Friday, November 23, 2012

A Near Miss, and later, KABOOM!

 
As you know from above, we took the Pharr bridge and things were just dandy.   We headed for the libramiento and smooth sailing towards Hwy 40.   We went over a bridge and as we came down the wind picked up.  Sailing off my sideview mirrow was the strap on tow mirror.   I watched as it sailed behind me, slide across the highway and hit the median.   We pulled over and Juan ran back about 200 meters and found.  Still intact.
 
We took off again and thought we should top off the tank and get a java.  I was chatting with the attendant and all of a sudden a huge bang and dust, starts flying.  Mind you, we are just off the road about 50 meters between the back of the trailer and the highway median.  An SUV had attempted to avoid a car doing a wreckless lane change, hit the curb of the median and had a blowout.  The SUV spun around about four times and each time it got closer and closer.  This is in a matter of seconds and I started yelling, "aguas, aguas" (look out) and people started running for fear he would strike the pumps.  Juan was reaching for something in the car and ran out of the way.   The SUV missed the rear of the trailer by inches.   Funny thing, the driver was now facing traffic and pulled off into the gas station.  A bit dazed, but in good shape and no damage to his vehicle.  Very lucky no one smacked into him.  
 
We headed south, passed km 26 where we were inspected again and off we went for Monterrey.  Great trip, Juan was a bit under the weather from something he ate at dinner yesterday so he took a nap most of the way.   Entering Monterrey and heading toward our house has never been easier for us.   As we neared the house, just about 4 kms away, I felt a tug on the wheel and something didn't feel right.   Kaboom!  We had a blowout on the trailer.   We pulled over and did our drill, 10 minute tire change and went to the house.  The poor tire was in shreds.
 
Not sure if I mentioned this but I had been jinxed with backing the trailer into the driveway the last two times.  So bad that we had to disconnect it, attach the hitch wheel and push it into position before reconnecting and getting it in.  Coming home has been on my mind all week.   We opened the gates and the first pass I felt I was to close to start.   I moved forward, put it in reverse and said, "throw this out to the universe".   I put that baby in on the first try with no other maneuvers.  I beat the jinx.

3 comments:

  1. Exciting day! Glad you made it home...see you soon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on the parking, stuff like that can may or break a day. Dang trailer tires, we had 11 fail in 120,000 miles on the toyhauler. Luckily never a blow-out. EVERYTIME we stopped I would run my hands around the tires checking for bulging. This indicates the tread is coming apart in the tire. A closer look than and you normally can see the tire's shape changing. I now use a temp gun and check the temps at least a couple times. Temps should stay the same and be even across the tire's tread.

    rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

    ReplyDelete
  3. You did beat that jinx and also were very very lucky with first getting the mirror and not being hit by that SUV. The universe was looking after you that day.

    ReplyDelete