Trip from Boise to Georgia: Trials and Tribulations

Lots of stuff has happened.

• We bought bicycles, helmets, and a bike rack from George's Cycles, where Karen works.  
• We ended up having to stay with Starr and Karen over two weeks while we had some repairs done to the trailer. Topper and Ayla stayed in their garage and got to play in their fenced yard.
• We cheered Starr on at two other races:  the Dirty Dash and the City of Trees Half Marathon.
• Once the rig was ready to go (Wednesday, October 23), we beat it down I-84 to I-80, driving until after dark every day.
• The third day at a fuel stop we noticed a huge knot on one of our trailer tires.  Luckily, we were in front of a truck repair shop and had the spare put on.
• That night the trailer brakes locked as we tried to pull into the campground. The breakaway cable had caught on the spare in the back of the truck.  We slept with brake fumes.
• The next day (Saturday), we stopped at a rest area in Missouri and found a huge knot on another tire and the beginnings of a knot in a third tire.  This time we were one exit away from a truck repair shop.  We ended up ordering 4 new tires under warrantee and settled into a KOA in Rock Port, Missouri, to wait for them.  They are expected Thursday or Friday.

Here are some pictures covering this time frame.

The Dirty Dash:

The Mud Flap Girls before (Starr and I made the mud flaps)

Starting out - Starr in the center waving

Starr making her way through the mud pits at the finish line

Starr leaves the mud pits

The City of Trees Half Marathon:

Starr and Leslie cross the starting line (behind the woman in red)

Starr on the home stretch

Starr and Leslie with their medals - joined by their friend Shannon

One of our beautiful Load Star tires

What's wrong with this tire?

The next post will contain information about Rock Port.  It's actually not a bad place to be stuck.