Rubber Volcano

Three horrendous days of driving in 20 degree weather and in snow and ice, sometimes to the point of white out, over hill and dale, came to a rather climatic end today as we crossed from Maryland into Pennsylvania. For the second time since we have been full timing it on the road, a truck directly in front of us had a blowout. We can attest to the fact that that is scary! Big pieces of someone else's tire coming straight at you in virtual slow motion while you are sitting in the front of the coach with a picture window windshield in front of you is not something to look forward to. Ever. The first time, rubber chunks flew everywhere and we avoided enough of them to also avoid any damage. This time though, the tire that went had evidently heated to the point of being ready to melt or burn and when it finally "erupted", fist sized pieces of melted rubber, about half a dozed of them, hit us smack in the windshield and literally burned themselves into the glass. A dozed smaller golf ball pieces did the same. I never saw anything like that before. Big chunks of smoldering rubber, stuck to the windshield ! They had to be scraped off with a washer pole that we carry for cleaning the big window as necessary.
When it happened we pulled over right away and the truck indicated he would do the same, but when we pulled over in the breakdown lane, he sped off on the tires he had left. Now that ticked me off! I cleaned up as best I could and caught up with him at exit 1 in Pennsylvania. So did the Maryland police; somebody either saw him speeding off or knew something was wrong when I hit the old diesel horn. The driver was nowhere to be found. I took his truck numbers and photographed the truck. Eventually we located the driver and had a "discussion". Swapped the usual info and got back on the road after a delay we surely didn't need. Now at day's end, most of the rubber has been removed but the chip and crack in the windshield will need a bit more care than I can handle myself. It's always something when you are on the road full time. I prefer the small problems to the big ones, though I would truly rather have no problems at all. Who wouldn't? But this could have been a whole lot worse for a whole lot of people, so tonight we are just happy to be safe and tucked in...
We will visit family in the area around Reading for two weeks now and hopefully get some rest as well. There is some provisioning that will need to be done. After being in Honduras and then Florida for nearly 10 combined years, our wardrobe shortcomings have been pointed out by the abrupt cold snap. In order to be ready for much more northern climates in the near future, some warmer clothing will be a must. There is a Bass Pro Shop and a Cabellas near by so the shopping ought to be a fun experience. We always watch "North To Alaska" on the outdoor channel. Former football great Larry Zonka hosts this fishing and hunting show and is always outfitted to the gills in the very best of hunting and fishing clothing and gear. He's become the NASCAR driver version of the salmon fishing set- all the hot brand names all over his clothing and gear. I'm guessing it's all comped as advertising for the companies that sponsor the show.
Hmmmmmm, Do you think they'd wanna sponsor an RV trip?