June 11, 2010
Heading north from Schmokin Dam, we gently passed from Pennsylvania to Upstate West New York into the Finger Lake Region. But it was south of there that our faithful Jeep Grand Cherokee not only passed the 85,000 mile mark, but also suddenly got mushy, steering wise. I thought that it might be a low tire, and viola! the right rear tire was down to about 5 pounds air pressure. We were 7 miles outside Trout Run, Pennsylvania. I got my trusty cigar plug air pump out, put in 28 lbs of air and we limped into town where we had lunch, timing the loss of air. After lunch we had about 12 pounds, so I bought a can of instant tire fix, put it in and we headed north again. At Mansfield, I brought the air up to 35 lbs. but in 15 minutes at a check at a rest stop the tire was nearly flat, so I decided to unpack the Jeep and put on the spare. Naturally, the spare was low, too. More time on the air pump. Finally, about 4:30 in the afternoon, we were back on our way toward Buffalo. When we pulled into the Holiday Inn in Amherst, NY, and finished checking in, I went in search of a tire repair.
The second place I stopped was closed, but the employees were working on personal vehicles with the garage doors open, and they decided that they could put in a plug. In just a few minutes, the plug was in, holding air, and I was heading back to the room. Nice guys, no charge! A small tip was appreciated though. In the morning, before heading out, I changed tires, re-loaded and got gas. All in all not a major hiccup.
