Flying Solo

Our trip to Pacific City was supposed to be a family affair but sometimes life gets in the way. The plan was for everyone to leave on Thursday and camp at Thousand Trails in Pacific City for three days. Unfortunately Terry couldn't get off work at all and Jess wasn't going to be able to leave until Friday evening. That meant Jenelle and I were going to fly solo pulling our tent trailer. Have I ever pulled the trailer? Yes! But Jess was right in the passenger seat. I actually wasn't worried about pulling it at all; I was more worried about setting up the trailer by myself which I only have practiced once. Anyhow, Jenelle and I dropped the girls off with grandpa Puller who was waiting for grandma to get off work and we headed to the beach with the three boys around 1:00p. Everything was going great, no traffic, good conversation, kids happy and content and then it happened. All of a sudden about 40 miles from Tillamook we heard a loud pop and then thud, thud, thud, thud until I could safely pull over in the parking lot of the Log Cabin Inn. Yep, we blew a tire on the trailer. Jenelle and I sat there for a moment shaking and laughing our heads off not sure what to do next. We got out of the car, surveyed the damage, and just looked at each other both afraid to ask the question.....Do you know how to change a tire? My answer was I don't even know where the spare tire is! Thankfully the coffee delivery man for the Log Cabin Inn came to our aid and quickly pointed out that it was securely attached to the back of my trailer. (Yes I am truly a brunette:-) ) Once that was located we searched and found some jacks and even the wrench for the car tires. Unfortunately the car wrench did not fit the trailer tires and the coffee delivery man had to leave as he was already late for his next delivery. He did, however, tell the cook at the Log Cabin Inn that we needed some desperate help. This is where our good deed for the day helper "Tiny" came in. "Tiny" which doesn't quite accurately describe the man, came out from behind the BBQ to help in the tire changing escapade. The only problem was that we still didn't have the right tools to do the job. Thankfully Tiny knew a few people who knew a few people on HWY 6 and borrowed some tools to change the tire. It was a tough job for a not so "tiny" man... so along came his friend "Digger" to help. Digger was a man that looked like a redneck Halloween costume my husband wore a few years back to a party. He was a huge help in providing an air jack to lift the trailer. Thankfully about an hour and a half later we were ready to roll. However, Digger was concerned the new tire looked a little low and suggested we back track about 1/8th of a mile to the gas station to put a little air in it for the rest of the trip. I quickly said ok and got the kids loaded in the car thanking them both repeatedly. Only until we were in the car, windows up, doors locked did I look at Jenelle and say we can't go to the gas station because I unfortunately did not practice backing the trailer up and can not look like a fool again in front of these kind hearted men who changed our tire. So Jenelle suggested we drive down the road a bit until we could find a spot where we could swing wide enough to turn the car/trailer around to head back to the gas station. This was a great solution until we pulled into the gas station to find out that someone had cut the air hose nozzle off about two days ago. This trip was just getting better by the minute! Again we stood looking at each other dumbfounded until Justin the gas attendant took pity on us and went to his car pulling out his own little air compressor and filling our tire for us. Thank you Justin!! Finally we were on the road again, for the third time, and safely made it to the campground to find out that Ranger Bob had lost our reservation!!! This trip was quickly becoming a NIGHTMARE! This took another 45 minutes to straighten out and pick our campsite and begin the joy of trying to back the trailer into our spot. After about five tries and laughing hysterically we actually got it backed in and unloaded. I can't wait until my next camp out!!!