On Sunday night, after pulling in to Circle and unloading everything, I went to park and noticed the rear driver’s side tire was low. I checked it again the next morning and it was totally flat. That morning I had the luxury of walking away from it and leaving it flat.

Tomorrow, however, it the great going-home day, so it had to be fixed tonight. I went and pulled the wheel and brought it inside to warm. I re-inflated it enough to hear the tell tale hiss, and discovered another frickin’ rock.

I wish I could remember how many flats tires we have had on the Steese Highway over the last three and a half years. A half a dozen, easy. Part of that was old tires, but the other half is a road made of sharp rocks. I think it happens when I run over larger rocks that are crushed under the tire, fragments are sheered off, and a little needle point of rock gets stuck up in there. 

I pulled the offending rock out tonight and patched the hole back up again. I think it’ll get me home tomorrow.