Thank You Triple A

It was bound to happen. We have an older motorhome, and it had been sitting for a few years before we bought it. And the Harley is putting a little more pressure on the back tires, being carried on the back rack that I built. We were driving down Hwy 30, the Lincoln Highway, through Nebraska, when all of a sudden, yikes! Ward pulled the motorhome over, and I jumped out to see what was up. The passenger side was fine, the Harley was still on the rack, but the two back tires on the driver side were blown.

It was Sunday afternoon, just after lunch, and we were on the side of the highway, just two miles out of Silver Creek, NE. Thank goodness we purchased RV coverage with CAA. I gave them a call, and they were wonderful, trying to get someone out on a Sunday afternoon. It turned out that nobody was available in the area who could take care of us until Monday. But no big deal. We were safe on the side of the highway, and we had our own secondary transportation. We took the Harley off the rack and drove into Grand Island. I needed to get more minutes on my cell phone, and it was a lovely day for a ride. The temperature was in the mid 80s and the sky was clear. So, off we went for our first motorcycle road trip on our voyage.

By the time we got back, within 10 miles of the motorhome, the sun was setting and the temperatures were cooling fast. We pulled in to Clark, NE at the gas station / convenience store to warm up. I got a cup of coffee, and Ward picked up the local newspaper. We also met some of the locals, and spent some time talking with them.

The next day AAA was able to get a tow truck over to us from York, NE. The tow truck driver moved the front tires to the back, and towed the RV in to Grand Island.

We told the tow truck fellow we would meet him at Sams Club when he had the RV loaded on the tow truck. We ended up running out of gas before we got to the gas station in Clarks. A friendly fellow from town was nice enough to give us a ride in to town and the guy at the local service station in town gave us a bit of gas in a gas can. Ward drove the bike back to the station and filled up. I rode back with the older fellow. We were talking about the crops, and the drought in the area. I told him I had seen a lot of cows in the corn fields where the corn crops had been taken in. He said farmers were doing that now because there was no feed. He said his cows had already eaten the alfalfa they were to eat over the winter. He said the town of Clarks was dying as well. There were some stores still open, but not as many as before.

We thanked the older fellow for the ride and helping us out, as well as the owner of the gas station for lending us the gas can. Then we were on our way to Grand Island to meet up with the tow truck driver. We took a bit longer than expected, and he was starting to get worried. He said he was about to call the state troopers to see if anything had happened along Hwy 30 involving a motorcycle. But we finally made it, and all was well. I found tires for the rig at Sams Club. So, I purchased a membership and picked up the tires. The tow truck driver put the tires on the rim and installed them on the RV. It took an extra day, but we got the RV fixed up and ready for the open road again.

Thanks to AAA, Mogul Towing, and the town of Clarks, NE.