July 15, 2015

Wednesday

We packed up crazy like we always do. It wasn't too bad. We pulled out only 19 minutes late. That's the closest we've ever been to our departure time. Our first stops were the Indian Reservation for gas and then we met TJ at Tim Horton's for breakfast in Irving, NY.

Just after we got on the 79 headed towards Pittsburg we thought TJ had a blowout, but actually, his driver side rear tire came off his van. We had to get off the 79, get back on, get off again and come back to where they were. Tom talked with his cousin Jack about everything. Jack told him to go find the tire. Tom found it in the wooded, marshy median, and that ended up helping a lot.

They needed the tire to get the van on the flatbed. The tow truck driver was trying to drag it on which would have wrecked it more. They took a few lug nuts from the other tire and put it back on to get it up on the flatbed. 

The garage they took the van to was called "New Life Automotive," ten miles away. They were awesome and started working on the van right when we brought it in. 

We thought we were going to miss our gig in WV, but decided to leave TJ, his, family, and camper at the auto shop. We went back to the 79 and got TJ's camper and took it to the shop. With TJ's family in our van we had the exact number of seats that we needed (15). Jake went with us, we said our goodbyes, and headed out to The Railyard in Bluefield, WV.

We were supposed to play 7-10, but they changed it to 9-12. We arrived at 8:49. The boys were grumpy, but set up quickly, and started about 9:15 I think. There was a big room upstairs, where we played last time, that they let the little kids and me hang out in. They also had food for us and set it up as a buffet, so we all got to eat. I worked on my embroidery most of the time.

When they were done the boys broke down faster than I've ever seen them. We had an hour drive to Tom Cole's lake house where we spent the night in blissful slumber.

The shop had TJ's family back on the road around 6 I think. The backing plate that is part of the axle was damaged bad. They got their torches out, refabricated the plate, then rebuilt it. All for under $300! Amazing! He fixed the whole thing for less than what it would have cost to buy a new tire and rim.

TJ decided to travel a different way than us, to avoid the WV mountains, since they couldn't make it for the gig. We hope to meet on the 95 somewhere tomorrow.