Interstate blowout

Interstate blowout
Originally uploaded by eqdynamics.

Wednesday morning we left Washington for the approximately four hour drive south to Virginia Beach. Getting out of Washington at around 9:30am proved just as easy as getting into the city - a couple of turns and we were on a feeder road that led straight to the Interstate highway we wanted.

The Interstate came to a halt, followed by a slow crawl after a few miles so we turned off onto Hwy-1 and saw a little local life for around 30 miles, stopping for brunch in a Subway along the way.

Back on I-95 and making good progress with traffic flowing at a smooth 70-80MPH, we had an interesting interlude arising from a rear tyre that blew out quite spectacularly. I managed to bring the car to a halt safely but, as can be seen, the tyre was beyond serviceable use!

The interesting part came when, having removed all my luggage from the boot, we discovered a complete set of tools and a complete lack of spare wheels - the space normally occupied by the spare now taken up by the extra oil cooler Seymour had fitted ...

Maybe I spend too much time awake in the early hours but I remember seeing one of thosed "Police, camera action!" shows of the kind of thing that can happen to a car stranded on the shoulder of an Interstate so I was paying special care to traffic - still blasting by at 70+MPH.

I told Louise to stand by the back of the car and look out for anyone straying off the carriageway in our direction.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, a young woman in a red Toyota came swaying off the road and hurtling down the rumble strip that you can see in the photo (harsh enough to rattle your teeth!) missing the door mirror of the Maserati by about the width of a cigarette paper!

Drugged or asleep, the woman carried on with two wheels rattling along the rumble strip until she was out of sight. Which was not quite as far as might have been the case because by now Louise and I were across the drainage ditch and in the bushes! At least our self-preservation instincts remain intact! :)

Next excitement? A Nissan pulled on to the shoulder about 1/4 mile beyond our position and reversed back to us. Half suspecting we were about to be held up at gunpoint and all our possessions removed for the good of the driver, we got ready to jump back into the bushes.

To our utter amazement and gratitude, the driver turned out to be a well dressed man who said he had stopped because he couldn't in all conscience see us standing at the side of the road in the intense heat - and offered a lift to the next town. Chivalry and good manners are alive and well - and I got a good lesson in cynicism.

I phoned Seymour who arranged for AAA to come and collect the car. I was still worried about being rear-ended by another dozy driver so I was extremely relieved when a highway security patrol arrived and parked behind us, lights and big warning arrow signs ablaze. The guy was extremely friendly and chatted away for the hour it took for the tow truck to arrive - during which Louise sta in the one remaining seat in his air-conditioned cab and I spent more time "sunbathing" than I had honestly planned - I now have medium-rare calf muscles!

Once the car was on the back of the flat-bed, things got better - a short ride to the nearest town found a tyre depot that had tyres of the right size (if not the brand Seymour would have preferred) and an hour's wait while they were fitted was the easy part - the $240 bill was the OUCH factor of the whole episode.

The hour Louise spent in the beauty parlour next to the tyre shop having a manicure was the bonus of the episode - or so I am told! ;)