We left Durango and headed towards Colorado Springs. Rather than drive straight through, we stopped for the night at Lathrop State Park. It was a nice area with some really good views.
The sites were shaped like a horseshoe which made it a little tough to park our larger vehicle but all in all very nice.
The next day we continued on our way. I hadn’t unhooked the car overnight so near the entrance I stopped where the road was straight and checked the straps which hold the car to the dolly. The car had shifted back a little so I started the engine, pulled the car forward a few inches, put the emergency brake on to hold the car in place and got out to tighten the straps. After tightening the straps we were on our way.
As we pulled on to the highway I noticed some smoke in the rear view mirrors coming from the back of the car. I looked again and suddenly realized my mistake. Immediately pulled to the shoulder which was fortunately rather large. Have you figured out what I did wrong? Yep, didn’t take the emergency brake off. Both rear tires were locked in place as I drug the car down the road. Both rear tires were now flat.
I hadn’t gone too far so the rims were still good. We called the insurance company and arranged a tow to the nearest tire shop. Catharine stayed with the car while they put new tires on and I continued with the RV up to Colorado Springs. To make the day worse, when I arrived at the RV Park and was shown to our back-in site, I realize that the key to the tow dolly lock was with Catharine so I would not be able to remove the dolly and back in to our site. I would have to wait for her to arrive a few hours later. What can I say, stuff happens. You just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and carry your ass home.
One thought on “Stuff Happens”
Right stuff happens. We have had so many delays and problems in our over 40 years of camping on the road…with our 5 kids, grandkids and now just us and Zoey pup. We bought a funny little book one time about things that happen and I think we
had done them all….even ran over the TV (that was before TV’s were built in).
We will soon have a new experience now that we have a car that must be on a full trailer…so i hope that goes well. We have not
taken a car since Ed bought his new car…so now we have to find a trailer or maybe buy a little used car that can be towed.
He thought the car could be on a dolly but not this one. Oh well we will work it out.
But i did have a similar problem this week. My granddaughters were staying with us and they wanted to go to Subway to
have lunch. We agreed to go and pick up food and come back to the house to eat. Subway is in the same parking lot as
Walmart so that is about 3 miles from our house. We came in Ed’s new sports car this time so driving it is new to me. He pulled
it out of the garage and i got in with the girls, put the top up and went to Subway. We got our order and when walking to the
car it dawned on me he DID NOT GIVE ME A KEY. So we were stranded in the parking lot….and not another car at home for
him to bring us the fob key. We could not get in touch with Ed (his phone was on silent). We called my daughter in law so she
left work…went by the house and got the key and brought it to us. Rescued and thankful…