After changing the flat tire on Nomad we left Cochiti Lake Campground on Thursday, April 27, 2023 about 90 minutes later than we had intended for our 225 mile drive to Ute Lake State Park Campground in Logan, New Mexico.
This state park has several campground areas. We stayed in the Yucca Campground which has large pull-through gravel sites. Ours was fairly level and we had a view of Ute Lake, an 8,200 acre reservoir on the Canadian River that was created by the completion of the Ute Dam in 1963.
This stay was mostly one of hiking and relaxing for us. Our route on this leg will take us back eastward for the next month through Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri until we reach the southern tip of Illinois where we’ll spend a week in Metropolis for the annual Superman Celebration.
On Friday, April 28th we drove 25 miles to Tucumcari, NM for some groceries and to fill up Voyager because the gas prices were 25 cents a gallon cheaper than in Logan.
On Monday, May 1, 2023 I drove into Logan to a tire store to order two tires for Nomad. I did not want to tear down our set-up to have them installed, so I arranged with the owner to be there when the garage opened on Friday, May 5th since we were leaving that day anyway to drive to Oklahoma.
The rest of our time at Ute Lake State Park Campground was spent hiking, reading and watching Star Trek Deep Space Nine. CIndy has become a real fan, lol!
Friday morning we were up early, packed everything up and arrived at the garage at 7:50 am. We left the store at 9 am and drove down one road from the garage, made a turn onto a curved part of the road leading into Logan and heard a loud “POP!” The new front axel tire on the driver’s side was now flopping around on the rim. We were less than a mile from the garage. I pulled over to the side of the road and called the owner. He had his guy come out, remove it and brought back a replacement. He told me there was some kind of manufacturing defect where the tire didn’t seal at the rim. Of course, now I was worried about the other new tire but he checked it and said it was good.
I spent most of the next 5 hours constantly checking my rear view mirror to make sure nothing was happening with the new tires as we rolled down the road. Thankfully we made it to our next stop with no other tire issues. We have found that what other, more experienced full-timers have said is true; with an RV there is always SOMETHING that needs to be repaired. It’s really no different than owning a sticks and bricks home. And right now, the fun still outweighs the repair aggravations.
Thanks for following the Wandering Wetheringtons
