Off to a bumpy start...

Chad started driving about 7:30 on Saturday morning.  We stopped at a part store in Iowa and Javan took the wheel.  A couple miles before the Wilton / Muscatine exit we heard a bang and wondered what it was.  We didn't have long to wonder what it could have been before we heard the tell-tale sound - fwump, fwump, fwump, fwump.  One of our tires had blown out.

Javan did an excellent job controlling the motorhome and getting us safely to the side of the road.

Chad took a quick look and then got on his phone.  He was able to find a place that could get the tires for us but we would have to come there.  Next, he called the road service we have and they could tow the motor home but what about the additional passengers that couldn't fit in the cab of the tow?  After carefully considering the facts...

1. the tire that blew was a dually (there was still one tire on that side)
2. it looked as if it was dry rotted from the sun so we should replace them all anyway
3. it would be faster to limp along on the remaining tires than to wait for a tow and find a ride for the rest of the crew

...it was determined that we would limp along.





So we drove about 30 miles per hour for the next hour to get to Discount Tire in Coralville, Iowa.  They serviced us well.  They had to send guys to 2 different locations to acquire 6 tires to replace all ours but they were almost back when we arrived.

We were glad to see that we were just across the parking lot from Coralville Mall.  The older children walked around together and I took the youngest 3 with me.  Jared walked with Chad to a parts store.

It turned out to be a great couple hours.  They have an ice skating rink and a Merry Go Round right in the mall.  They didn't skate because they didn't all have socks and they didn't think they had enough time to make it worth the money.

I didn't get far enough into the mall to see the skate rink or merry go round because they had an enclosed play area for the younger children so we stayed there the whole time.

Making a friend

It didn't take Jonas long to spot someone riding an animal toy and wanted to have a turn himself.  So we splurged and got them 30 minutes of time to share.

 Focused

Even Mom took a turn!
Actually, Mom rode along to make sure no one got hurt.

Chad apologized for the inconvenience and Javan replied "it was a lot of fun!"

So, yes, it was an inconvenience and it made us late getting to a family gathering that evening but if it was going to happen, it couldn't have worked out any better.