How You Dune? Part 5

Don't sleep on Part 4!

Whew!  We made it to Willcox.

In the last blog, we'd camped for two nights at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park in New Mexico, spending some time exploring White Sands National Park.  We'd waved goodbye to our buddies Jen and Bryan, and their puppers Bogey and Bronx (on their way home to north Tucson), and we'd alternatively emptied and filled Arlene's tanks for the next leg of our journey.  While we originally planned to head straight home on Sunday morning (doing the nine-ish hour drive in one day), we instead decided to take advantage of our Harvest Hosts membership and stay Sunday night at Birds and Barrels Vineyards in Willcox, Arizona; not only would this shorten our Sunday driving time, but it would also allow us to pick up our fall wine allocation - we're members of the B&B wine club, too!

After completing our tank-related business at Oliver Lee, we were on the road toward Alamogordo around 10am, and we passed through Las Cruces around 11.  We were about two miles from the rest area in Akela, New Mexico (our planned lunch spot) when I felt or heard something odd; in looking at the passenger side mirror, I saw strips of tire rubber flying up from my side of Arlene.  I wasn't sure if we'd hit something on the freeway or what, but I let Chris know that we needed to stop and NOW.  He pulled onto the shoulder (which was thankfully, pretty wide and totally flat), and I was able to confirm that it was indeed our rig's passenger side tire which was starting to disintegrate.  After pulling up just a bit more (to get farther away from the right lane of the freeway (oh yeah, right off I-10 - super rad), Chris parked the truck, and we started the process of changing our first RV tire!

Since this is our first RV, as we were outfitting Arlene, we wanted to make sure we were completely prepared for as many eventualities as possible, including the need to change a tire or make repairs while on the road.  To this end, Chris had already (thankfully) done some research into what type of jack we'd need for a vehicle of this size and weight (a regular old car jack just won't cut it).  He pulled our bottle jack out from under the rig and got to work.

That's him jacking up the rig

(the bottle jack is on top of three or four

yellow stacking blocks)

to remove the busted tire.

The removal of the old tire went fine; it was mostly flat by this point, so once Chris jacked it clear off the ground, it came off without too much fuss.  Putting the new tire on was more of a challenge, however.  Since it was already mostly inflated, the holes for the lugs on the tire were much higher up than where the axle itself was currently located.  The bottle jack was already at its highest setting, so I got on the phone to Progressive (with whom we have our trailer's insurance policy - Hi, Flo!) and put in an order for roadside assistance.

While I was doing this, Chris ended up finding a solution - when we tow the rig, we carry around a large block of wood (it's a leftover chunk of an 8"x 8" beam we used to build our pergola for the Long Beach house).  When the rig is stationary, the block sits under the tongue/hitch, but when we're driving, it hangs out in the bed of the truck.  Chris was able to turn the block lengthwise and use it to lift Arlene just a bit higher; after doing so, he was able to slide more of those yellow blocks you see up in that picture under the bottle jack and crank it up once again, lifting the rig high enough to put on the new tire (now, partially deflated by us).  He got the new tire on, tightened the lugs, and used our portable air compressor (yes, we always carry one of those with us with the rig, and this is why - we are pretty much the epitome of the Boy/Girl Scout motto in most aspects of our lives) to pump up the new tire.  

As this was going on, I called the tow company, letting them know we no longer needed their services; once this was complete, my main job was to watch the oncoming traffic heading east on the 10.  Although the tire issue was on the "safe side" and kind drivers were moving over into the left lane when they could (again, thankfully - I've said and typed that so many times in telling this story, and I mean it every.single.time), anytime someone passed us in the right lane, the rig shook from side to side - it was scary.  If I saw anyone weaving, driving too close to the shoulder, not paying enough attention, or otherwise, I was going to scream at Chris to run, and we had marked out a path to head toward the hills (or as far as we could get on the side of the freeway before we hit barbed wire).

Thankfully (there's that word again), this wasn't needed; we reinflated the tire, packed everything up, and slowly eased our way back onto the interstate.  Two miles later, we glided into the Akela rest area for a much needed break - both for lunch and to bring our heart rates down into a non-cardio-adjacent zone.  In addition to having food and drinks (chicken salad wraps, in case anyone needs to know), we both walked around the rig multiple times, checking it inside and out for damage.  Because we caught it so early, not much damage occurred; the steel belting of the tire shredded the netting behind the wheel well just a bit, and we now have some rubber marks on the side of the rig (you can actually see them in the picture at the very top of the blog if you look carefully - they're behind me, glimpsed through the netting at the top of my chair), but that was really it.

The busted tire -

see how the tread essentially ripped off

right down the middle?

Again, so, so thankful about the way this went -

it could have been way worse

After our lunch break, we made a quick stop at Butterfield Station (mentioned in Part 1 of this blog series) for gas and to check all of the tires, pressures, etc again.  From there, it was back on the 10 heading east, and in about 2 hours, we once again exited in Willcox; this time, though, instead of staying at the KOA, we headed a bit further south toward the wineries on what locals call "the bench."  Once arriving at Birds & Barrels, we were happy to enjoy our tasting, tell the folks there our stories for the day, and relax for the rest of the evening.

Back in AZ!

My glass of rose'

Their winery cat

After making our bottle selections (both to take home and to enjoy with a pasta dinner that night), we wandered back to the rig; we set everything up to watch the sunset, drink some good wine, and eat some yummy food.

The closet in Arlene.

When we pack it full of items on hangers,

this normally doesn't happen,

but the undulations in the road on the way to B&B

defeated even my best attempts at organization.

Not a bad view from our front porch, non?

Please excuse the cheese wrapper

in the bottom right corner of the shot.

Starting our stargazing

Since I had the big camera with me, I wandered around, taking pictures of whatever and just generally having fun, messing about.

The ones of the vines are a bit easier to see

if you click on them to make them bigger

The tasting barn/equipment storage/

house where the B&B folks live.

Decompressing by surfing his phone - 

I think he's probably earned it.

Heading inside to make dinner - 

mushroom ravioli with homemade basil pesto.

This day - which happened to also be Chris' 43rd birthday - was a full one.  It seemed like a million years had gone by since we wished Jen and Bryan safe travels early that morning, and we were so happy to be warm and safe and all tucked into our portable bed in our "tiny house" in a peaceful field in southeastern Arizona.  Although you might think the events of the day would keep us awake, we both crashed out pretty hard (the wine certainly helped), ready for our next day and our final push toward home.

On the next blog, we make it home!  Also, so many dog pictures you guys!

Later!

Amy