Fernanda & Karl - Road Trip, Day 26 -- Website by Now Interactive Solutions

Photos

Newest Set:

Babs and Pia
10/18/24

Wiebke's visit
09/27/24

Brazil 2024 - Fernanda
09/06/24

Miska 2024 - June
06/01/24

Miska 2024 - May
05/01/24

Miska 2024 - April
04/01/24

Miska 2024 - March
03/01/24

Miska 2024 - February
02/01/24

Miska 2024 - January
01/01/24

Miska - December
12/01/23

Miska - November
11/01/23

Miska - October
10/01/23

Miska 2023 - September
09/01/23

Miska 2023 - August
08/09/23

India and Taj Mahal 2023
03/18/23

Germany (and Iceland) 2022
12/01/22

Brasil 2022 - after BH
10/18/22

Brazil 2022
10/07/22

Bathroom in the Annex
11/13/20

2020 Summer and Fall and Winter in the Pandemic
08/23/20

Long Island 2020
07/24/20

Balcony Garden
05/05/20

Baltimore 2020
02/09/20

Train show at the NY Botanical Gardens
12/07/19

Mohonk - Winter Wonderland
12/04/19

Oktoberfest 2019
10/06/19

Cool pictures of our apartment
10/06/19

Burle Max at NY Botanical Gardens
09/14/19

Papai In Memoriam
08/04/19

Aussie Parents' Visit
05/15/19

A New Car!
04/24/19

San Francisco
02/10/19

Iceland Five-O
01/26/19

Twin Cities
10/12/18

Oktoberfest 2018
10/07/18

Terceira
09/11/18

Ferry to Terceira
09/10/18

São Jorge
09/07/18

Pico
09/05/18

Faial
09/03/18

São Miguel
08/29/18

Wander Lucio's Visit - 2018
07/03/18

Summer 2018
06/30/18

Brunch Harbor Sail
06/17/18

Deutschland 2018 (Karl)
03/29/18

Iceland 2018 (Karl)
03/20/18

Brasil 2018 (Fernanda)
03/17/18

Karl's Singing Birthday
01/26/18

Miami
01/19/18

Gørill
01/01/18

New Bathroom II!
10/24/17

Chicago
10/13/17

Oktoberfest XI
10/08/17

Apocalipse
08/22/17

Oregon!
08/16/17

Madison, CT
07/10/17

Diane's Wedding, observed
06/11/17

Brasil 2017 (Fernanda)
03/24/17

Christmas 2016
12/24/16

New Bathroom!
11/01/16

Staycation in Brooklyn
10/15/16

Oktoberfest X
10/09/16

Vermont
09/18/16

Brasil 2016
08/10/16

Italy 2016 (Karl)
07/27/16

Berlin 2016
06/11/16

Nashville
01/21/16

Germany, 2015
11/26/15

Iceland
11/20/15

Cape Cod
10/18/15

Oktoberfest 2015
09/27/15

Lunar Eclipse - "Blood Moon"
09/27/15

Summer 2015
07/18/15

Hawk and other animals
07/17/15

Berlin
04/01/15

The Faroe Islands
03/20/15

Copenhagen
03/19/15

Christmas at the New Place (2014)
12/24/14

Danube River Cruise (Karl)
11/18/14

Wilmington & Western Railroad, 2014
11/02/14

The Berkshires
10/18/14

Oktoberfest 2014 - Executive House
10/05/14

2014 Brasil - World Cup
06/24/14

Longwood Gardens - thank you RuthAnn!
04/26/14

California, 2014
02/19/14

Thanksgiving 2013
11/28/13

Berlin, Tante Wiebke (Karl)
11/24/13

Iceland, 2013 (Karl)
11/20/13

Through the Looking Glass with Karl in Europe
11/18/13

Vermont 2013
11/01/13

Wilmington & Western Railroad Steam Engine Train Ride
10/20/13

Oktoberfest 2013
10/05/13

Brasil 2013 (Fernanda)
05/25/13

Intrepid
05/04/13

Road Trip South
03/24/13

Another German Christmas (2012)
12/24/12

Hurricane Sandy
10/29/12

Oktoberfest in our Apartment 2012
09/30/12

Air Show, Tough Kennamon, PA
08/25/12

Greece, Islands, 2012: Sifnos
07/20/12

Athens
07/19/12

IRF Reunion
06/23/12

Vermont, 2012
04/08/12

Our Tulip Blooms
03/25/12

Party for Karl's 43rd Birthday
01/28/12

Christmas 2011 at Mt. Snow
12/24/11

5th annual Oktoberfest in our Apartment!
10/01/11

Guests, 2011
09/12/11

Karl's Father in 2011
09/10/11

Misc. grab-bag, 2011
08/18/11

Brasil 2011
07/15/11

Vermont, "Spring" 2011
