesome, but before I got too excited Lee said it was probably too deep to fit into our slide out. Bummer. I thought I had discovered something cool.

I do want to mention that if you are traveling through Amish country (especially with an RV) you need to be extremely careful. Horse and buggies ALWAYS have the right of way and you should be particularly careful of curves and rainy days. Remember this is the only mode of transportation they have and generally must use the main roads to get from place to place. There was an effort though to build a special roadway ( The Mohican Valley Trail) and Denny stopped so I could take some pictures of the Dreamers Bridge. You can bike on this trail, but watch our for the horse poop as the Amish use it frequently.

Lee at Dreamers Bridge

We also got to see the horse stables at the local Walmart…yes Walmart, and I have to say how impressed I was that Walmart accommodated the needs of the Amish in this area. Lehman’s is nice, but the prices are on the high side and the Amish are Americans too and share the right to shop at Walmart just like anyone else.

The horse stall at Walmart

It was a standard Walmart

They put coolers on the back of the buggies for cold stuff

It was a truly lovely day planned by my in-laws and perfect for our new life. We are really going to miss them as we travel on the road and I hope they come visit us as we are traveling…they have a standing invitation!! Just to cap off the day we saw a beautiful rainbow on the way home and Denny was nice enough to pull over so I could take another pic. Gene, I have been trying to add more pictures as you requested so I hope this post has plenty for you 🙂

Clouds in the sky

Beautiful rainbow

Lessons Learned

Have a flat tire plan before getting one and don’t rely on your roadside assistance as the only solution.
Don’t buy a Rapid Jack

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