2 tires in 2 daze

yesterday started off in a normal fashion - we woke up in arlington, tx and readied ourselves for the 10 hour drive to nashville. we ate breakfast at a golden corral (eeewish), cozied up in the lead sled and started 'blues brothers.'

it wasn't until hour 7 that smith observed the huge rubber hangnail dangling off our rear driver-side tire. yipes. so we called our friendly neighborhood 'man-with-a-huge-truck-and-jack' and decided to pass the "5 to 50 minutes" (direct quote) by making this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rXun4neL6c

it was the ultimate lemons to lemonade situation.

so, we awoke this morning feeling ready for anything - we had, after all, overcome our first serious-on-the-road-van-trouble the previous day and what could possibly throw us for a curve now? we found out just south of the virginia border on I-81N, when suddenly we were driving 70mph on 3 wheels and a hub cap.

NEVER FEAR! JAMES CLEARE!

what a champ: james cleare steared our crippled sled to the shoulder without even breaking a sweat. traffic zooooomed by but he kept his cool and we got to a safe spot within moments. an hour later, a mechanic named doyle helped us put yesterday's tire back on for our very slow drive to sears. we were tempted to see 'up' in 3-D while we waited for our new tires but decided to grab a bite at garfields instead - we drew on the tablecloth because it was made of paper. very practical.

so now it's 2:30 and we're about 4 hours away from nyc. ahhh the unexpected bumps in the road....

...literally.

gotta love this east coast air,
the lead sled

arlington, tx

cleare: stoic, vast

smith: aviators and the 80s

robb: mug-shot, overpass

drive it up and drive it in

last night we saw 'hangover' (or is it 'the hangover'....can't remember) at a drive-in outside memphis, TN. now good gosh darn it, why isn't every movie theater a drive-in?? that is my question. there is absolutely no reason to see a movie inside when you can see one outside in the comfort and delight of your own car, be the lead sled or otherwise. it is absolute and pure bliss. we got ourselves some 'za, a mosquito coil (weird contraptions, but effective) and collapsed the backseat into a custom-made movie bed - it was perfection.

and that wasn't the only highlight of yesterday's tennessee adventure. check this out:

good times.

today we arrive in dear old little rock, where our arkansas family lives. we really love president bill clinton ave.

mugginess be damned! we will enjoy this midwesternsouthern jaunt!
the lead sled

i'm born anew in your genius

well, we're sad to be missing david byrne in prospect park tonight. but the sled is a pretty darn good alternative...

we started the morning with 700+ miles to go. knoxville is FAR. but then we watched 'castaway' and realized hey, at least we have shoes and food and water and shelter and friends that aren't volleyballs and at least we're not engaged to helen hunt, that hussy, who goes and marries mr. big while we're away. so then we felt better about the drive.

we're heading southwest this week cowpeople. dodging tumbleweeds will be our game.

land for sale!
the lead sled