Pit-Crew Efficiency

Sam’s and my drive from New York to Utah was not without problems, but they were minor, and we mostly enjoyed listening to books on CD and just being together.

I must mention that we blew a tire on the pop-up—twice! I was driving both times. These blowouts added to the time a few years ago when my Jeep tire came off at 55 mph and rolled away into the highway median at the beginning of a trip to Texas to visit Ashley. 

One could say I have lousy luck with tires. This time the trauma was lessened by the fact that the blowout happened on the vehicle we were towing. Only the loud popping sound alerted me that something had gone wrong. Fortunately I was in the lane next to the median and was able to pull across the end of a "No U-turn" area, which gave us more distance between us and the vehicles speeding past. After switching in the spare tire, we drove to the nearest town big enough to have an auto repair business that carried replacement tires for a pop-up camper. We were on our way again with a brandy new spare just in case we blew another one.

And we did. 

Here are some factors to keep in mind: The state speed limit in New York is 65 mph. The farther west you go, and the more vast scenery and flat the highways, the higher goes the speed limit, topping out at 80 mph in Wyoming. Then imagine two black tires less than two feet in diameter spinning for all they're worth! Some who read this will know of these things and might say, “That’s not enough to blow a tire. They should have held up to that.” Well, they would be right.

The second car repair business we drove into looked as if it was on the edge of an abandoned town. To get to it we had to cross a railroad track. Fine, light brown dust and gravel covered everything, and the building where we would buy a new tire was the same color as the dust. As Sam went in, I watched a pleasant looking woman walk the perimeter of the parking area. I wondered if she was out for a walk. Then I noticed she was watering flowers in large flowerpots. The contrast was striking! I hadn’t seen the colorful flowers or the smiling woman when we drove in. I was too focused on the unwelcoming blandness of the place.  

As it turned out, not only did we get a new tire, but, largely due to Sam’s social nature, we learned that the amount of air recommended on the side of each tire was the maximum. The nice woman’s husband, who owned the establishment, told Sam that 90 psi was too much air for regular use especially at highway speeds in such hot weather. After that, Sam put 70 psi instead of 90 in the tires, and we didn’t have to change any more blown tires. But we were ready with a new spare just in case. We’d even begun to develop a sort of pit-crew efficiency. If we blew another one, we knew exactly what to do.