“Okay, Roger, settle down.”
I shut the door of the Perfect Tow Vehicle and go around to my side and slide behind the wheel. Reggie lies down in the doggie bed next to me. Roger wiggles and whines excitedly from his place on the passenger seat.
“Don’t worry, Rog. You’ll go to the park. First I have some things I want to get done in town.”
The Best Little Trailer on Sand Mine Road Mesa, Overton, Nevada
I fire up the Perfect Tow Vehicle and we rumble across the mesa.
Over Sand Mine Road to Route 169, past the RVs at Poverty Flats, through the badlands, past the wildlife refuge (aka “the killing fields”), the silica plant, and into Overton.
Another beautiful day in the desert.
Our first stop is the hardware store.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back!”
Years ago I attempted to have duplicates made of the keys for the Best Little Trailer. That effort was unsuccessful because the key guy couldn’t find blanks that matched.
All these years I’ve only had one key each, one for the door, one for the hitch lock, and one for the outside compartments — battery, shower, electric cord, fresh water tank.
(I think the Casita factory supplied a second set but darned if I know where I put it.)
I never got around to trying again for duplicates until now.
Happily I return to the crew having accomplished my first objective!
“Okay, now we go to the library. Stop it, Roger. No amount of whining is going to change my plans.”
Gee . . . He did his business before we left camp . . . .
The library is a short distance up the street.
I pull into the lot and make a sharp turn into a parking space.
What was that? That felt funny . . . . hmm . . .
Oh, well . . .
Roger is going crazy, hopping around, yipping to be let out. Reggie joins in, of course.
“Okay, okay! Sheesh.”
I open up the passenger door and clip the boys onto the tether.
“You’re a bossy little guy, Rog. You know that?”
I set the two squirmy-squirms onto the pavement and away they go, pulling me behind them. The crew is familiar with the dirt road behind the library. We’ve walked it before.
When we return to the parking lot . . .
“OH, NO! A flat tire!”
I pop the crew into the PTV and examine the right front tire. It is Flat, Flat, Flat with a capital F.
The rim is down to the pavement.
A slice on the sidewall.
Well, this situation can wait. It’s not like the PTV is going anywhere. Heh. First I’m going to get what I came here for.
Inside the library I find two of what I want.
I easily locate the third and fourth books in the four-volume Berrybender series by Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove author). I’ve already read the first in the series and I’m hooked!
I ask the young librarian if she can find the second book.
“Have you looked in the large print section?” she asks, examining her computer monitor. “It says we have it here in large print.”
I happily return to the PTV, having accomplished my second objective!
“Okay, time to deal with this dang tire.”
I retrieve a can of Fix-A-Flat from the back of the PTV. I also take my emergency air compressor out of its zipper bag. Both I set before the pathetic tire.
I connect the Fix-a-Flat to the valve stem. Hoping it will seal the slice and save the day, I watch the white foam go through the transparent tube to the tire’s valve stem.
The tire inflates slightly!
Whew! That’s good. It can hold more air.
Next I plug in the air compressor to the “cigarette lighter” type receptacle in the PTV, start up the engine, and commence inflating the tire. I take it up to 30 psi and stop, not wanting to push my luck (or good fortune, if you wish).
Speaking of good fortune . . .
Cal’s Repair Shop is less than a quarter mile further up the street!
Gingerly the PTV makes her way out of the library lot and over to Cal’s. In a few minutes the repair guy confirms the slice is the source of the flat and the tire must be replaced.
He proceeds to measure the tread on all four tires. I don’t need to hear the measures (3/32 inch and less!) to know that they are Bald, Bald, Bald with a capital B!
Next he removes the spare from underneath the PTV.
(NOTE: This is why I have Fix-a-Flat and an air compressor. I do not have the upper body strength to get that spare tire out from under there, let alone heft it onto the rim. Not that I would do it if I could!)
While the spare is put on, little furry heads peek out the window from time to time, keeping an eye on me.
I have the shop order four new tires for the PTV, the same kind she’s been wearing — Toyo Open Country All Terrain. The price is good. (More about that in the next post.)
The PTV is scheduled to return tomorrow.
I back the PTV out of the parking lot, happy at having accomplished a third, albeit unexpected, objective!
On the way home . . .
Just past Poverty Flats, before the turn for Sand Mine Road Mesa, we encounter vehicles parked on both sides of the road. I pull over, bring the window down, and commence picture-taking . . .
Bighorn sheep!
Not surprisingly, Roger and Reggie bark.
This causes the sheep to pause from their objective which is to climb up the slope and over the crest of the hill. Instead of disappearing, the sheep hold still, warily looking back at all the people pointing cameras at them.
And then slowly they move away.
The crew and I continue on our way home.
What an up-down-up day!
Finally got those keys made, happy pups go for a walk, find a tire flat on the PTV, get the books I want, we make it to the shop, tire is ruined, order new tires for tomorrow — Yay! new tires! — and then, on the way home, sheep!
Sheep in the middle of the day! A few minutes earlier or later and we would’ve missed them.
Ha! Ol’ Rog never did get to go to the park. Instead he had a walk with Reg behind the library and around the repair shop.
In a way he met his objective, too.
rvsue
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG!
A can of Fix-a-Flat has saved the day for me more than once. I always carry a can or two in the PTV.
Fix-A-Flat S60420 Aerosol Tire Inflator, 16 oz.
After publishing this post, a blogorino wrote a recommendation in the comments section for this tire sealant:
Slime 10009 Tubeless Tire Sealant – 32 oz.
An air compressor is essential. My compressor does tend to get hot so I give it a rest between tires. I like that it has a gauge so I can see the psi while it is adding air to the tire. Other compressors may be a better deal. I don’t know. All I know is this one works well for me.
VIAIR 85P Portable Air Compressor
A 12-volt extension cord is a handy item. I don’t need it in order for the compressor to reach each of the PTV’s tires, but it is necessary for adding air to the BLT’s tires when hitched. You may find other uses for it, too.
Cigarette Lighter Extension Cord Cable
“Never mind. Nothing to be alarmed about. It’s just RVSue’s crazy chihuahuas.”
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