We stopped at the Chevy dealership in Kalispell. I thought I had fuel leaking from the filter area and given the roads we were on yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised. The tech came out and took a quick look. He didn't see any residual fuel and said I probably saw water dripping from the A/C. That was good news, so we continued on our merry way. We did stop at another marine dealership to checkout their pontoon boats. More education for us.
From there we headed south to approximately 1/2 way down Flathead Lake and then we headed SW. Nice road. We were traveling on Rt 135 approximately 14 miles from I90 when we heard a loud "bang" and I saw white smoke coming from the left side of the trailer. I assumed we blew a tire and I pulled over quickly. The car behind us didn't pass us so I wasn't sure what was going on. Once I got the rig stopped and got out to see what happened I understood why. The entire wheel/tire/drum was missing from the rear axle. Not a good site to see. After closer inspection I could see that the outer bearing had completely failed causing the entire wheel assembly to come off the axle. The wheel stayed outside the frame I-beam and inside the outer wall, exiting out the back of the trailer causing quite a bit of damage to the walls all the way back. Let's just say it's not a good thing to look at. I was able to drive the trailer another 100 yds to a pullout along the river we had been following, which got us completely off the road.
We didn't have any cell service, so I dropped the trailer and we drove to St. Regis, MT, which is the town along I90. From there we called the Good Sam Roadside Assistance folks. Cathy did all the talking and after a few call backs, they found a towing service right in St. Regis that could come out and help us. We drove back to the trailer and met the tow truck driver there. The interesting part was that he was in a truck no bigger than mine and it wasn't a tow rig either. I'm now thinking how is he going to get this trailer to his shop? After speaking with him, his plan was to block the trailer over the axles to take the weight off the springs. He also noticed the curb-side spring was broken, likely when it took all the load when the wheel came off. The Good Sam folks said we would be able to stay in our trailer once it was in the tow lot, but I took a quick peek when we were in town and that didn't sound all that great to me. Given it was a Friday afternoon, the tow folks would not have a chance to better inspect the damage until Monday morning so we needed to find a place to stay.
We had just passed a small hot springs resort, with cabins, so while the driver was getting the trailer ready, we drove back up the road to see if they had any vacancies. Fortunately they did and they also would accept animals. The only downside was that the vacancy was only for 2 nights and we would have to find another place to stay for Sunday and likely Monday. That was fine and we booked the cabin.
After that we headed back to the trailer to check on the driver's progress. He had everything ready and confirmed I would be the one pulling the trailer to his yard. Some tow service, huh? On top of that since the opposite spring was broken, he took the other wheel off, which left the entire 14k lbs of the trailer supported on only one axle. Pretty dicey if you ask me. Well, off we went. He was behind me with his lights on and per his suggestion I drove around 15 mph. The good news was that the road was pretty smooth so we didn't hit any bumps, which would have put additional strain on the remaining axle. After almost an hour of white knuckle driving, we made it back to the tow yard. They brought out an extension cord so I could plug the trailer in and keep the fridge going. From there we headed back up to the road to our new, temporary digs and believe me, a few drinks were in order!
Cathy and I felt pretty bad since it was the boy's birthday. They were excited about going to Coeur d'Alene and the fun things in the area. They also wanted tacos for their birthday dinner. They were good troopers though and didn't really complain. We had dinner in the tavern that night and the meals were pretty good.
The next day (Day 57) Cathy and the boys headed to the pool, while Faithy and I went back to try and find the wheel that came off. We hiked approximately 1/2 mile of road on the side where I thought the wheel probably went, to no avail. We then switched to the other side and just before I was going to turn around I saw the wheel a good 75'-100' in the woods. I was hoping we would reuse the wheel and tire but the tire was damaged and the wheel had a dent near the tire bead line, which pretty much meant both were useless. Oh well. I put it in the back of my truck and dropped it off at the town yard, figuring they could decide what could be used and what couldn't.
We had a nice dinner in their restaurant that night and since it was the boy's birthday yesterday and mine today they brought out desserts and sang for us. Nice of them to do so.
On Sunday (Day 58), we needed to pack up and move out. On Saturday, we made a reservation a little further back up the road but Cathy suggested we instead head to Coeur d'Alene. Made sense since there was a good chance the trailer would not be ready for many more days we would have to head home without it. The drive up was nice. We went to a Cabela's to check things out. Cathy was thinking of getting me some new Maui Jim sunglasses and knew they carried them there. I found a pair just like mine, but with a slightly darker rim but decided to hold off. From there we drove around town to check things out and find a place to stay. After a few phone calls we found a Days Inn, which would accept animals. We never had a chance to walk around the downtown area but it looked really nice. We also decided to go to Silverwood on Monday (Day 59), which is a theme & water park just north of town.
Monday (Day 59) at the park was fun. We left Faithy and Rio in a kennel near the park. We spent the afternoon at the water park and then moved to the theme park for the early evening. Fun place all around. When we first got there, I needed to call the tow yard folks and get an update. I asked them to quote me on 2 new, higher rated axles. I figured that since one was going to need to be replaced, why not both and do the upgrade at the same time. The price they came back with was a bit higher than anticipated, so I said I call them back a bit later. After discussing it what Cathy, we decided to wait another day or so before deciding what to do. I wanted some more info before making my final decision. I called the tow guys back and they were good with that, which then let me concentrate on having some fun with my family. After leaving the park, we went and got the animals. Not sure if Faithy had been out of the kennel at all as she was covered in urine and it looks like Rio never got out of his enclosure either. Oh well, live and learn. We picked up a couple of pizzas on the way back and ate them in the room. Everyone was tired so that turned out to be a good thing.
Long couple of days. Tomorrow we head home.
Look Ma, no wheel!
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