Many times my job includes being a go-for. The new water system has ten tire tanks so we needed to find a source of good, reasonably priced tires. Back in December, we found a source of new tires that had been rejected by the manufacturer because of defaults. Those defaults will not effect their ability to serve as water tanks though. The only drawback was that the tires were about 60 miles away. Road trip time!
Whenever possible, I like to turn these sorts of trips into special times for one-on-one time with the kids. It was Eli’s turn to go which worked out well because he’s the only one who would be interested in going to get a trailer load of large tires.
The trip over to get the tires was quite uneventful. Isaiah slept while Eli and I enjoyed the drive. When we got there, I couldn’t believe the number of tires they had available. Small tires, large tires and everything in between. Since we were needing ten tires, the owner had said he would give a quantity discount. Then when we got there not only did we get the discount he gave us two large tires and three small ones for free. This was great but talk about a LOAD! I was really wondering what I had signed up for. I was, however, quite thankful when the guys that loaded the tires said they would strap them all down for me.
Everything went just fine for most of the way home. Then suddenly the truck started pulling down, and when I looked in my mirror it was apparent where the trouble was coming from. At first glance, I actually thought that a tire on the trailer might be on fire. Once I got the truck safely parked on the shoulder, I was able to check and thankfully it was not on fire. We had blown out a tire and the smoke was coming from the good tire rubbing against the wooden bed of the trailer. YIKES!
Our trailer did not come with a spare tire and we haven’t bought one for it yet; so I had to call Scott to come help us. (Which even if I had a spare tire, I honestly don’t think I would have tackled trying to change the tire with such a large, heavy load on the trailer.) Scott was able to get a spare tire that would fit the trailer from his dad and came to our rescue. Once he was there, he quickly changed the tire and then drove the truck and trailer the rest of the way home while I followed in the van. Thankfully, all of this happened only 25 miles from home.
I find that it is important to remember that while life is rarely boring; God is faithful in watching over us.
Blessings,
Jennifer