Forward to Moab, Utah!

We drove about 190 miles to Moab, Utah today. Our intention was to get a very early start to avoid very strong southwesterly winds that were predicted to increase throughout the day. This was not to be. As usual, I checked the tire pressures on the trailer. One tire tested low, so I jacked up the trailer and spun the tire, looking for damage. Bingo! a very large, rusty nail was deeply embedded in the tire. Next, I began to remove the lug nuts. A soft cracking noise signaled the demise of the socket wrench I was using. It had split, most likely from metal fatigue. We then remembered that we have Good Sam Emergency Road Service. I called the 800 number, and after much delay, was told the nearest road service provider was over 100 miles away. Really. The service representative then said she would Google road service providers in our area, which was Chenle AZ. She promised to call back. In the meantime, I remembered I had some other socket wrenches stored under the truck's back seat that I have used on the boat trailer. Sure enough, one of them fit the travel trailer's lug nuts.

I then removed the tire and decided to test out the brakes for that axle. I asked Donna to activate the brakes while I spun the hub. Darn!! No brakes!! The brake wire that had rubbed against the tire, eroding one of the conductors, had worn all the way through, breaking the circuit. I was able to cut out the bad section out of the wire and re-connect it. The brakes worked. Hallelujah! I mounted and torqued the spare tire, and we were finally good to go. During this time, we did not hear back from Good Sam.

Two hours after I called Good Sam, a road service company in Chinle attempted to call us, stating that they had been driving around the campground trying to find our trailer. We informed them that we had fixed the problem ourselves.

All's well that ends well. We made it safely to Moab. Oh, yes, we drove though a blinding cloudburst that required we pull off of the road until visibility improved. At least we got a free truck and trailer wash. More tomorrow!