This seems to be the season for tire failures; but I think I may have caused this one. We had decided to bypass Wild Horse Reservoir as a campsite due to potential temperatures (it is hot) and lack of power to run AC; and move on to Elko to get a site in an established RV Park. When we arrived at Wild Horse, I was inspired to check out the BLM site across from the reservoir for future potential. It turned out to be a narrow dirt road and spaces to small for our camper. While exiting the area I noted in my rear view mirror that the camper tires on the right side were on the edge of the road and in the bushes. After we got back on the highway, I pulled into a country road department materials yard across from the reservoir to set up for lunch. As Rosie was directing my back up activity she noticed that one of the camper tires (right side) was flat. So in this very pretty area, we were stuck with a dilemma.
The View! The Dilemma!
So I call the 800 number for the Good Sam Club Emergency Roadside Assistance plan to whom I have been paying an annual fee of over $125 for about 5 years. I get Jonathon on the phone and he is very sympathetic to our plight. He calls their only contract tire dealer in Elko and they tell him that we are out of their service area (70 miles from Elko). This starts him on a telephone hunt for an “out of system” tire dealer who will come out to where we are. I now have an appreciation for Les Schwab tire dealers. They run these commercials about how they go “above and beyond” the call of duty, etc., etc., Well, they were the only ones in Elko that said they would come out an change our tire; but it could be up to four hours since all of their service trucks were out on calls. Long story short; Levi from Les Schwab shows up in about 3 hours to rescue us. He removes the flat and mounts the 10 year old spare (brand new, but old) and finds a good size hole in the center of the tread of our camper tire. He departs and we head down the road to Elko for the Les Schwab dealership. When we get there, they repair the tire and put it back on the camper and replace the spare in it’s proper place. By this time it is close to 7:30 Mountain Time (the time our stomachs are on) even though we have now entered Pacific Time. We are grumpy and hungry; and the dogs cannot figure out what the heck is going on. They think we should be in a campground and fed and walked by now. As some of you know, we typically eat our evening meal at 5:00 pm; so we are really late. I set the GPS for the RV Park. On the way, there was an Albertsons with a large enough parking lot to safely pull into. One broasted chicken, potato salad and baked beans were quickly purchased; we made it to the RV Park in 20 minutes (on a street under construction with poor signage-will it ever get better?) and unhooked, leveled and connected in another 15 minutes. So about 8:30 (our tummy time) we finally get to eat. Boy, was it good!!!
Because of the late meal, stress of the events of the day, etc., we did not sleep so well last night. We arose around 5:00 am (pacific time), took the dogs, had breakfast, went to Albertsons to buy groceries and get fueled up ($3.85 a gallon – not bad). At 8:30 we headed west on I-80 for Fallon, NV. We arrived at the Country Fairgrounds Campground ($14 for electric and water and a level site) and settled in..
So now we have the tires and the travel; where does the tailgating come in. Well in this whole camper park, I see only one picnic table and that is in use by a large family (maybe they brought it with them). So I am trying to figure out where to set up the grill for our Sunday standard of steak and salmon when Rosie says “Use the tailgate of the truck”. I am glad I married such a bright woman. So I leave you with pictures of tailgating and relaxing in Fallon, NV. Headed out tomorrow for Lone Pine, CA. Great story to tell about Lone Pine, but that will be in another blog.
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