Well, as road trips usually go, we’ve had some bumps in the road.  Quite literally.

Today started peacefully in a Walmart parking lot.  Eating breakfast for the first time at our little RV table.

Then we packed up and hit the road.  By now I think I’ve got the hang of what needs to be secured so it doesn’t fly across the RV when Colin turns.  We had a few close calls yesterday.  Rookies.

Soon enough we were in a new state!

But I don’t think Idaho likes us very much.  A few miles in and we started to feel some bumping.  The roads were terrible and seams were everywhere so we didn’t think anything of it.

Then it got worse.  So we pulled over and I checked to see if we had a flat.  No flat, so we chalked it up to the road and continued on.

Then all of a sudden…WHUMP!!!…it sounded like something slammed into the bathroom.  Everything started shaking.  Payton jumped up and said he saw something fly down the road behind us.  Ummm….WHAT????

Colin slowed way down, but there wasn’t a safe place to pull over.  We limped to an exit that had a tiny, rural gas station.  Guess what we found.

The tread tore completely off the inside tire and is now laying somewhere near the Idaho/Oregon border.  Crap.  {Yes, this circumstance warrants that word.  I’ll say it again.  Crap!}

How could this happen??  HOW?  On our road trip??  Why, God, why?!?!  Ok, maybe we’re being dramatic.  We weren’t all that worried.

We {and by we, I mean Colin} spend what seemed like forever trying to find anyone open that had the tire we needed.  Problem is that it’s not a common tire and usually needs to be special ordered.  Of course.

Finally we mapped a course into the nearest town to the Walmart Tire Center.  We drove back roads at 20 miles an hour with our hazards on.  Walmart didn’t have it.  Les Schwab wasn’t open.  Neither was anyone else.

So we did what anyone in this situation would do.  We went to see Brave.

It’s possible that Shiloh is tired.  Maybe.

Then we politely asked the movie theater manager if we could stay in his parking lot for the night.  He sympathized with our plight and the fact that we just plunked down money to by the biggest popcorn he had available and let us stay.

We spent the rest of our stranded day eating at a random pizza restaurant nearby because it was air conditioned and lighting sparklers in the theater parking lot.

Shiloh got to hold his by himself for the first time ever.  This made him happy again.

Is that jelly on his face?  From lunch?  Oh well, we’re on vacation.  He may or may not wake up with fuzz from his pillow pet stuck to that jelly because I didn’t clean it before he went to bed.  Again, we’re on vacation.

Hopefully Les Schwab will be our savior in the morning and we’ll be on the road again.  I just can’t wait to get on the road again…

{You knew I had to do that sometime, didn’t you?}