"Fun" end to a week at camp.

[jayhawksigns]

Took the boys of my Scout Troop to summer camp in Oklahoma this past week and it seemed like we would get away with nothing more then a few scraps and such. Seems like any possible problems decided to collect and give us a memorable, what should of been, four and a half hour trip home.

So hitting the highlights.

Fifteen minutes after putting gas in my truck, which towed the trailer, my check engine light comes on for emission issues. Continue driving.

Get to Fayetville and the fun begins.

70 on the interstate, just pass a semi and a tire on the trailer blows.

Get our convoy stopped, tire off and we have one car heading to WalMart and the others getting the rest of the kids off of the interstate.

While they are getting the new tire, the van our church has decides it wants to quit running. You can start it with the gas pedal to the floor, it will run for a few seconds, sputter and then die. They get some Heet and octane booster, dump it in, and then the van seems to run good until they get back behind us on the on ramp.

So now we have 27 kids and adults stuck in Fayetville, and after ferrying the kids in the working vehicles to a mall to get them out of the heat and fed, and waiting for the tow truck to come, and another three hours for rescue rides to get there, we finally head home roughly fours hours later then we were supposed to of arrived in the first place.

Main thing in all of it is that we all got home safely. The trailer honestly allowed me to get it from the inside lane to the shoulder pretty easily, and considering what could of happened with the tire blowing, we were pretty lucky there. And the kids seemed to take the whole ordeal pretty well. We are all hoping that the next trip is a whole lot less memorable then this one was.

 

[IronHawk]

........So now we have 27 kids and adults stuck in Fayetville, and after ferrying the kids in the working vehicles to a mall to get them out of the heat and fed, and waiting for the tow truck to come, and another three hours for rescue rides to get there, we finally head home roughly fours hours later then we were supposed to of arrived in the first place.

Main thing in all of it is that we all got home safely. The trailer honestly allowed me to get it from the inside lane to the shoulder pretty easily, and considering what could of happened with the tire blowing, we were pretty lucky there. And the kids seemed to take the whole ordeal pretty well. We are all hoping that the next trip is a whole lot less memorable then this one was.

Glad you made it back with everyone that left and that there was nothing worse that happened...

Sometimes after a trip like this it's a good thing to find your favorite chair, take a few deep breaths, reflect on your own memories from times past and be thankful for all you've been given. Recounting experiences, blessings and providence is often refreshing and beneficial.

It's good to be alive....

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Locals Find!]

Glad to hear everyone was safe. However, bad lesson to teach the scouts. You should have had the van and all related tires check before leaving and made sure every vehicle had a working spare (including the trailer)

Remember the boyscout motto "Be Prepared" - would have been a good time to show them how prepared you were. Turn it around and teach them that lesson at the next meeting.

 

[vid]

ooouf --- Glad to know everyone got home safe...

At least you were prepared... right?

Oh, Be Pre-pared, pre-pared,pre-pared, the motto of a Boy Scout

Oh Be Pre-pared,prepared, pre-pared the motto of a Scout

Pre-pared, Pre-pared the motto of a good scout

Pre-pared, pre-pared , the motto of a scout.​

 

[jayhawksigns]

Speaking with the minister of the church today, the van had an issue last month on another trip. They had the van looked at and the mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with it. Maybe now they can.

As for the trailer tire, yeah, not much of an excuse. I checked the tires before we left and they looked alright, air pressures were good, even checked them before we started home. Before I took over as the Scoutmaster last year, we had been talking about getting a spare, wouldn't of saved us from the blowout, but would of gotten us back on the road a little quicker.

Short of the spare tire, I think we were prepared as we could of been. Contacted our emergency contact back home after the blowout and then after we decided the van wouldn't make it back. Had the rescue vehicles on the way down in about a half hour after I called. Going to have a review of the incident at the next committee meeting to see what worked and what we need to change in case it happens again.

 

[Locals Find!]

You can get green slime for your trailer tires and it turns them into run flats. Short of a tire getting shredded by a spike strip or a complete and utter failure your going to be able to keep running.

I use it all my vehicles and even the kids bikes the stuff is amazing, cheap and easy to use.

Also, remember to test your tread with lincolns head, if you can see his head you need new tread. (use an upside down penny for the tread test) its an old tried and true method.

 

[Gino]

You're all safe and sound and that's the lesson.

Although you couldn't prevent a blowout, you got the whole party back 100% in tact. That's the lesson. You knew enough not to go any further and made arrangements to return so you can do this some other time.

One can't prepare for every little thing that goes wrong, but one can be smart enough to know when to call it quits, no matter how the others might want to go on..... chancing fate even further.

Good leadership is hard to come by and sometimes it's not a popular position to be in, but you did the right thing.