Part of our Thousand Trails camping pass, where we get to camp for free, is being out of the Thousand Trails system for 7 days after a 14 day stay. Rather than fiddle with new, unknown, and potentially not fun places we keep bouncing back to Lazydays. It’s a known quantity that we like quite a bit. Plus, it’s fairly cheap relative to other places this time of year.
We visited Dinosaur World during this stay and absolutely loved it! We also met up with our friends again – the ones we stayed with at Sun-N-Fun. They extended their time in Florida at a different RV resort and invited us to a beach day. We love the beach and enthusiastically joined them at Sand Key Beach near Clearwater.
Other than that, we didn’t do much. Karissa did her school with the kids. We watched a movie outside (in February). Went to a local playground. We also walked the RV lot – where we found our favorite layout with bunk in the front of a 5th wheel. And enjoyed the warm weather and pool.
After basically shaving my head over the summer, it had grown somewhat long. I’ve generally been cutting my own hair for at least 5 years, possibly longer. I can do a decent trimmer cut – and could do a more advanced cut one someone else. This one turned out pretty darn good, if you ask Karissa.
So it came to be moving day after our fun stay. We packed up, hitched up, and hit the road. About 30 miles down the road, on I-75, there was a pop sound from behind us. Karissa started to scream to pull over fast. I got us to the shoulder. One of our tires had blown and done quite a bit of damage. It ripped a hole in the floor and blew away the wheel cover. I never lost control of the rig and we’re thankful to be safe. Having a 2 axle trailer really came through for us today! Our tires aren’t that old – we just got them all replaced in 2018 in New Mexico – and I’m nearly obsessive with ensuring they’re at the recommended 65 PSI on travel days. So we’re chalking the blowout to bad luck or a nail. We’re just glad we’re safe.
Anyways, after pulling over I tried to figure out how to change to the spare. The trailer was blowing with the passing trucks and I couldn’t seem to get the tire off the ground. It’s a scary situation! Karissa took the kids walking to the nearby exit to get off the road and away from the swaying trailer.
I called a few towing services. Some only tow passenger vehicles, not replace tires on RVs. Some didn’t want to help. Thankfully, I found “Handsome Grandson Roadside Service” and he was happy to help. He showed up in about 35 minutes and changed my tire to the spare. He recommended the spare be replaced right away – like the next exit – or risk another blowout if I tried to make the final 90 miles of the day’s trip. I owe him more than the money he charged – like cookies or a hug – so definitely use his services if you need help in the greater Tampa area!
Afer he got me back on the road, I picked up Karissa and the kids at Panera, and we found a local tire shop that was run by a 5th wheel owner who got us in right away. We put new tires on the 2 front spots and put one of our “good” tires as our new spare. We got safely to our destination around 4:30pm instead of the scheduled 1:00pm and couldn’t be more thankful that we’re all safe. We’re assessing the damage to the rig and what to do about it, but it seems habitable in the meantime…which is good because this is our home and RV repair shops tend to be full this time of year!
I’m so glad you are safe! I think of you often! Looks like you had a good time otherwise. I envy you going to the beach! This lady loves all of you!!
Thanks! We’re glad to be safe too. Going to the beach in the winter is a lot different than the summer because of the cold water, but it’s still fun!