Flat tire and a day of rest

Thursday, January 11, 2018 – Location:  Ajo, Arizona

Yesterday wasn’t all great.  As I was driving down Darby Well Road coming home late yesterday afternoon, I noticed that my old camp from last year was open.  There were two MHs in there when I first arrived.

I made the quick decision I would pack things quickly and hook up the Jeep and grab it.  I was tired and I hate moving anyway, but I got it done. 

The reason for the move is because there must be a mountain between me and a Verizon tower.  I barely get 3G and occasionally a bar of 4G but mostly 1X whatever that is.  With my booster, I get enough oomph to  publish each evening, but I couldn’t read my cell phone internet while in my bedroom without moving all the wiring around to the bedroom.  Anyway, it was a hassle.

When I arrived and started unhooking the Jeep, I noticed the driver side rear tire was low.  Hoping it just needed air, I decided it was a problem for tomorrow and fixed a late dinner, barely got my blog done and went to bed.  I was tired.

Well, this morning comes and it is going to be another gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky.  Did my normal stuff and as I was looking out my living room window and I saw my old friend coyote.  Dolly and I saw him when we camped here several years ago.  Didn’t get a good photo, but got one as he headed into the brush.

 When it was warm enough, I went out and looked hoping to see that the tire was still low.  This is what I saw.

A flat tire!  I must have run over something while pulling the Jeep from the old camp to the new one.  Glad it wasn’t an RV tire.

I pumped the tire up and waited for awhile to determine how long I had before going flat again.  Luckily, it was a slow medium leak and would probably give me a half hour or so before going flat again.

I went inside and checked Google for tire repair shops near me and got three hits.  Great!  The first one I tried was NAPA.  The guy on the line said they fixed flats but wouldn’t have time today.  No problem, I’ll just call the next on the list.  No answer.  Just an answering service.  Must not work on Thursdays I guess.  I looked at the reviews of the third shop and they were so terrible I didn’t even call him.

Now what?!  I guess if it’s going to get done, it’ll have to be me and Yuma that does it.  I haven’t changed a tire since back in my drag racing days.  I am so glad this happened at camp.  It could have happened when I was off-road somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. 

Most years I am prepared with a can of fix-a-flat but I threw my old one away over the summer and didn’t replace it.  The other thing I left at home was my two foot long pipe to use as an extension for the small jack handle they provide now.  I’m too old to loosen those air tightened lug nuts without more leverage.  Luckily, I had a five foot metal pole I use as a part of my internet antenna.  For those of you that go off-road, you may want to make sure you’re prepared.

Anyway, I got the job done  with Yuma supervising and we were successful at changing the flat with my spare.  I can see my problem with the tire.  There’s a screw stuck in it.

Here are a few photos of my campsite.  I’m staying in an old mining camp not too far from the entrance of Darby Well Road.  Some of the structures are still standing.  An old sluice box and a tower is it.

For the rest of the day, Yuma and I rested from yesterday’s hikes and today’s workout with the tire changing episode.

Artist alley:

See you later.