04/23/11

Nidhi and Arvind's Bangle Ceremony
03/27/11

Karl's 42nd Birtday (observed)
01/29/11

Winter Vacation with Missy and Alex
01/15/11

Brasil 2010
10/04/10

Oktoberfest 2010, Hackensack
09/25/10

Governor's Island, NYC
09/19/10

Karl's family
09/12/10

Vermont
03/26/10

Skiing Hunter Mt. 2010
02/14/10

Karl celebrates turning 41
01/30/10

Babs visits
01/17/10

New Year's Eve
12/31/09

Halloween/Thanksgiving 2009
11/26/09

Oktoberfest 2009, Hackensack
10/03/09

2009 at the pool!
08/18/09

Brú na Bóinne
08/08/09

Galway
08/04/09

Northern Ireland
07/30/09

Donegal
07/24/09

Dublin, etc.
07/18/09

2009 with the Urano family
05/23/09

Brasil 2009
04/10/09

Weihnachten, 2008
12/24/08

Syncsort Xmas Party 2008
12/15/08

Family visits: Karl's parents, uncle, and cousin
11/22/08

Vania's Visit
11/15/08

Marden's visit
11/08/08

Autumn hiking, Ramapo, NJ
10/18/08

Oktoberfest 2008, Hackensack
10/04/08

Labor Day Pool Party
08/31/08

Philharmonic in the Park (yet again)
06/24/08

Fernanda's Parents Come to Visit
06/02/08

Memorial Day Weekend in CT with Missy
05/26/08

Fernanda's Birthday Party, 2008
05/17/08

Katja comes to visit!
04/20/08

Spring 2008
04/12/08

Nikhil's Karaoke Birthday Bar Party
04/05/08

Cross-country Skiing in New England
02/09/08

Karl's Birthday Party 2008
01/26/08

Xmas 2007
12/24/07

Syncsort Xmas 2007
12/08/07

Oktoberfest in our Apartment
10/06/07

Crash!
09/15/07

Nebraska, Iowa
09/13/07

Wyoming, Nebraska, Blow-out
09/12/07

Nevada, Utah, Wyoming
09/11/07

California, Nevada
09/10/07

San Francisco
09/09/07

San Francisco, Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiberon
09/08/07

San Francisco
09/07/07

Yosemite to San Francisco
09/06/07

Yosemite
09/05/07

Sequoia, Kings Canyon National Parks
09/04/07

Nevada, Death Valley, California
09/03/07

Arizona, Nevada
09/02/07

Arizona
09/01/07

Grand Canyon
08/31/07

Utah, Grand Canyon
08/30/07

Canyonlands
08/29/07

Arches National Park
08/28/07

Utah
08/27/07

Wyoming, Idaho, Utah
08/26/07

Yellowstone, Grand Tetons
08/25/07

Yellowstone
08/24/07

Wyoming, Montana, Yellowstone
08/23/07

South Dakota, Wyoming
08/22/07

South Dakota
08/21/07

Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota
08/20/07

Ohio to Chicago
08/19/07

Pennsylvania to Ohio
08/18/07

5th Brazilian Film Festival, NY
08/08/07

Fernanda's Birthday Party 2007
05/19/07

Paris
03/31/07

Amsterdam
03/30/07

Volendam
03/29/07

Antwerp
03/28/07

Vernon
03/26/07

Château Gaillard
03/26/07

Château de Versailles
03/25/07

Ski Trip 2007 -- Mount Snow
02/17/07

Karl's Birthday Party
01/27/07

Weihnachtsfeier
12/24/06

Syncsort Xmas Party 2006
12/09/06

New Car!
11/28/06

Random New York
11/05/06

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
10/24/06

Wander Lucio & Christy
10/20/06

Oktoberfest at Bear Mountain
10/08/06

New England
09/30/06

Barbeque with John and Petya
09/03/06

Sabira's Birthday Party
08/12/06

Allegra's Birthday Party
07/30/06

Opera in the Park
07/18/06

At the Beach
07/16/06

Ante Syncsort Group Dinner
07/14/06

Word Cup, USA
07/09/06

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, once more
07/08/06

Brasil 2006, Ceará: Fortaleza, Jericoacoara
06/17/06

Brasil 2006, Belo Horizonte
06/10/06

Karl's & Parents
06/04/06

Happy Birthday Pool Party!
05/19/06

Cherry Blossom Festival, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
04/29/06

