Overnight: Clarksville, TN
Clarksville RV Park and Campground
Gas Price: $3.59--Symrna, TN
Avg. MPG: 8.3
Starting Mileage: 151
Miles Driven: 192
We left Chattanooga at 10 AM. It was an uneventful journey until.....we were 16 miles from the offramp to our night's stop in Clarksville, TN. I heard some scraping road noises. When I looked in the side mirror, I saw shreds of tire leave our RV. So, here we go--it's another Migneault adventure. (Or should I be saying "misadventure"?)
After I got out to check the damage and was stunned to see we had NO tire left except a small shred of sidewall (see photo above), we decided to pull forward about 100 ft so that we could park under an overpass. It was 2:30 PM. Dave began getting organized to change the tire--which really made me nervous because we watch too many of those cop shows where roadside crashes are a mainstay. Of course this is all too real when semi's are whizzing by and the trailer is rocking violently from the wind displacement. After Dave removed the hub guard, he realized he did not have a socket the correct size to remove the lug nuts. So, we went into Option 2 Mode.
I began making calls to our road emergency insurance company when I realized (I think) that it is a reimbursement policy, not an actual "we'll send someone to change your tire" policy. But, in two calls to them we couldn't get them to stay on the line long enough to get answers. So, next I called the Good Sam Club. We don't have an emergency roadside policy (a situation I plan to correct tomorrow), but they were very helpful in finding someone to come and help us out. They made all the calls and checked back with us to be sure we were taken care of.
The Rescue-Mobile (a nice guy from a tire company) came to change the tire about an hour from the time he was called by Good Sam. Only one problem, his socket wrench didn't have enough clearance get around the lug nut (the lug nuts are counter-sunk into the wheel rims). So, he had to use his sledge hammer to pound his socket into the rim--thank goodness the rims are aluminum so that they would give. Finally, he was able to get the lug nuts to turn and whallah, we were in business. He advised that the tires we have on the trailer are not really rated to carry the weight of our unit, fully loaded. The side walls are too thin for this much weight. So, another situation I will take up with the manufacturer because we are still under warranty.
Now instead of moving forward for our third day of road travel, we will have to purchase tires in the morning before we can venture onward. We will not be able to go as far as we had planned, so I'll have to revise the selected campsite, or we will just have to stay here another day before we go onward. This misadventure cost us $152. No telling what the new tires will cost us. But, alas.
At 5:30, we were back on the road and after a Wal-Mart experience, we arrived at the campground at 6:30 PM. The campground is very clean and neat. But, the TV isn't cable, so we only have a couple of channels. The WiFi is working well.
I still made a Mexican casserole or stew or something not quite decipherable. It was good, nevertheless.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure.
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