The Drive Home from Camping

Who would ever think that a 2 1/2 hour drive home from camping would be something to write about on the blog......well it was...keep reading. ;o)

On Sunday, July 12th, we packed up and headed down the road for the trek back to Meridian. We were being followed by Terry and his family because we are all from this area. We decided ahead of time to stop at a small locally owned fast food restaurant because they had heard someone bragging about it while on the tour of the ice caves. And I have to admit a milk shake sounded mighty delicious!

I am so glad that we all enjoyed our milkshakes because it was going to be a longer drive home that we anticipated.

About 85 miles from home one of the tires on our travel trailer blew. Sounds simple enough right?

Logen the "inspector"!

When this tire blew, it blew right through the trailer. We could tell right away when we looked into the wheel well that the tire exploded into the trailer. We could see the hole instantly from the outside. Can you see it?? This picture is from the outside looking up into the trailer.

The area where this tire blew is right underneath the bench seats of our dining table. The bench seats have storage under them so we figured it just blew through there in the open area. Dennis and Terry got the tire changed and we were able to go inside and inspect.

This is what we saw:

Notice you can see the ground through the hole (top of picture). The damage to our trailer is incredible! I was in tears instantly. But then took a moment and remembered and said praise that we were all safe. Dennis never lost control of the truck or trailer. We were not hurt just the trailer was. But of course realization came flooding back that this is our trailer, paid for trailer, our summer enjoyment......but it is insured...thats a good thing......right? maybe!

We filed a claim and had the trailer into the shop on Thursday. Yesterday we went over to the shop and went over the estimate with the shop manager. Nice guy, he just did not have any good news for us. To fix our trailer to workable/livable conditions the estimate is $3100 +. To restore the trailer in new condition the estimate is $6000+. Yes, you are reading the numbers correctly!

Well it is out of our hands. The estimate has been sent to the claim department and they should have an answer to us by Wednesday morning. Of course, over the last three years the trailer has depreciated in value (in money terms) but it hasn't depreciated in value for us...we love our trailer!

Keep your fingers crossed.....