Planting a Garden
04/09/06

Fixing Up the Car
04/09/06

At the Ballet with AFS
04/06/06

Alana
04/02/06

Various Times at Sean & Cecilia's
03/05/06

Skiing, 2006 - Hunter Mountain
02/18/06

Karl's Birthday (observed (by some))
01/25/06

Bente's Visit
01/10/06

Xmas Party 2005
12/12/05

Ballooning in Lancaster, PA
11/05/05

Segovia, Spain
10/14/05

Toledo, Spain
10/13/05

Madrid, Spain
10/12/05

Sevilla, Spain
10/10/05

Évora, Tavira, and the Road to Spain...
10/06/05

Porto, Portugal
10/04/05

Eclipse -- Bragança, Portugal
10/03/05

Coimbra and Conimbriga, Portugal
10/01/05

Nazaré and Obidos, Portugal
09/28/05

Lisboa and Sintra, Portugal
09/24/05

Wander Lucio and Christy's Visit
09/18/05

Dinner at Sean and Cecilia's
08/13/05

At the Beach
08/06/05

Pool Minders
07/30/05

From Ivy's Beach to Ivy's Party
07/23/05

Opera in the Park for Allegra's Birthday
07/19/05

Five Year Anniversary Cruise
07/17/05

Social Butterflies
07/16/05

Social Pictures
07/14/05

Central Park Summer Stage
07/09/05

4th of July, 2005
07/04/05

A Day on the River
06/25/05

An Opera in the Park
06/14/05

Memorial Day, 2005
05/30/05

Scooting in NJ Liberty State Park
05/29/05

Scooting to Ashes & Snow
05/28/05

Fernanda's Birthday Party, 2005
05/20/05

Juliana & Cristiano
05/15/05

Nidhi & Arvind's Wedding (observed)
05/07/05

Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival), Brooklyn Botanic Garden
04/30/05

Brasil, 2005
04/18/05

About Town
03/01/05

At Home
02/28/05

The Gates in Central Park
02/13/05

Winter, 2005
01/23/05

A New Year
01/01/05

Christmas 2004
12/25/04

Syncsort Xmas Party 2004
12/21/04

More random
12/20/04

Buraco night
12/19/04

Thanksgiving 2004
11/25/04

Z
10/31/04

AFS NYC Zoo trip
10/30/04

Pumkin Pickin'
10/23/04

Old Short Hills
10/03/04

Whirling dervishes
09/24/04

Random Fall 2004
09/22/04

Saroj's birthday
09/20/04

Pool Party!
08/22/04

Allegra's Party
07/17/04

Family
07/15/04

Guests
07/11/04

Summer 2004 Misc II
07/01/04

Beach 2004
07/01/04

Opera in Central Park
06/16/04

Summer 2004 Misc
06/01/04

Brasil 2004, the rest
05/31/04

Brasil 2004, part 3
05/29/04

Brasil 2004, continued
05/20/04

Fernanda's Birthday, Observed
05/15/04

Brasil, 2004
05/14/04

Highlights of Holi
03/12/04

Holi - Full Set
03/09/04

New Kitchen
02/09/04

Xmas 2003
12/24/03

Wanessa's Wisit
12/16/03

Diwali
10/24/03

Random
10/04/03

Misc Dinners, Parties, 2002, 2003
09/16/03

Fernanda's Very Old Family Photos
09/04/03

Cristiano's Visit
07/15/03

Fernanda's Birthday Party
05/18/03

Europe 2003
04/25/03

Oz 1998
08/01/98

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Road Trip, Day 26

The Remains of the Tire
(Click to view)

Wyoming, Nebraska, Blow-out!

Today was to be a boring driving day, get lots of miles under our belt, possibly up to 1000 km. We started at the beginning of Wyoming this morning in Evanston, we got on the road around 9:15, which is pretty good considering we lost an hour yesterday with the time-zone change. Wyoming is about 400 miles across, so we figured to do that, plus another 200 into Nebraska.

It was uneventful enough to start with. Fernanda was driving, we were plowing through Wyoming. We had a book on CD to listen to, we stopped at a nice highway rest stop for lunch, filled up, entered Nebraska. At some point we passed 6000 [actually 7000 -- I was miscounting] miles total for the trip. We passed into Central time-zone, thus losing yet another hour. Fernanda switched off with me because she needed a break, she took a nap while I contemplated the passing scenery: Racing the freight trains, watching the windmills and oil derricks go by as the foothills give way to the haystack dotted plains and the horizon stretches out to infinity.

We were about 50 miles from our destination, when suddenly I hear and feel something with the left back wheel, it feels like I'm hydroplaning, but the road is dry? and just as I'm registering I must have a flat, all the rubber of the wheel blows away and I'm riding on the rim. I manage to pull over OK, leaving a trail of rubber. I must have been going somewhere around the 75 mph speed limit when it happened.

