Home, Vestal, NY

May 10, 2007

We got up early today and packed the trailer to head home.  I checked the trailer tire pressure again to verify that they were still OK...  We kept the average speed a bit lower than usual (60 mph) today to avoid any more tire problems...  As we approached Binghamton, NY, we could see dark clouds coming in from the West.  As we got closer, we could see the lightning flashing and we tried to get home and the trailer parked before the storm hit.

Just as we were approaching the Vestal exit on Rt 17, a car passed us and pointed back to the trailer.  I looked and saw a trailer tire had blown out AGAIN and was smoking.  We pulled over and found that the rear left side tire had blown out this time.  Again, the tread was intact and there was a hole in the tire's side.  The thunder storm was almost upon us so we slowly drove along the side to get under the overpass.  Naturally it was rush hour and the traffic was heavy as the storm hit.  Since we were well off the road, I decided that I would just change the tire myself instead of waiting on the Road Service.  So there I am jacking up the trailer as the skies opened up and poured along with the lightning and thunder.  Not a pretty picture...  It was a good thing that we had bought a new spare yesterday.  After changing the tire and throwing the blown out tire in the back of the truck, we finally got home and parked the trailer.  The only good thing was that the heavy rain washed off the splattered bugs off the front of the trailer.  After backing the trailer in the yard, we just left it for the next day to unload.

This trip has had a curse hanging over it; broken slide, cracked windshield and two blowouts.  We had not had any real problems with the trailer in more than two years.  It would seem that the 'fickle finger for fate'  caught up with us all at the same time....

Updated: 06/02/2007