TN4 Hop 3
Well, we always like an adventure. And this trip is becoming an adventure.
I thought I detected a wobble in the steering as we approached Charleston on Tuesday and continued to feel it when we went into Charleston on Wednesday. Thursday, on our way to Wilson NC, it became so pronounced that I pulled off in a rest area to check all the lug nuts and look for looseness in the steering. Lugs were fine and I could find no looseness. Next theory: the right front tire was out of round. I carefully checked the tread and, sure enough, I found a spot where the tread was bulged on the inside. This could account for the “wobble” feel.
Jett and I discussed the options. The most straightforward solution was to change it myself. However, I had never changed a tire on the truck and was not comfortable with the idea. The next option would be to drive to the refueling stop – a Pilot truck stop about 30 miles away – and try to find someone there to change the tire. The third option – and the one we eventually chose – was to drive to Pilot and call AAA to change the tire. We would eat lunch while waiting.
We got to the Pilot. I called AAA and Jett went in search of snacks. I backed the RV into a space in the truck parking area (very nicely, if I say so myself), unhitched and refueled. I returned to the RV, ate my lunch and then tried (and failed) to get the spare down from the undercarriage. Before I could figure it out the AAA guy appeared and showed me how to do it. He proceeded to change the tire, commented on how the tire was indeed out of round and was on his way. And, shortly thereafter, so were we. A 50 minute stop to refuel, have lunch and get a tire changed.
I felt like I was in pit row.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. Our home for the evening was the Kamper’s Lodge Campground, a small RV park on US 301 just north of Wilson. We didn’t get much of an opportunity to check out the amenities in the park because just about the time we got set up the skies opened and we were treated to a pretty impressive thunderstorm with torrential downpours and scary lightning. But it lasted only about an hour.