petunias, and fireworks, and tire blowouts. . . oh my!

this weekend, i was invited to dixon, il for fourth of july festivities and the petunia festival.

incidentally, i was also meeting bill's parents and one of his sisters for the first time.

because i was invited to the cubs game earlier in the day, i got a late start on the road to dixon. bill was expecting me around 10, and told me to call when i got off at the dixon exit.

around 10:15, i was about 3 miles outside of dixon (because i am always generally at least 15 minutes late for everything), and i started to hear an odd driver side thudding. naturally, my first inclination was that my music was too loud and i was rocking out too hard. but the thudding persisted. i turned the music lower, and rolled down the window. the thudding got louder, and driving started to become not so easy.

luckily, whilst driving west down i-88 circa 10 pm, there is minimal traffic, and i easily managed to pull over to the side of the road. once i finally pulled the car to a stop, small billows of smoke came from what was left of my front driver side tire.

oops.

first i called bill: "uhh. . . well, i've got a flat tire. i'm at mile 60. i don't know if there's a spare back there. . . it might be awhile."

then i called my parents:
"mom. . . my tire blew out on my way to dixon. i don't know if there's a spare one in back."
mom is, at first, worried about my well being, but secondly she is laughing at me because she can't believe i'm convinced her one year old toyota camry is without a spare tire.
"kellie," she says, "of course there's a spare tire in the back. all new cars come with spare tires. you know how banana shirts all come with extra buttons and thread? all cars come with spare tires."
"oh. . . "

meanwhile, bill and his dad are en route to my rescue somewhere around mile 60 on i-88, and i'm completely mortified at the fact that the first time i have to meet bill's dad is on the side of the highway, even though there's nothing i could have done to keep my tire from exploding.

for the rest of the weekend i am introduced as bill's girlfriend, and everyone consistently responds with, "oh, the girl who's tire blew out on the way into town" (or variations thereof).

for some reason i had my first trip to dixon pictured differently in my head. . .

xo,


kellieannie

p.s. i'm now back home safe in suburbia, without any subsequent tire blowouts.