Day 17 Fix-a-Flat June 28, 2001

This morning it was push the Jackal out to the paved road. Just over 1/2
a mile. Then onto the highway. ! got to 0.9 miles or 100 feet from where the
tent had been when the back tyre blew out again. ! patched it and pumped it
back up. ! could hear it leaking so off again it came. ! couldn't find a hole
so ! just put in a new tube. 14 miles to Denny's. 3.5 miles later it blew
again. ! patched the tube and decided the tyre was done so MY spare tyre went
on. Just over 1,000 loaded miles on the rear is OK ! guess. The front looks
OK still. ! got to do about 7 miles on Route 66 through Winslow, AZ. Prior to
that ! saw another tourist heading East on the other side. When ! got to the
end of 66 ! stopped into a convenience store. He had been in there several
hours earlier and crashed. Had to stop for a minivan and couldn't get out of
his toe clips. ! was going to feed @ the next town then camp a few miles
later. That would leave ME a short jump to Flagstaff, AZ where ! am now. The
next town had nothing going on so ! took MY banana and kept going. Shortly, !
happened upon a large pickup truck w/ a teenager underneath and his Mom
looking on a bit concerned. They had a flat and the spare didn't want to come
loose. There was a trick to it. We figured it out, got it changed and they
gave ME a ride into town. We pulled off @ the next exit to get air and as we
left a homeless family (moving from Florida to Anchorage) pulled down the
ramp and waved @ us. They had gotten some bad gas and their minivan was
stalling. My chauffers had a cell phone so they called a tow truck to get
them fixed up. And that is it so far. Time for dinner.