Broke Down on the Side of the Road



Our nieces Gracie and Elizabeth
Always love seeing family!
Couldn't miss sharing this pic from
our trip to Milwaukee

Yesterday morning when we started out, my plan for this week’s blog was to discuss how not all weeks are exciting.  I planned to talk about how last week was a week like everyone else’s week.  We made a quick trip to Orlando, spent a couple hours in the shop getting new steer tires (front tires on the truck) and caught up on laundry since we eventually made it home Saturday night.  Yep, just a typical week just like everyone else.

 

However, that all changed around 4:30 pm yesterday when while traveling eastbound on I-70 in Pennsylvania, we went over a deep dip in the road.  A dip that let me point out had no signs warning about it, but let me assure you should have.  The impact of the dip on Vince, me the truck and trailer was hard one.  So hard that I immediately said to Vince that if we didn’t incur damage to either the truck or the trailer I would be surprised.  Well the surprise didn’t come, because about two to three minutes later, a woman passenger on a motorcycle indicated to Vince we had a problem.  As we pulled to the side of the road Vince saw smoke and initially thought we had blown a tire.  He got out and walked around, then came back and turned the truck back on.  I immediately heard the buzzer that indicates we had lost air and knew if wasn’t just a tire.  He then shut it off and moved around to the back again. I stepped out our back door when I heard him in the side box on the passenger side.  He looked up at me and said “you aren’t going to believe it but we broke the air leveling valve and I actually have one”. He then lifted up his right hand and showed me the box.  He was right I couldn’t believe it.  The valve keeps the rear suspension level and without we weren’t going anywhere.

In order to install the valve, he had to unhook from the trailer to get to the valve which is located at the end of our deck plate under part of the frame.  Next he was in his coverall at work, while I stood inside the cab behind him with the back door open in case he needed anything.  I did get him a container to hold the bolts. To try to add some levity to the situation I told him I wasn’t going to offer to hold the container because I didn’t spill them all over and say the mother of all words. (Sorry I know only those fans of the movie A Christmas Story will get the reference, but it did make us chuckle). 

 

While Vince worked I thought about how I was going to stop teasing him about how messy all the side and storage boxes are, because more than once he has had something we needed, that saved us a lot of grief, time and money.  I also was fearful that someone would hit us as we sat there.  As a result of this incident, I would ask everyone to please move over when you can if someone is on the side of the road.  I know how bounced around we got by passing traffic I can’t imagine what it feels like if you are in a car or standing away from a car like you are suppose to do in those cases.  Vince is very good about moving over and if he can do it with a truck and trailer, car driver should be able to do the same.

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The valve has the blue hoses running from it - Trust me it
was a tight area to work in with cars flying by.

 

An hour and ten minutes after our ordeal began we were back on the road.  I told Vince he was my hero and he just laughed like he always does when I try to compliment him.  But he was my hero, because I can’t imagine how long we would have had to wait for assistance and/or the part. Not to mention how much a road side repair would have cost us.  As we travelled toward Breezewood, Pennsylvania, which before this all happened was where we had planned to stop to get the truck washed, Vince shared he was too hungry to worry about getting the truck washed. He also shared that he had noticed that the TA had a Dairy Queen.  I told him I had already noticed that and planned on getting him DQ because he had more than earned it.

Today, we are in Philly loading in the other Wicked tour. Tomorrow we will be at the Lincoln Center in NYC to NJ and Thursday NYC to Saratoga Springs.  Hopefully all of that will bring us a calmer rest of the week.

Sitting in the middle of Broad Street in Philly waiting our turn