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Mom was not comfortable with Grandpa's driving so she was urging him to stop for a motel for the night.

The first exit, Grandpa didn't take, because Mom was looking for hotel signs, even though there had been a bevy of restaurant and gas signs and I told them the lodging was always listed first.

So we coasted by an exit that had four or five hotels and motels practically on the highway. (Two exits on, it turns out, also had lodging just off the highway.)

But we exited the highway for Hagerstown. A half-mile or so from the highway came the first sign for a motel: two miles, on the left.

Hagerstown has curbs that jut out at each corner, book-ending parking on the side of the road. On Christmas Eve, no one was parked in any of those spots, so they looked just like another lane.

Grandpa drove right over one of those curbs, and by the time he dodged the one on the other side of the street, it was clear that the left front tire was blown out.

He drove another mile with that to the motel.

We got a tire swapped out for a doughnut by a guy called by AAA, who had his daughter along in the truck. She got concerned when Zelda wandered too far away.

This is Christmas eve. Christmas morning at the motel Mr. Tire just to the right, Advanced Auto Parts to the left. Both closed of course.

Even the Wal-Mart Tire & Lube where we get on Interstate 81 is closed.

Zelda is shivering in fear and has climbed up on my lap. It's a lot easier to type than I would have thought.

Now Mom (driving) and Grandpa (front passenger seat) are trying to turn on the cruise control. Zelda is almost too scared to be scared now. I'm not sure she'll listen to me about getting in the car next time. Apparently the speed control will not engage with the different tires. The donut, unfortunately, was put on the front tire. I really don't see any point in calling triple A if all they do is put on the same tire you already have.

We drove more than 100 miles on the stupid doughnut tire before the last place on the list of places I googled referred us to a place that actually could open and get us a tire-- in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

And the moral of this tory is to follow my plan: Drive straight through and stop on the side of the road if necessary. :-)

Wingsite(?)
570 822 2674

Rich is the manager there

We're at mile 170

drive to our shop

170B
309 North
half mile to exit 2
bear right
see Turkey Hill and a stop light, go through
Second building on right-hand side
[crucial missing instruction-- go around the back]

Meet at 1 p.m.

Jane (the wonderful dispatcher)

Wingfoot
Commercial Tire Systems, LLC
http://www.wingfootct.com/

Grandpa:
$400 experience plus I gave him $50
($200 for the tire, $120 for labor)

I didn't like McCarthy and the holds that turned into automatic re-dials, but they were the last place I had to call and the third person I talked to there, a woman, gave us the number for Wingfoot.