Here's the friendly neighbor helping us
That's what the lug nut looked like after chiseling it for an hour
Battle wound
Well, the start of the Sweet Family Campout was a bit of a challenge. As Sam would say "it's just something to stir up the day".
The plan was to leave by 10:00 am. I knew that would never happen but I thought for sure we'd be on the road by 11:00. Our nephew Aaron arrived at our house around 10:30. He was driving the suburban and pulling the boat. We then headed over to my parents house to pick them up so we could all head to Yuba Lake. While driving through my parents neighborhood, Aaron got a flat tire on the suburban. No big deal, they have a full size spare.
Melissa was with Aaron and she wanted to learn how to fix a flat so she was right there willing and eager to learn the process. She grabbed the star wrench and put it over a lug nut to remove it. She couldn't even budge it. "Come on Mel! Put some muscle into it, you wimp!". Still, it wouldn't move. So Sam, being the manly man that he is, took over. Well, he couldn't move that da_ _ lug nut either!
Aaron stepped in and removed the other 7 lug nuts with ease. He then went to the original one that Sam and Mel tried and he couldn't loosen it, no matter what he tried.
This started a 4 hour trauma.
Luckily the flat tire happened in front of somebody's house who was willing to help us. He had every tool known to man, and he stayed right there the whole time trying to help us. They tried an impact wrench, lots of muscle, and even fire. Alas, we were still there in the heat without a solution. Finally a friend of ours, Mike Harris, suggested getting a cold chisel and chopping the lug nut in half and prying it off.
Finally, we had a working solution. Aaron sustained a few cuts and bruises on his hand from smacking the hammer into it, but he was manly and wouldn't take the "Dora the Explorer" bandaid I had with me.
So, by the time we changed the tire, ate lunch, and hit the road, it was 3:00 pm by the time we actually got on the freeway and headed to Yuba Lake. Phew!!!
2 comments:
LOL at work! Good job being prepared with a Dora bandaid. Your contributions to the events going on around you are always interesting and valued.
I'm sure Mel loosened it a bit when she gave it a try! I understand Aaron was patient beyond belief (guess he thought it wouldn't be cool to say bad words with the whole family looking on). We had a wonderful time on the Sweet campout--that family knows how to have fun.
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