fires in New Mexico we discovered that Gila was closed- so no cliff dwellings for us :( We decided to then reroute to stay in Rockhound State Park for the night. However, when we were about 45 minutes away from the park we started hearing a strange clunking noise coming from the back of Ollie. We pulled over and could not find the problem at first. After a few laps around the truck and careful inspection Matt determined that four of the five wheel studs on the back passenger side tire had sheared off.
We were about to lose the tire!! We are so lucky that we caught it in time- otherwise it would have been the end of Ollie! After an hour on the phone with towing and lots of creative ideas to get the trailer towed as well, we made it to the exciting town of Deming, NM. We were lucky enough to find some very kind folks to help us out in this town. Matt even enjoyed reading the local paper-taking advantage of the driving break. It is looking like Ollie is going to be ready to go again in a few hours! xxx
Wow, good thing one of them was a bit stronger than the rest...considering some of the roads you guys have planned to traverse, it could really have been bad. I would consider it good luck that it happened when it did.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum...we will put that on our to do list for the next time we are out that way.
The Carolina Wrens took flight a bit over an hour ago. I will give the screened in part of the deck its yearly scrub down in the morning and get it ready for the cats to enjoy.
Hope you had the other 20 studs checked out, since they are likely to be just as old as the 4 that decided to call it quits.
ReplyDeleteApparently it has to do with the aluminum wheels. They are prone to loosening and once it goes loose the wheel wobbles and then the stud snaps off. We are now checking them every hundred miles. If nothing else it's a chance to stretch my legs and biceps.
DeleteThat would make sense with the expansion from them insane heat of the desert and shrinkage from the cooler nights... no one likes shrinkage.
DeleteHoly Crap! So glad you figured that out! Hope you're long gone from the repair shop and Ollie's shoes are in tip top shape. Too bad about the AC.
ReplyDeleteYour trip looks hot and great! Eventful for sure! Thanks for keeping us in the loop. I look forward to checking out what you all are up to. Those beers look and sound yummy!
Nice beard Matt! You look more and more like a ship captain the closer you get to Florida. :)
BE SAFE!
xoxo
Tammi
Yes- Ollie is doing much better now!
DeleteLots more adventures to come..including an exciting event involving Matt's beard!