Back in Kerrville....With a close call!

Adventure Day 132

We decided that even though we have closed the loop and have made it back to Kerrville, Texas after 4 months and 9 days of traveling, our trip really isn't over. Since we're not settling down permanently, but are going to rent a cottage for a few months and then hit the road again, the Adventure still goes on. We really don't know what will be happening from one day to the next. So we're going to continue to count the days of our adventure "On the Loose."

Our friends Stephen and Shirley Smith, who live in Boerne, TX, texted us this morning to let us know that I-10 through San Antonio (the route we usually take between Rockport and Kerrville) is closed all weekend. So Curt got up earlier than we planned this morning and made enough noise (deliberately) to get me (reluctantly) out of bed. He sensed that with the route change and Saturday San Antonio traffic, the trip might be quite a bit more complex than it usually is. I may have been reluctant at 8 a.m., but I was sure thankful at 3 p.m. that he pushed things along like he did.

We left Rockport at 10 a.m. and soon found ourselves in a driving rainstorm. One of those where you have the windshield wipers going full speed but the visibility is so low that you have to edge over and go real slowly. After we drove through that, we began to see some of our favorite landmarks. We always watch for the wind farm outside of Sinton.

As we approach it we can always see a line of windmills marching across the landscape:

And then we finally come upon the big guy that sits right next to the road;

Here's a familiar sign of the oil industry at work in this part of Texas:

After stopping for lunch, we drove toward San Antonio. In the past we have made this trip on Sundays, so we were quite surprised at the heavy Saturday afternoon traffic leading into the city. Also, we've never pulled a good sized trailer through San Antonio before. It was getting a little um... Interesting.

Just after the odometer rolled over to 11,000 miles on our trip, BLAM! We both heard and felt something that sounded like we had hit something big. But we'd both been watching the highway, and neither of us had seen anything, then Curt said, "I think that was a blowout." We pulled off the Interstate as far as we could (which wasn't real far!). Heavy traffic was whizzing by so fast and so close that Curt couldn't get an opening to get out of the drivers side of the car. So I carefully got out of the passenger side to see what I could see...and I found the right rear tire of the trailer had totally come off the wheel. It was obvious that we weren't going anywhere!

Traffic continued to whiz by, each vehicle shaking the truck and trailer.

We prayed for safety and then called AAA.

Here are some of the many things we're thankful for:

1. We purchased a trailer with dual axles. (It would have been an entirely different outcome if we had just one wheel on each side!)

2. We started out earlier today than we originally planned.

3. We were in the right hand lane when the tire blew out. (I can't imagine what it would have been like to have had to change lanes in that traffic with a blown tire!)

4. We have AAA.

5. We were n broad daylight.

6. The spare tire was easy to get to...and on the right hand side of the truck.

7. We were in cell phone range.

After calling AAA, we had over an hour and a half wait. So, to keep calm and help pass the time, we each settled into our favorite soothing activities.

Karen knitting (still buckled in!):

And Curt reading:

Finally...Orlando to the rescue!

And we were off again, thankful for the Lord's protection and provision.

Since I-10 was closed, the traffic was extremely congested on the alternate routes. But that was just fine with us, because it slowed things down considerably. We were happy just to creep along for a while. And breathe. 

Finally we made it to the home of our dear friends Shirley and Stephen, and we both started to relax. 

Here's Lucy parked in the shade, showing off her new spare tire.

And what better way to relax than with a plateful of Shirley's famous homemade cookies and iced tea? How wonderful to have such great friends!

After our little breather, we climbed back into the truck for the last 45 minutes to Kerrville. That portion of the drive passed without incident.

We've landed at the home of more dear friends, Bill and David. They have kindly offered us the use of an RV pad with water, electricity, and sewer hookup, right out in one of the prettiest parts of the Texas Hill Country. We are indeed blessed. 

We got caught up on all the happenings since we've been gone.

And tomorrow we get to attend our church that we have missed so much, Kerrville First United Methodist Church.

But as I stated earlier, don't think that just because we landed in Kerrville, the adventure is over. In 3 days we'll be off to Boise, Idaho to visit our 4 children and 12 grandchildren. I'll keep blogging about our experiences, and I hope you'll keep reading. Curt and I do kind of have a knack for finding fun and interesting things to do, and we've always been blessed by the wonderful people we're privileged to meet. So keep checking back. We'll keep you posted!