In 24hrs- Part 1 / aka: When to Re-Tire?

After months of planning I quit my job in Boise Idaho and left on my big road trip through California on my way to Austin.

I couldn’t just move I had to squeeze as many things into one time as possible.
I didn’t see how I could afford to go to a new city, get a job, get a house, and then the next month leave to California for two major events......

#1. My very good friend Jamie was getting married, and I was to be a bride’s maid.

#2. My brother Tarl was turning 30, and having a major party to which many old friends I had not seen or would be seeing for years were attending.

So I felt it would be best to drive thru California for 8 weeks prior to arriving in Austin. So that all could be accomplished prior to my arrival. I think in all the trip I had planed was around 3, 000 miles in a 1994 Mercury Sable.

I had never taken a solo road trip like this before. I was very excited, to say the least. I mapped everything out over and over. I called everyone I knew along the way and made couch reservations, and lunch appointments.

My friends in Boise all pitched in and bought me a 500 gig external hard drive to put all my music and pictures on. (no computer at this time) My friend Kelsey gave me her old digital camera. My mother gave me her old Ipod. It seemed that everyone was happy for my big adventure and wanted to be sure I was well on my way.

I was so filled with Love, Optmisum, and excitement I could have exploded

 The two days before I left, I took my car in for an Oil change, and the “check engine” light was on. The Man at Big O Tire (Dustin) said engine was fine, and not to worry about the light. However my tires looked liked they needed replaced.

I thought to myself (okay now this guy sells tires for a living).

                                

So I thanked him and said I would think about it. I remember clearly before I left Dustin said

 I went home and asked my dad to check the tires. We discussed the pro’s and cons of new tires.

After talking it over, and over, dad finally said like a coach for the underdog team talking to the star player with a twisted ankle....
 

Definitely what I wanted him to say.

I also went to my friend Shane's house before I left town to say good bye. I mentioned the tires. He told me what the tell signs of a tire blow out would be, and how dangerous it is to leave to chance.

On the other hand, Shane is the guy who follows news of plane crashes like some guys do baseball stats. Ask Shane about any model of plane, and he can tell you what the most common cause of failure is on that plane. When, where, why, and how may people died, in one, or more of that planes most famous wrecks.

In the morning I left without getting new tires.

It would take 10 hours to get to Mammoth,  my first stop.

My mom had made this trip a lot when I lived in Mammoth. She said the best route to Mammoth Lkes from Boise was going through Hawthorne.

 I was making good time and about halfway through the day when I realized I was going to Reno.  I was not supposed to be going through Reno. I pulled over and talked with a nice trucker at a gas station off the highway.

He pulled out his map and planned the safest most direct route to Mammoth from there.
So I gassed up and pulled out heading hopefully towards my destination.

About 30 minutes later, I was on a part of highway that was packed with cars and huge semi trucks/ everyone was speeding. The South bound side was two lanes and of course I was in the fast lane keeping up with everyone else.............

What happened next went something like this................

And there I was on the point in the turn where you could not see what came ahead or what you had just left behind. I didn’t know what to do. This had never happened to me before. “Okay Tana, You can do this, just think logically” I said to myself.

 I called 411 (information) and asked the operator for a towing company’s number closest to...... OH NO! I didn’t know where I was....

 I had been zoning out to audio books and had not read and remembered a sign for a good 30 min. The operator gave me a company’s number that we agree would be close. When I called, it was in Tahoe, which is in California. I was defiantly still in Nevada. I called it anyways. The guy in Tahoe and I tried to figure out where I was.

 when we were still unsure, he suggested I call the hwy patrol. Surely the highway patrol would know! If I left that gas station heading south, 30 min ago, going 65 miles per hour, where I was when the tire blew. 

So this was it. The moment my high school math teacher had been talking about.

 Armed with the highway patrol number Tahoe Towing gave me, I got in touch with Christy.

She and I tried to figure out where I was. I could see nothing ahead of me but the side of a large hill and could see nothing but the same in my rear and side view mirrors. 

In the end, Christy decided that if I was alone, lost, and female on the side of the highway, it would be best to dispatch a patrol man to look for me. I reluctantly agreed but said that I would go for a walk and call her back if I saw a landmark.

Now before I can leave the car I have to call mom.
Mom and I watch those crime CSI type shows as a guilty pleasure. So we decided before I left Boise, to avoid becoming the subject of an unsolved mystery

I was to call her if I was going to get out of the car,  ANYWHERE. Not that she could stop me from being abducted, but she could at least tell the cops where to start looking for me.

With mom updated that I was exiting the vehicle, I opened the door and got out.

And there It was. The worlds Biggest Green sign was behind me the whole time. Too tall to see in my mirrors, facing traffic in the other direction. In bright shining white reflective letters it read.

Which Means....

Which Also Means.......

I hung up with mom and called Christy back at highway patrol.

 Told her what I saw, I asked her what towing place I should call. Without answering she asked if I had a spare and a jack? Well now, in all the commotion, and attempts to think "logically" it had not occurred to me that I could change the tire by MYSELF! 

I said I had a spare but probably not a jack. She said Officer Brown was already out looking for me, and would come out to wait with me until a repair man came.

When I had Un-mounted my bike. I started at the task of emptying the trunk, of all that I so carefully packed on top of my spare tire.

 I managed to get the spare out, and my sad excuse for a Jack (I didn’t know was there). To make amends for how utterly useless I had proved to be, I lay in the dirt and tried jacking the car up.

After maybe 10 min of laying in the hot dirt on the side of the Nevada desert, I managed to get the car maybe three inches off the ground. About then I felt something on my leg..........and I sat up...

 and saw that my feet, ankles, and calves were covered in red ants!!!!

By the time Officer Brown arrived there were hippy tapestries flapping in the wind, aside  paintings, and a purple and gold paisley print bike on the side of the road. 

As I, in my "no one is going to see me in these" sweat pants, is doing this...

 I will never forget the look on his face or the uncomfortable distance he kept from me as I tried to explain “There were um….ants…. on me”.

 He suggested I wait in my car for the repair man.
Then he went back to his cruiser to enjoy being free of me, in air conditioning. Ten or fifteen minutes later a truck pulled up and a man jumped out. Quick as ever he had my car up with his industrial jack, instantly putting my efforts to shame he had my spare tire on before I could repack my trunk with the flat tire.

 Both men waited as I put the bike and the rack both securely on my car once more.

I pulled out my wallet and asked the man if I could write him a check. They explained that It was Free of charge. The State of Nevada provided this service for people in emergencies. They gave me a post card with a case number and asked me to fill it out and mail it in to keep the program going. AMEN! Thank you Nevada!

I thanked them both and pulled back on the highway. As soon as I made it around the bend there it was, where no one but me could miss it.....  Not a billboard, not a sign, the whole freaking city.... RENO!

This was only the beginning of my first day.

To be continued.........