So we pull over. I take a picture of the wheel. It's a mess. We sit and wait. Nobody pulls over. Fine, whatever, we'll wait for a cop. After about 10 minutes of this, and no cop, I decide to try and walk over to a farm and ask to use the phone. We have an 800 roadside assistance number the rental agency insisted we use, even to change a simple flat, and in this case, with the tire completely blown out and me having ridden on the rim, I don't want to play around. But with the fencing and high weeds to cross a field, and the possibility of snakes, especially with me just wearing my sandals, getting to a farm isn't going to happen. Meanwhile, a truck has pulled over (still no cop), so I go back and Fernanda's on the trucker's phone, talking to the roadside assistance people. Negotiating with the roadside "assistance" people, pleading with them. I wasn't on the call, but it was totally ridiculous. No assistance whatsoever. At first they don't want to send anyone out, just have us change the tire and drive to the nearest Budget location (120 miles away!) Ridiculous! And totally irresponsibly dangerous! The lousy donut replacement wheel isn't meant to be driven more than 50 miles. Out of the question! But they won't send anyone if there's a question of having to tow, an we don't know if we'll need to be towed -- I just had a blow-out at high speed, I'm out in the middle of Nebraska, assist me, you idiots!

The sun is getting lower and lower on the horizon, Fernanda is still negotiating with the people, whatever, she's been transferred three times, still not getting anywhere, cops still haven't shown up, and if I need to change the tire, I need to get started before it gets dark. We've been wasting literally 40 minutes on the phone with these idiots. Supposedly the change-a-tire guy has been sent, but I don't fully believe this, what with the (excuse my French) fuster-cluck that has been going on with this utterly crap roadside "assistance".

Anyway, the cops finally show up (they had to give some guy just up the road a speeding ticket first -- really!), and I go down to talk to them. Fernanda remains on the phone. I tell them we may or may not have a repair guy on the way, the roadside assistance people are beyond useless, my wife is STILL negotiating with them. They tell me OK, but they have to get us off the road one way or another for safety's sake, they'll change the tire and we can drive back to the biggish town 5 miles behind us, and they insinuate some things about truckers, totally uncalled for. This guy has been nice enough to let Fernanda negotiate with the stupid useless roadside idiots for over forty minutes now. So I race back up to the truck, where Fernanda is STILL at it, and I try to hurry her along, because I don't want the cops coming up here and involving this nice trucker in any of this; let him go and get on with his driving, the cops have phones. But she can't get anywhere with whomever she's talking to, and is trying to get a number and a name, but she can't get a last name of the agent she's talking to (because yeah, we're interested in protecting some faceless drone safely away at some calling center while we're stuck on the side of the road after having survived a violent blowout in the middle of Nebraska); at this point even Fernanda's had enough, she gives up, I thank the trucker profusely for having stopped and for having let us use his phone and for having taken up so much of his time. He was the nicest guy: thank you very much!

The cops start changing the tire, I have to pull all the crap out of the trunk to get to the spare, the tire-change guy does show up now, he knows the cops, he takes over. It's decided we'll just follow him to his shop, and he'll put a real tire on, we'll pay out of pocket if need be, and the damn rental agency can deal with it. This is ridiculous. The cops meanwhile will do an accident report for us, in case we need it. So we have paperwork; registration to show, licenses to show, copies for us, copies for them, pictures for the cops, stuff to mail in -- ah, bureaucracy.

Anyway, we follow the tire guy back into town, we call up the roadside number again, but this time I get someone totally competent, who gets right down to it, I tell her we had a blowout, the donut is unable to be driven the 120 miles to the next Budget agency, so the tire-repair guy has to give us a new tire. She's all efficiency, finds out where we are, which repair guy it is, asks if he can accept a credit card over the phone, which he can't, and then asks us if we can put it on our card and she'll take it off the contract. That's fine. Just keep the receipt, we'll pay that much less on the contract. Beautiful. The tire guy says the tire will be good to go, we can continue to drive the car as far as we like. We'll stop at the Budget agency in Grand Island tomorrow, but I'm hoping it'll be a blow off. I don't want to waste any more time over this, it seems everything is OK, we got off lucky.

North Platte, the town we ended up in, is one of those good towns you drive through but aren't ready to stop for the night yet: it has lots of motels, all advertising their relatively good prices (all motels should advertise their price on a big electronic sign, it saves so much hassle), it has supermarkets etc., and the motel we're at (the Hospitality Inn) has a relatively good rate, everything seems new and clean and efficient and friendly, (free popcorn!), breakfast included, and hooray! wifi! A good, fast connection. Only the router had died. So we went to Walmart to replenish our groceries, but when we got back still no joy. The lady at the front desk of course knows nothing (just reset the router!). Finally someone who knows about it resets the router, and hooray! I finally have good high speed net access! Yay!!

(view pictures)

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Previous Entries

:-(
06/19/21

Açores
08/29/18

Our New Bathroom Saga
11/17/16

Europe 2015
03/16/15

The Berkshires
10/18/14

Road Trip South
03/23/13

Greece!
07/26/12

Our Trip to Ireland
08/09/09

Google Map of our Trip
09/17/07