Flat tire

It's been a quiet week, now that school is out and the Memorial Day weekend is over. I continue to take the dogs up Hunter Canyon, but I also take them on two-mile walks around the neighborhood now, once the sun is low over the horizon.

Tuesday I took all four dogs to the canyon for a romp. I do this when I don't feel like walking around the neighborhood for whatever reason. Minnie and Zeke will pull on the leash when they see other people with dogs coming toward us.

There were target shooters in my favorite spot, so I went down to the Hunter Canyon trail head. On my way there my front right tire blew. Oh lovely, and I only had an hour of daylight! Since I was at my destination, I let the dogs out for a short romp, but on my way back drove very slowly down the forest road. I was not about to try to change the tire. It would have been faster to drive home on a blown-out tire. It's only four miles one-way.

I was driving as slow as my normal walking speed. The dogs, especially Minnie, were panting beside me, perhaps wondering what was going on. I had to watch for every rut, every rock in the road. Had I been pulled over by the higway patrol, they would have wondered about me driving on a flat with four dogs in the van, and no extra water of flashlight. This could have been a bad scenario.

I kept my cool, but I also know that Hunter Canyon is not the place to be once the sun goes down, as the canyon is very popular with drug smugglers and other border crossers. I didn't want the dogs to sense any panic on my end. I had left my cellphone in my office and couldn't call Kevin anyway. That was a bad mistake, but luckily it didn't lead to any more disasters.

By the time I got to the paved highway, it was dark. We are at a new moon so there was no ambient light, either. I just had the headlights to guide me as I slowly pushed north on the shoulder, then turning down east on East Shirley Lane. Shirley lane is a paved, badly-rutted road, but it cuts a mile from the drive.

I didn't counter any traffic, or any other obstacles. The lone vehicle coming toward me turned out to be Kevin. It was after 8pm and he was getting worried. I didn't expect him to still be up, as he goes to bed early after having his beer. He was a godsend, as he helped me get unstuck from a boulder in the road, and followed me home. The next morning he was up early to replace the flat with the small spare donut tire, which I drove on into town.

What a relief! I had an appointment at Brake Master for a brake check the next day, and that turned out to be a $732 tune-up and engine flush. I was badly overdo on both. The brakes themselves were fine. And my wheel rim was still OK! I had a spare tire placed on the rim on Thursday at Sears, although the low-pressure light continues to come on. It's always something with that Dodge Caravan.