Driving on three wheels (and other tales)

When I planned on having an adventure during the drive from Phoenix to San Antonio, I never knew exactly how much I was bargaining for. Every successful trip begins with careful planning and preparation - piled books into trunk? check.. packed boxes into trunk until it barely shut? check.. put oversize painting into back seat? check.. Weather forecast - thundershowers all along the way. 5 minutes after I started out, I remembered that I didn't have the printout of the route (real engineers need no routes.. we have the sun and the stars to guide us!), so I had to stop at a gas station and dig through my suitcases to find the route.

I also had my iPod filled with rock to keep me from falling asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately I also had a bunch of slow songs in there, so even in shuffle mode I would end up getting a slow one every two or three songs. It felt somewhat like driving a manual transmission - one hand on the steering and one hand on the iPod sitting in the cup holder. A few minutes after I got on the I-10, I thought I heard a sound and suddenly my car felt very noisy on the road. It could have been a flat, but isn't your car supposed to wobble and do funny stuff when you have a flat? So I kept driving until I reached Tucson where the front tire seemed to be a bit low on air, but I let it pass since it didn't look too bad. A few hundred miles later (umm.. like 400..) there was a federal checkpoint that brought back some good memories.

"Are you a US citizen", the guard asked.
"No"
"Do you know that you are driving with a flat tire?", he asked incredulously.
I shot him an equally incredulous look and said "What!!!!" I think my eyes popped out too when I saw that the tire was indeed flat.. very flat..

I think the combined shock was enough to make him forget to even ask me for my ID. I drove off trying to find a place to change the tire but after a mile or so, I just parked on the shoulder. I had just passed a very friendly looking sign:

Prison nearby: do not stop or pick up hitchhikers

This was Texas and it was getting dark too, so I was half expecting Leatherface to show up with a chainsaw. Never having changed a tire before, I didn't even know where to place the jack and needless to say, I did a horrible job of it. It was quite windy too with each speeding Semi threatening to blow me away. Finally I took Holly's advice and called 911 (the lady who answered the call didn't seem to be too happy about a flat-tire being an emergency, but I don't care.. I'm not marrying her, am I?) and they sent a mechanic from a nearby town.

Lesson #1: When people advise you to take a AAA membership,listen to them.

When I was packing stuff into the boot, the tire-repair stuff (jack, spanner) ended up being pushed behind everything else. What is the probability that after driving this car for almost a year, I will get a flat tire in the next two days, I thought. (Faint 'mwaaahahahaha' sounds from far above)

Lesson #2: Shit happens. Be prepared.

I kept singing at the top of my voice during the remaining journey and every time the music stopped I would be treated to my out-of-tune voice. I think that's what really kept me awake, not the coffee. Driving blindly through the rain also helped, I guess.

Footnote: Someone forgot to tell me that the spare tire is only supposed to be used for driving a few miles, and never over 50 miles an hour. I drove the remaining 600 odd miles at 80mph and managed to drive into San Antonio with no trouble at all, so I guess you just have to test it to know how much your car can handle. (I drive a supercar!)

Lesson #3: Three tires are all your car really needs. I have driven 400 miles on 3 tires and 550 miles on 3.5 tires, in the rain, so I know what I am talking about!

I have the videos and pictures which I will put up as soon as I get my cable connection working. Stay logged on for more weird tales from Texas!

[UPDATE: photos | video1 | video2]