Goza's Wanderings and Wonderings: Bad Ju Ju-- No Internet & Flat Tire

There will be two locations in this post because of the lack of internet access at the last campground.

Location 1: Moraine View State Recreation Area Campground, about 15 miles east of Bloomington, Illinois

Location 2 (current): Kickapoo State Recreation Area Campground, Danville, Illinois (real close to the Indiana border)

I was shocked at the lack of internet at the last campground. I access the internet through a Verizon Hot Spot on my cell phone. If I can catch a good signal, then I can have access to the internet. Heck, I was close to a major population center (Bloomington) so I thought for sure I would have a strong signal. Nope, one bar that would change into no signal. What the heck was going on? If I got even 2 miles away from the campground, I could catch a very good signal. The name of the campground may have given me a hint. Moraine View. The campground is located at the end of one of the fingers of the Wisconsin glacier which was several hundred feet thick at that location. Moraine is the stuff that is pushed ahead of and carried along as the glacier moved south all the way from Canada. Remember, a glacier is what dug out the material that created the Great Lakes, so they were very powerful. The heavier stuff, like iron ore, granite, and other heavy metals stayed intact and moved along with the glacier. Perhaps, just perhaps, all of that heavy metals interfered with the cell signal at that location. Who knows for sure. The other reason is that Verizon is converting over to 5g and reducing the strength of 4g which is what I use. That may be the most reasonable answer. Maybe. The democrats promised rural broadband several years ago, but that ain't happening.

So, for 4 days, I was without reliable internet. This is now the second campground on this trip that I have been "internet-less". For 10 years of traveling and over 400 campground, this is only the 4th time it's happened. Very frustrating, especially when storms approach and I didn't have any means to see the weather radar or get weather alerts.

I was flying high as I left the bad luck campground and was looking forward to reliable internet at my current campground. Ut oh, after only 20 miles, the low tire pressure warning went off on Freedom. I exited the interstate and pulled over onto the shoulder of an off ramp to check the pressure in the tires. All showed good until I got to the last one which showed 55 psi. While checking the pressure, I noticed the head of a screw in the tire. Crap, I must have carried some bad ju-ju with me from the campground.

The time was a little before noon so I had all afternoon to solve the problem. I was in a safe place on the shoulder of a ramp meaning traffic had plenty of room to pass by and at a slow speed. I have Good Sam's Roadside Assistance, which I've had to use once before with good success. The plan I came up with was to give Good Sam's a call so they could have help rolling my way while I started either changing the tire or plugging the tire. After about 15 minutes of back and forth with the Good Sam's operator about my exact location, she said she would text me once she found someone to come to me. I told her to make sure they were set up to plug the tire and that way they wouldn't need to change to the spare tire. She informed me, that Good Sam's doesn't cover tire plugging. They would change my tire or even bring me a new tire if I purchased one online, but they couldn't plug. I questioned her about that but she was adamant. I said, fine, send them to me to change my tire with my spare. She liked that answer and said she would text me after finding someone to come help me. I found my tire plugging kit which surprised me because I thought I threw it away a few years ago. I went to work removing the screw and trying to plug the tire. If I could get it plugged I would cancel the assistance. I've plugged many tires in the past, but never a 10 ply heavy duty one. It wasn't going to work, I couldn't get the plug in the tire. That meant changing the flat tire with the spare. Not knowing how long it would be before the assistance showed up, I started removing the spare tire. At first I wasn't sure if I had enough room to maneuver the tool used to lower the spare tire since I was hitched up to Liberty. Just barely enough room, but I had to readjust the tool every half turn. After several minutes, I got it removed and started to jack up Freedom when I got a call from the tow truck people saying they would be there to help me in 20 minutes. I talked to the guy and told him, if you can plug the tire on the ground, then it will be much quicker. He said, they usually don't do that but he would put the tire plugging kit in the truck just in case. He arrived on time and within 15 minutes had the tire plugged and aired up. We put the spare in the bed of Freedom since I wasn't happy with it's age of almost 8 years. My plan was to get it replaced while at my next campground, which is my current one. I was back on the road again after only a 2 1/2 hour delay. I was very satisfied with the reaction time of Good Sam's and the quality service.

I got to my current campground and it has a strong cell signal. Yippee. My theory about the moraine may be wrong since this campground is in another moraine area but this time with a signal. On the second day I went to the Walmart in Danville, but they didn't have any tires that fit Freedom. I told him I was just passing through the area and would be heading out Friday morning. He said, there was a chance he could order the tire and have it delivered by Thursday (today) afternoon. I passed on that offered as being too risky so he called around and located a place that had the correct size, so I thanked him and headed to the other tire shop. My bad luck continued, the tire shop was in a bad part of town and I immediately good bad vibes. I went in and they said they had the size I was looking for and then asked if I wanted a new one or a used one. Now I've bought a lot of tires over my lifetime but I've never been asked that question. I realize that some people can't afford new tires and used tires are better than no tires, but I took it as a sign to listen to my bad vibes and leave that place and not look back. I went back to Walmart and told them I would take the chance on the tire being delivered on time. He placed the order and I picked it up today. Although bad ju-ju usually comes in three, perhaps the third one was headed off by the good luck at Walmart. After proof-reading the post, I realize there were 3 bad ju-ju's. No internet, flat tire and bad vibe tire shop. I'm calling myself clear of the bad ju-ju with nothing but bright skies and rainbows ahead.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading about 120 miles north into Indiana.

I figured this is the best place for the pictures, since this post feels a little dis-jointed. Most of the picture are from the internet-less campground since I've been busy at the current campground trying to take care of the tire.