Rhode to Rhode Island
The Rhode to Rhode Island was eventful to say the least. Sorry, I had to.
One of our longest drives of the trip ended up being even longer due to an impediment on the road. A tractor trailer blew out a tire, quite literally in front of us, right into our path. It was either straddle the tire and pray we cruise over it or swerve and miss, but risk jackknifing the Airstream and causing even more damage, let alone the potential of injury. The choice was obvious. The clearance not so much…
“Straddle the tire and pray”
With every thud and thump of that trailer tire under the truck and then the pop and banging sounds of it under the Airstream caused our hearts to stop. Time stood still. We felt like we could literally have run a marathon in the time it took to pass over that tire, and that’s when the emotion kicked in. We were on day 4 of a roughly 550 day journey and we experienced what could quite possibly end the trip. Immediately we pulled over to assess the damage.
Our hearts sunk. We could see the roadside front rock guard was busted and the underside was smashed up pretty bad. For the minute that appeared to be it. We checked all the tires quickly and then got going again. I-95 near NYC is a nightmare and traffic was heavy with cars swerving to miss all the debris in the road. After about 5 miles we found a quiet neighborhood to pull over to check everything fully.
When we pulled over we could see the rock guard was damaged and there were cracked panels underneath.
Upon further inspection we determined we were missing our sewer hose holder too. The tires appeared to be fine but the underside was tore up pretty bad. We were also missing one of our brand new SnapPads for the stabilizers; however, for the moment, that appeared to be it.
Once we got to the campground we were able to do a full assessment. It was mostly cosmetic and all replaceable and could have been much worse. Yes, our 8hr day had turned into a 12hr day, and we were pretty dejected; but, we have a strong inner circle who encouraged us to get it fixed and keep going. The outpouring on Airstream Addicts to offer assistance and advice on where to get it fixed was amazing too.
In this moment, a weird thing happened. It was the first time “Stella” felt like our home, and it saddened us that something bad happened to her. We worked so hard for this and appreciate how rare an opportunity it is that we naturally want to do everything we can to protect it.
Good news. The next day we were able to make an appointment at Airstream of Lebanon in Maine while we’re up there with minimal impact to our travels. It’ll actually be a nice week out of the Airstream and in an awesome Airbnb in Quebec City, Canada, which will feel like a palace after a month in “Stella”. We’re also having a few additional modifications made while she’s in the shop. We’ll announce those next month.
While there is a silver lining, we’re looking forward to getting everything fixed and in top condition again. It’s a tight turnaround between getting fixed and heading to Niagara Falls to visit friends and host our first visitor!
