Tom Wham Colorado Trip 2003, July, Part 5

Grand Island, Nebraska

On the way home, my right front tire exploded on Interstate 76 about 50 miles from Julesburg, Colorado. I was among several trucks... traveling around 80 miles per hour. It was a tad scary.

Fortunately, the truck behind me saw my predicament and radioed ahead to another vehicle from the same company who was going the other direction. Moments later, a beautiful Blue Werner truck stopped in the other lane. Out popped the driver, and he risked his life, crossing to my side. He helped me change to my spare. While this was going on, another Werner truck (going my way) pulled up behind us and also offered his assistance. Once my silly spare was on, he followed me to Julesburg.

I have nothing but good things to say about Werner Trucking. Their drivers are polite, courteous, and most helpful. If you have to ship... choose Werner.

Here's their website:

http://www.werner.com/

On the downside, it happened on Sunday afternoon. I called the AMOCO motor club and they were of absolutely no help. Nobody anywhere fixes or replaces tires on Sunday. So, I drove slowly across Nebraska on US highway 30 till I got to Grand Island. A big storm (with golf ball hail) was setting in, so I skedaddled to the Holiday Inn and spent the night. Next morning I bought 4 new tires.

The big thing about Grand Island Nebraska is that a friend, who used to work as the Reference Librarian at the Lake Geneva Public Library lives there and now works for the Stuhr Museum.

http://www.stuhrmuseum.org/

This is a magnificent place full of Prarie History. In the middle of July, most of it's 200+ acres were covered with wheat fields. My friend Leslie works as the curator of their collection of artifacts... and boy do they have a lot of them. She is responsible for tracking each and every item in a gigundous database program (complete with photographs). Leslie took a little time off to show me around her domain.

Click on the pictures for a larger version.