We were driving to wrestling practice around sunset last night and the Hulk was acting strangely. We thought it was either a tire or the transmission. We were about 2 miles from our house, so Jim was trying to make it there.

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it.

The tire completely blew out.

There was nothing left of the tire, just the rim. The black rubber part was completely shredded and missing.

Unfortunately, we weren’t in the safest location. We were on Hwy 160 – a curvy road with no shoulder and we had just crested a hill.  And the sun was going down.

I got all of the children out of the Hulk and made them stand in the corn field. We had a nice lesson on why Mom always made them bring a coat, even though I usually told them to leave it in the Hulk. You never know what is going to happen and you don’t want to be stranded without warmth. Preparedness 101.

Jim got started right away on getting the tire changed:

Colter wasn’t with us (he stayed home b/c he was sick), so Emery got to finish operating the jack to lift the Hulk up. He was pretty proud of himself.

Every car that drove past stopped and asked if we needed help. One guy pulled back behind us, and put his flashers and high beams on to help protect us and give Jim light while he finished changing the tire.

Meanwhile, Brett was keeping the children occupied by reading to them a Berenstain Bears book I had gotten for her Nook.

When we stopped, I called friends who live a mile from us and asked her to come and pick up the children. Her eighteen year old son came and picked them up. I laughed and told Jim I didn’t know what made me more nervous, the children being on the side of the road or them driving with an 18 year old. LOL (Just teasing, Derek!)

Jim managed to get the tire changed and we all made it home safely. 

Whenever stuff like this happens, I’m always so thankful because it could have been much worse.  Jim was with me.  Even though I know how to change a tire, I would not have been able to remove those lug nuts even if I put all my weight on the tire iron and jumped up and down.  We were close to home.  We had a spare and it worked.  And there were kind people who stopped and offered help.

It also always sparks really good conversation with the children on safety and preparedness issues.

So while I wasn’t happy the tire blew, I was thankful for the way it worked out.  And the boys still made it to the second half of wrestling practice!