KABAM!!!!!! and Utica, IL To Baraboo, WI.

Baraboo, WI.

68 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = Areas of fog early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds light and variable.

Because the check-in time at our next stop was at 2:00 we didn't leave the Hickory Hollow Campground near Utica until about 10:50. After getting back on I-39, we continued heading north towards Rockford, IL. About 25 miles before we got to Rockford, Jim felt a kind of "bump" as we were traveling along. Looking in the passenger side rear-view mirror, showed pieces of tire flying off of one of Nora's wheels!!!! ;-O

Jim immediately slowed Big RED down and we pulled off onto the shoulder of the road and stopped.
Jim got out to check, and sure enough, the rear tire on Nora's right side had exploded and there was only a small part of the tire still on the rim!!!! Looking back down the road, Jim could see the rest of the tire laying out on I-39!!!  :-(

Now, what to do??????

Because they have roadside assistance with their insurance, they called their insurance agent, Gina Shaver at Epic Insurance  who gave them names of towing services near the Rockford area. After calling a few towing services, they finally found Maggio's Towing who came to our rescue and changed the tire, putting on the spare.

Since the type of tires that came on Noa are know to have problems, we then followed the service truck back to the Maggio Service Center just South of Rockford, where Jim and Linda had the the blown out tire and the other tires of the same brand replaced!!!

It was about 3:30 by the time we left Maggio's and returned to I-39.

We followed I-39/US20 around Rockford, paid our Toll for traveling a few miles on the last end of the road in Illinois and crossed into Wisconsin. Just North of Janesville, we turned West on US 14 and followed it West and then North up to Madison. In Madison, we picked up US 12 and followed it up here to Baraboo and the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground .

Fox Hill is also a Passport America Campground, so the fees for Monday through Thursday are 1/2 price and Friday is full price. Even with paying full price for one night of our 5 night stay here the average daily cost of our time here comes to just a little less than $30 per night.

Not bad for a water and electric site in a very touristy area.

Oh, and in case your wondering, it was 5:50 by the time we arrived here at Fox Hill so it took us 7 hours to travel the 193 miles up here, wait on the shoulder of I-39 to get the spare installed and get new tires installed on Nora.

Yes, it was a scary time, sitting along side of the road with all those semi's roaring by, and it was boring sitting at the service center waiting to get the new tires installed, but all in all, we came through the whole ordeal without anything really bad happening.  When the tire exploded, it did do a little damage to the side of Nora, but Jim has already secured the wheel well trim back on and there is only minor damage to the very bottom edge of Nora, which Jim is quite sure he can repair.

So, we got over another of those little "bumps in the road" and we're good to go again. :-)

Yesterday morning, Jim and Linda bought some groceries to take to the family reunion and then in the afternoon, they headed to the reunion. Because we had arrived in the area a day ahead of time, for dinner, Linda and Jim cooked Barbecues and green beans while everyone else was unpacking cars and getting settled in at the lodge.

Tonight, someone else will prepare a dinner and others will prepare future dinners.

Both Jim and Linda said that it was really nice seeing everyone again and are looking forward to more visiting the next 3 1/2 days. :-)

Did you know that the first Ringling Brothers Circus was staged in Baraboo, WI in 1884?


Woof!!!