Day 24 - California to Arizona - 249 miles

I made an omelette that I prepared the night before. So all I had to do is pour it in the hot pan. Using the two-burner induction cooktop made it fast and easy. Armed with coffee for him and tea for me, we headed out early with 100% state of charge. So we could try to get to the next stop early enough to see the meteor crater at our next stop.

The day started out pretty nice We were happily traveling down the road when...

Something was wrong. We had to pull over on the highway. Roger got out and I went back to grab the traffic cones to keep cars away while we investigated. I could tell already that it not a small thing. I thought, "okay, THIS is our challenge for this trip. We'll be okay."

The first thing I noticed was black melted stuff on the side of the trailer. Then I looked down and saw something I think I have never seen before.

Our tire had completely exploded! In fact, there was barely any tire left.

Fortunately, we have a full-size spare and Roger was able to put the rim--apparently undamaged in the trunk. By the way, he had just bought a jack for this trip, thinking we should have one --just in case. 

Roger got right to work and we were so happy that he thought to buy a jack for this trip. We will never be without it again.

It was frickin' hot. Of course, this happened in the middle of the Mojavé desert. Classic.

HOWEVER, since this was a shorter than usual drive day, we were able to get in immediately at Best Tire, in Kingman, AZ.

We were so relieved when they said they could help us right away AND they were less than a mile away. 

They cleaned up the rim and put a brand new tire. It was a Calstar Radial Trail HD, same brand as the old one. They are supposedly the best trailer tires. We were on our way without barely missing a beat. They were unable to fix the fresh water tank valve, but most of the rest of the trip will be hooked up to water anyhow.

They said this happens--especially when crossing the Mojavé. We had about 20,000 miles on that tire, so we got our money's worth. Camping miles are rough on those little tires.

The damage to the fresh water valve means we will have to rely on water from hookups and a 5 gallon jug when not hooked up, but again, we were saying how it could have been MUCH worse. 

Okay, so, here's why we say this was lucky:

• Roger bought a jack before we left (and it worked great)

• We had traffic cones to alert fast moving cars to give him room

• We spent the extra to get a full-sized spare

• We were able to get a reputable tire place to work on it as soon as we pulled into the shop

• It was a short day anyhow so we could afford the time without making it a more tiring day

• Roger knows how to change a tire

• It happened in daylight and not in heavy city traffic of LA

• We were SO close to Kingman, where we usually stay at KOA, so we know the town a little bit and knew we would find help there.

So, it all seemed to happen so fast and get remedied so fast that there was virtually very little anxiety over the whole thing. I think we have seen
everything at this point after traveling so many miles, and it was nothing compared to mishaps in previous trips.  WHEW!

STOP 1 

Smith's Pharmacy
3490 Stockton Hill Road, Kingman, AZ

Elevation 3471 feet 

It was Electrify America (CCS)  No notes as I must have been still bewildered as to why I was not anxious about the tire blow out.

STOP 2

Tried to charge at Electrify America at
1100 Cataract Lake RV, Williams, AZ

Tehre was an Electiry America maintenance worker fixing a stall and said we could not park at the charger because of our trailer and that even though it was a head-in charger, we were not "allowed" to park there. He said we were blocking the firelane, which we were not. A firetruck could totally have driven around us. We were NOT blocking anyone, so we said Buh-bye and used the Tesla one down the street.

SO we used the Tesla Supercharger and were able to park where we did not have to unhook.

29% to 75% (we will get to meteor crater and plug in to charge there.)

Took 15 minutes and was 42¢/kWh

Stopped for the night at Meteor Crater RV Park, 140 Meteor Crater Rd, Winslow, AZ 86047

Checked in to Meteor Crater RV Park early but it was hot so we pretty much stayed in the trailer.

We were pretty close to the crater. I remember seeing this crater when I crossed country with my parents when I was 12. We were moving to California and we crossed the desert with NO air conditioning in a Ford Falcon Futura. Boy were we nieve. BUt it was kinda fun (aside from the heat stroke and car sickness)

We were so tired we just rested and relished having a break from driving and so we went to bed early and watched some video. This is one of those places where the Starlink is a perfect solution. So we fired it up and enjoyed fast connection.