I’ve never been a Blanche Dubois kind of girl, having worked and been pretty independent since my teens. But now and then it happens to all of us, we get locked out, or miss our train, or get stranded on the road. For me it was on a trip from California to Virginia, when I got stuck and had nothing but bad options to choose from.
I was in Tennessee, not far from my final destination, and I was pulling a Harbor Freight trailer with my belongings in plastic boxes. I decided to see Graceland, home of Elvis. It was pretty cool, and much less grand than I imagined. The suits and cars were fancy, but the man cave den was not too different from what you’d find in your average middle class family home. I guess Elvis was a regular guy, in spite of his fame.
After checking out the mansion, garden and the garage, I got in my car and started driving. I heard a bit of a rattle, so I got out and walked around my car and trailer. I didn’t see anything, so I got back in and kept driving. Once in the freeway, the sound got louder and I started looking for a place to pull over. As I was heading up the off ramp, I feel the trailer sink, and I see one of my tires rolling down the hill in my rear view mirror. Crap!
My first thought is that it won’t be so bad. I have a spare, so all I have to do is put that on, but I’m wrong. So, so wrong! The inside of the tire that fell off is shredded, and one or two of the lug nuts are still on. I’m able to unscrew a couple of them, but the others are stuck. I can’t put a new tire on because there’s no way to get the tire over the lug nuts that won’t come off, and one of my lug nuts that did come off is somewhere down the hill! My stuff isn’t enclosed and it’s getting dark. If I unhitch the trailer and drive off, it’s unlikely my stuff will be there when I return. I call AAA to see if they’ll tow the trailer somewhere, but they say that’s not covered. Then I call another number to make sure my renters insurance is up to date and will cover me when all I own goes missing.
My head is spinning and I’m wondering how fast I can drive to Uhaul, rent a trailer, and come back to pickup my stuff. Assuming it’s still there, this means driving a Uhaul to Virginia and abandoning my own trailer on the side of the road. A couple strangers stop. The first is very kind, but he’s on his way to a meeting of some sort. The other seems a bit crazy, but he offers to take me to Harbor Freight to see if they have some parts for my trailer so I can replace the wheel. We go to Harbor Freight and they have nothing. Not even the lug nuts. We go to Northern tool, but they’re no help either. Crazy dude says we can sleep at Walmart in our separate cars, but I’m getting a creepy feeling.
The first guy comes back and he’s got tools with him. He has a plan! He’ll put the tire back on with gum, scotch tape, and God’s help. Well, not really, but that’s how it sounded. He says he can get the tire to stay on if I drive very slow, and he’ll fix it for me at his shop the next day. So there we are, getting the tire back on the trailer, in the dark. We drive from Tennessee to Missouri, which sounded really far away to a girl from California, but wasn’t so bad. He tells me to put the trailer on the lawn and unhitch, so that’s what I do. He says I can spend the night, but I say I’m allergic to cats and dogs, so I’ll just go hang at Walmart till morning. He says it’s dangerous, and he’ll get me a hotel room. I’m floored, but my budget is really tight, so I accept thankfully.
True to his word, the good Samaritan returns in the morning and tells me he’s machined something or other at his shop and found lug nuts from some old car that fit perfect on my wheel. The new spare is already on the trailer! Somewhere in the crazy madness, I’ve lost the hub cover though, but he’s fixed it. Not gum and scotch tape, but a can of 7Up!
I say my goodbyes and thanks, promising I’ll never forget him, and I never have. I’m not sure I’ll ever find a kinder person, or have a better example of a stranger rising to the occasion. I made it to my job in Virginia only half a day late!
Graceland is a dim memory, but that rattle of lug nuts that are about to fall off is burned into my brain. I always check these now, and if you’ve got a trailer you should too!
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