The day started off well enough, stage 2 of our trek back home. We left the campground at Fort McAllister State Park near Savannah, GA by 9:00 a.m., enjoyed a good Southern breakfast, and, settled in with books and i-Pod, began the long drive north on I-95.
About an hour and a half later, in the vicinity of Yemassee, South Carolina, everything changed. Route 95 is two-lanes wide there; we were in the left lane, when a car we were passing moved toward us. David swayed to give him some room, perhaps correcting too quickly, or it's possible a tire blew, but the Airstream immediately began fishtailing badly behind the truck.
The action of the trailer was frightening. We heard crashing as it twisted from one side to the other, and imagined it was being destroyed. Its actions and David's attempts to regain control soon brought us completely off the road surface and onto the far-left-side grassy (and tree-dotted) median. We both felt sure the truck and trailer were going to roll over. At the same time that J. thought, "He's going to have to accelerate out of this," David did just that, and the Yukon responded, bringing us back onto hard road surface. D. touched the trailer brake controller, and the Airstream settled into line with the truck. We had survived a terrifying 15 seconds, but all was not well.
We pulled into the breakdown lane expecting the worst. What we found was, while not good, not nearly as bad as the scary sounds had led us to believe.
Both tires were blown; one just gone, its wheel completely shattered. One of the hitch's weight distribution bars had failed, and there was seemingly minor damage at two corners where the body of the trailer had actually hit the pavement as it swayed.
Inside, the trailer's contents were scattered everywhere. Surprisingly, everything else on both the truck and the Airstream seemed to be intact.
A car stopped behind us, and two kindly women and a man got out, all white as a sheet. The man said to David, "That was a heck of a piece of driving," as one of the women gave Jacquie a much-needed hug. We are so grateful for their stopping, staying with us a bit, and helping us get "grounded" again after that hair-raising incident!
With two blown tires, and cars flying by at breakneck speed, we needed help. J. called 911 and reported the incident to the State Patrol, but we didn't know exactly where we were on I-95, and it took them about an hour and a half to find us. Meanwhile, we pulled out our considerable travel resources: Good Sam RV lists, WBCCI (the Airstream club) directory, iPhone, Blackberry Storm, Google Maps, and proceeded to search for a repair facility and someone to tow us there. For the record, it was the WBCCI directory and Google Maps on the Blackberry that provided the most help.
But towing assistance was about a hundred miles away, so we spent a loooong 3 hours waiting beside the road before Buck arrived with his flatbed tow-truck to take our precious Bambi on board.
Buck was a good and careful man, and an hour later the Bug was tied down and we were once again moving north on I-95 to Donmar RV, an Airstream repair shop in Lynchburg, SC.
It was nearly 6:00 p.m. by now, and we were deeply grateful that the people at Donmar stayed open an hour late, until we came in for an initial look-over. Real evaluation would have to wait 'till morning, but the repair shop's early indications were positive. With luck, we'll be on our way with a couple of new tires and wheels tomorrow afternoon. We are praying there is no issue with the axle assembly, or other more serious damage. Meanwhile, it was up the road to a hotel, dinner, and a much-needed glass of scotch for David.
As we settled in for the evening, we discovered that all this bad luck might just have saved us from a worse situation. I-95 in Fayetteville, NC was hit by tornados at just about the time we would have been passing through. So we head for bed knowing we're safe and sound, just a tad rattled, but very glad it wasn't worse than it was.
Now that it's over, and all is well, I can hear the NASCAR announcer say, "That's one heck of a piece of drivin there. Let's credit Dave with the Allstate Save Of The Day." Y'all take care, ya hear?
Posted by: Jonathan Hutter | March 28, 2009 at 09:10 AM
What an adventure! Glad to hear you're both OK. Maybe a lucky breakdown after all -- considering what was lurking up the road from you.
Great blogging, BTW! And the pix are spectacular! What kind of lenses, filters, cams were you using for some of those wildlife shots?
Hope to see you soon... drive safe! Via con Dios!
Posted by: peter interlnad | March 28, 2009 at 10:49 AM