New Years Eve 2015
We were ready to head out for our first trip, wanting to start our new year off on the road. All of our things were loaded in the coach and we found out that the “house batteries” were dead. I thought that I must have drained the batteries the night prior when I turned the refrigerator on to start cooling it. I’m still learning all of the nuances of our coach, so I wasn’t too concerned about the batteries because I knew that once I started the engine, the batteries would start to recharge.
We pulled out of our storage facility intending to head to the gas station to fill up with diesel, and to put a little air in the tire. I noticed that the outside tire on the drivers-side tag-axle looked a bit low, so after topping off “the rig” with fuel, I began to tackle the air hose; yes “tackle”. With our coach being a “diesel pusher”, we typically use the truck bays for fueling, and the bay that was open, which we pulled into, had the air hose on the passenger side; the wrong side of the coach, so I pulled the coach up and Adriene and I (yes, it was team effort) ran the hose around the back to get to the drivers side and “try” to air up the tire. It was then that I realized, that the “inside tire” was totally flat, and neither tire seamed to be taking on any air. I asked a trucker that pulled up beside me if he could assist, he said “my company does all of our maintenance for us”; he wasn’t able to help and he pulled off. I thought to myself, “what do I do now, I can’t drive the rig like this”.
Well, after about an hour of “trying” to air up the tire(s), I went inside the service station to go to the restroom. While inside, I went to the Lord to work this out, and asked him to provide someone that could help. By the time I got back outside (maybe 10 minutes), there were two different trucks that had pulled up. I was debating whether to call my roadside assistance or not, when the Lord answered my prayer. The new trucker that had just pulled up, came over to assist and he told me of a tire shop that he knew of right down the street that handled truck tires like ours; he pulled out his cell phone and pointed it out to me; thank you Lord for answered prayers.
By the way, during the “delay” at the service station, I learned that my batteries were not dead after all; I had not completed turned on the “battery shut-off” switch in the battery bay. After switching that “all the way to the right”, we were good to go – battery problem was solved.
After thanking the neighboring trucker for his assistance, he was on his way an we headed a mile or so down the road to the tire shop; praying that someone would be there on “New Years Eve”. Well, you know how our God works; not only was there someone there, the owner told me to pull into the garage right away. I told him about my “dilemma”, and he told me that they would take care of me right after they pulled a trailer out that was in front of me. About 10 minutes later, the trailer was pulling out and they told me to "pull on up". Those guys accessed the situation and went to work; they told me that the outside tire was not low on air at all, it appeared low because it was carrying all of the weight of the “flat” inside tire. They started pulling tires off, and come to find out, the valve stem from the inside tire had gone bad, and all of the air had escaped; Praise God, I didn’t need a new tire. Not only did the service tech replace the valve stem on that tire, he also checked the inflation on all of our tires, then while answering my “numerous” questions, he also put some “special” valve caps on all of the tires for me. The story doesn’t end there; when I asked how much I owed them, you guessed it; they said “No Charge, Happy New Year”. That is the kind of God that I serve; he puts the “Right People, in the Right Place, at the Right Time” to fulfill His purpose. After thanks and handshakes, we were back on the road. Thank you again Josh and Brad, you were such a blessing.
Thank you Lord, I can recognize your handiwork anywhere …
We were ready to head out for our first trip, wanting to start our new year off on the road. All of our things were loaded in the coach and we found out that the “house batteries” were dead. I thought that I must have drained the batteries the night prior when I turned the refrigerator on to start cooling it. I’m still learning all of the nuances of our coach, so I wasn’t too concerned about the batteries because I knew that once I started the engine, the batteries would start to recharge.
We pulled out of our storage facility intending to head to the gas station to fill up with diesel, and to put a little air in the tire. I noticed that the outside tire on the drivers-side tag-axle looked a bit low, so after topping off “the rig” with fuel, I began to tackle the air hose; yes “tackle”. With our coach being a “diesel pusher”, we typically use the truck bays for fueling, and the bay that was open, which we pulled into, had the air hose on the passenger side; the wrong side of the coach, so I pulled the coach up and Adriene and I (yes, it was team effort) ran the hose around the back to get to the drivers side and “try” to air up the tire. It was then that I realized, that the “inside tire” was totally flat, and neither tire seamed to be taking on any air. I asked a trucker that pulled up beside me if he could assist, he said “my company does all of our maintenance for us”; he wasn’t able to help and he pulled off. I thought to myself, “what do I do now, I can’t drive the rig like this”.
Well, after about an hour of “trying” to air up the tire(s), I went inside the service station to go to the restroom. While inside, I went to the Lord to work this out, and asked him to provide someone that could help. By the time I got back outside (maybe 10 minutes), there were two different trucks that had pulled up. I was debating whether to call my roadside assistance or not, when the Lord answered my prayer. The new trucker that had just pulled up, came over to assist and he told me of a tire shop that he knew of right down the street that handled truck tires like ours; he pulled out his cell phone and pointed it out to me; thank you Lord for answered prayers.
By the way, during the “delay” at the service station, I learned that my batteries were not dead after all; I had not completed turned on the “battery shut-off” switch in the battery bay. After switching that “all the way to the right”, we were good to go – battery problem was solved.
After thanking the neighboring trucker for his assistance, he was on his way an we headed a mile or so down the road to the tire shop; praying that someone would be there on “New Years Eve”. Well, you know how our God works; not only was there someone there, the owner told me to pull into the garage right away. I told him about my “dilemma”, and he told me that they would take care of me right after they pulled a trailer out that was in front of me. About 10 minutes later, the trailer was pulling out and they told me to "pull on up". Those guys accessed the situation and went to work; they told me that the outside tire was not low on air at all, it appeared low because it was carrying all of the weight of the “flat” inside tire. They started pulling tires off, and come to find out, the valve stem from the inside tire had gone bad, and all of the air had escaped; Praise God, I didn’t need a new tire. Not only did the service tech replace the valve stem on that tire, he also checked the inflation on all of our tires, then while answering my “numerous” questions, he also put some “special” valve caps on all of the tires for me. The story doesn’t end there; when I asked how much I owed them, you guessed it; they said “No Charge, Happy New Year”. That is the kind of God that I serve; he puts the “Right People, in the Right Place, at the Right Time” to fulfill His purpose. After thanks and handshakes, we were back on the road. Thank you again Josh and Brad, you were such a blessing.
Thank you Lord, I can recognize your handiwork anywhere …
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