So, we leave this morning without seeing anything in Mobile, AL and we are heading straight to Florida, where we will start going north along the Atlantic coast. We are bypassing the detour to Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville, Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Caves) because of the weather, and the fact the campgrounds are already closed for the season. But we are determined to make it into a separate trip in the future...
Right before we enter Pensacola, FL on the highway I blow a back tire and lose a piece of it. Luckily I am able to keep the RV under control and stop in the emergency lane. We spend the rest of the afternoon trying to find a tire shop open on Saturday, with our type of tires in stock and able to do the work on an RV. Most of them are closed on Saturday, the few that are open do not carry the right tires, the only one that does, cannot service RVs because they don't have the proper jacks. What are the chances... We end up buying the tire anyway and call Good Sam for the replacement (the equivalent of AAA for RVs). By 7:00pm we have the tire in place, and nowhere to go. We spend the night in Pensacola, and tomorrow morning we will return to Firestone to buy a spare wheel.
We can at least claim to be experts on tire service centers in the entire South of the US of A. From Arizona onward, we know all the tire places around, those who try to pull a fast one on you and those who treat you with decency - what type of brands they carry and their prices. All you need is ask the experts.
Our blown out tire.