An Unexpected Field Trip

This week we had an unexpected field trip.

We piled in the car to go visit and sing to Great Grandma Alice in McMinnville. But as we pulled out of the driveway, I knew something was wrong with the car. I got out to see what the problem was and discovered that we had a bad flat tire. There was a bolt in the tire, and not a drop of air was left.

I called USAA for road assistance, but I was told that it would take 45 minutes for a tow truck to arrive and help. Scott was working in Portland, and right about then I was wishing I had paid more attention all the times Scott had put the spare tire on our car.

I was lucky to get help from our neighbors across the street. I felt bad about them helping, since they are older retired folks, and it doesn't feel so good to be kneeling down jacking up a mini-van with all 5 kids inside. Getting the spare tire off and onto the car was a huge ordeal that took an hour. I cancelled the tow truck since we seemed to have things under control, and the kids and I spent the morning at Les Shwab's waiting for our van' s tires to be replaced.

I'll count my blessings on this little peice of good fortune:

* the tire went flat in the garage, not on the street
*neighbors helped with the spare, I was not alone. I'm going to take them out to dinner to say thanks!
*The tire that was flat was bald, and needed to be replaced anyway, especially before our road trip in June. Our future safety was protected.
*We had enough money to pay for new tires.

At last, in the late afternoon, we got to visit Great-Grandma and sing to her.

Happy endings are the best! And free popcorn at Les Schwab's didn't hurt the kids feelings any, either.