So we decided it would be best to start off driving at night as soon as my husband got home from his grad school class. We hit the road around 9 P.M. and had to stop on the way to pick up my 13 year old sister who was coming with us. We were finally all in the car and ready to go, kids already sleeping. Sometime around 11 P.M. in the rain, I got a flat tire. Of course, what better time to get a flat tire than in a not so nice area in the middle of the expressway in the pouring rain.
Luckily my husband can change a tire, but we realized I only had a compact spare tire and it was of course located under our luggage in my car! So there we were taking luggage out of our nicely packed truck of my Honda Odyssey so my husband could change the tire in the middle of the expressway (we were on the shoulder but between an exit ramp.) We got the spare on and pulled off at the exit, which luckily was a truck stop. Unfortunately they couldn’t help. Then we thought we got lucky when a stranger sold us roadside assistance and said someone will be there within the hour to give a replacement tire. Now it wasn’t his fault, the guy waited as long as he could, but the company he worked for couldn’t find any place open at that point (after midnight) to fix our tire so we said screw it and drove back to my parents.
We got to my parents a little after 1 A.M. and had to squeeze the four of us in my parent’s bed. They slept on the couches downstairs so the kids could sleep with us. It was not ideal but the situation could have been worse! I just kept telling myself it was just a flat tire and nothing worse, we were all okay.
At 8 A.M. Doug drove over to the tire place and after them going to the dealership to get the tire I needed, we were finally on the road at 10 A.M. We drove straight through to Florida and the ride went okay even though the kids were basically up and wanted to play. Poor Aidan kept asking for Disney and didn’t understand what was taking so long. So we got to our hotel at 5 A.M. and slept for a few hours and showered, then headed to the Grand Floridian for check-in for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference. It sucked that we lost half-a day at Disney but it could have been worse. (We should have arrived in Disney World around 4 P.M. and could have walked around Downtown Disney and rested before starting our theme park adventures.)
Kayla says
Oh man >.<
Well, you know, everything happens for a reason! At least no one was hurt when you got a flat and you weren't too terribly far away that you couldn't make it back somewhere for the night 🙂
And of course at least you made it there safe and sound!!
blueviolet says
If it had to happen, I’m glad it happened in a spot where you could get to your parents’ house!