Drove to Stef's place Thanksgiving weekend (the Saturday after Black Friday) via Plattsburgh. Unhappily we had a flat tire there. Happily, it didn't happen at 65mph on the highway, but safely in town. OnStar got a tire service guy out to us in no time. He confirmed that the tire had a leak and would have to come off, but he couldn't tow us to get it repaired, so he'd put the spare on for us. The tire was on so tight that his impact wrench couldn't remove one nut and he eventually got it off only by jumping his 300 lb. weight on the handle of his four-way wrench.
By then the GM dealer had sent his mechanics home so the only alternative was Sam's Club. Happily, he showed us how to get there, got us in with his membership card and they were able to find the last tire of that type that they had. There were four cars ahead of us, so a two-hour wait ensued, but finally the tire was on and the service manager told us that the damage was caused by a "pinch perforation", something that happens to low-profile tires when they hit a pothole or anything that allows the car's weight to crush the tire sidewall down and pinch it between the ground and the wheel rim. Our dealer at home told us to bring it back and they'd look into warrantee coverage.
On to Stef's, through heavy traffic, arriving rather late and collapsing into bed after relating our adventures. Sunday was spend catching-up and looking at pictures. Monday we headed South through the rest of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia to North Carolina for the night. Tuesday saw us through the rest of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to Florida to spend the night in St. Augustine.
I-95, lovely road that it is, is protected by a windbreak of trees for a lot of its length. I'm sure that's generally a good thing (we did see a lot of fallen trees being cleaned up after a recent windstorm), but it rather conceals the beauty of the States from the travelling eye. It would be nice to get the occasional glimpse.
By then the GM dealer had sent his mechanics home so the only alternative was Sam's Club. Happily, he showed us how to get there, got us in with his membership card and they were able to find the last tire of that type that they had. There were four cars ahead of us, so a two-hour wait ensued, but finally the tire was on and the service manager told us that the damage was caused by a "pinch perforation", something that happens to low-profile tires when they hit a pothole or anything that allows the car's weight to crush the tire sidewall down and pinch it between the ground and the wheel rim. Our dealer at home told us to bring it back and they'd look into warrantee coverage.
On to Stef's, through heavy traffic, arriving rather late and collapsing into bed after relating our adventures. Sunday was spend catching-up and looking at pictures. Monday we headed South through the rest of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia to North Carolina for the night. Tuesday saw us through the rest of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to Florida to spend the night in St. Augustine.
I-95, lovely road that it is, is protected by a windbreak of trees for a lot of its length. I'm sure that's generally a good thing (we did see a lot of fallen trees being cleaned up after a recent windstorm), but it rather conceals the beauty of the States from the travelling eye. It would be nice to get the occasional glimpse.
Scenic South Carolina
Scenic Georgia
We have a tire pressure-sensor on the car and for the first time I was able to appreciate what a difference it makes to a tire when the air temperature goes from Cornwall's 32F to Georgia's 83F. The tire pressure which started out at a respectable 32psi, rose steadily until it was 39psi! Warm air expands, and having nowhere to go, raises the pressure. I sort of knew this in a vague, intellectual fashion, but didn't realize it could make a 20% difference! Time to bleed some air out of the tires.
On to the Keys tomorrow.
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