Ten Days, Two Blowouts, One Journal, and a Camera
A Photo Essay by Shannon Chapel
8/19/2016: Del, Kyle, and I left Boise late — after 3:00 p.m. We’re headed to California for the next ten days for a much-needed vacation. Del got scuba certified just for this trip. Our twenty-five-year-old son, Kyle, is with us, and we’ve all been looking forward to this for months.
40 miles outside Winnemucca, NV we heard a loud POP and looked in the side mirrors to see the camper fishtailing all over the place.
The right camper tire had exploded and there wasn’t much left but the rim. Kyle and Del changed the tire (we had one spare), and 30 minutes later we were back on the road.
“It’s a good thing the left one didn’t blow. That would’ve taken out all the water lines,” Del said.
He called WalMart in Winnemucca to ask what time they closed. We needed another spare. The employee in Tire & Lube Express said they’d close in about ten minutes but he’d stay a little late just for us. Del agreed, set the pace at 65 MPH and headed toward WalMart.
Ten minutes later we heard another loud POP and looked out the side mirrors to see the camper fishtailing all over the place. We’d blown the left tire.
This time the tread flew off at 65–70 MPH and blew a hole in the camper under the kitchen sink. Both water lines were severed, just like Del said they would be, and our can of Folgers coffee was hanging out the hole.
We didn’t have a second spare, so we took the tire off, grabbed everything of value that was strapped to the deck, and left it on the side of the road. We booked a room at Candlewood Suites and planned to get new tires first thing in the morning.
8/20/2016: We got our tires, ate breakfast, topped off the tank, and left Winnemucca before noon. The day was uneventful, and we finally arrived at our campsite at 10:50 p.m. Everyone was asleep, and the campground was FULL. I’ve never seen that many campers there, and we’ve been going for three years.
We set up camp and went to bed exhausted, ready to get down to the business at hand: VACATIONING.
8/24/26: In addition to writing, I love photography. I don’t go anywhere without my camera, and this trip was no exception.
8/25/16: Bluejays are thieving bastards. Our little dogs, Biscuit (a 4.5-pound Morkie) and Mazy (a 3.5-pound Yorkie), defended their food bowls valiantly, but the birds were as big as they are, and apparently Bluejays hunt in packs because fifteen to twenty of them swarmed the campsite to steal the dog food.
8/26/16: While Del went scuba diving for abalone and fish, Kyle and I took pictures.
8/29/16: Although we paid for our campsite through tomorrow we decided to break camp this morning. Del and I have to be back to work on Friday, and we like to get home a little early so we have at least a day to kick around the house.
Like we do every year we talked about quitting our jobs and moving to Mendocino or Fort Bragg, but it’s fantasy. We both know it’ll never happen. The predicted high for Mendocino today is 66. The predicted high for Boise is 97, down from 100+ temps for the past two months. It makes me want to vomit.
8/30/16: We were back in Boise by 4:00. Today is our daughter Ashley’s birthday. She turned twenty-eight today, so she, her fiancé Austin, and our six-year-old grandson Noah came over to pick up Ashley’s presents.
It’s hotter than hell outside.
8/31/16: Ash, Austin, and Noah came over for a good old-fashioned fish fry: green ling, abalone, sea perch, and black bass — all caught by Del while in Cali. We rolled everything in flour, dipped it in egg, then coated it in Panko and fried it in butter. Delicious!
We are grateful for what we have — thankful that we both have good jobs that pay well, that we have reliable vehicles and excellent health insurance. We are all healthy and able-bodied, and I know we are blessed. While moving isn’t an option, vacations are. The heat here does get to me, and I miss the cool seaside temps.
There’s always next year.
Originally published at www.shannonchapel.com on September 4, 2016.
