Today started with 58,699 miles at 8:25 am. The tire had a leak in it; apparently I didn't do a great job plugging it up, or the pucture was larger than the plug strip. Last night I was sure it was sealed tight. Anyways, the tire needed to be replaced soon: There were two bumps on the sidewall and it already has two patches and a plug in it.
After getting gas, I tried one more time to plug the puncture, but probably made it a little worst. I just aired up and headed on out to the next town on a wing and a prayer. It was actually pretty dangerous to drive on that tire since it could blow at any time, but this was a good tire and it wasn't driven on too long while almost flat yesterday.
While driving I didn't dare to stop for too long, but I did stop to take a picture of a small herd of bisons crossing the road. Periodically, I would stop to check the tire for my own piece of mind, and it didn't look too bad.
After over 400 miles of gravel, I finally made it out to the pavement. Easily, that stretch of road could be the longest gravel road in North America. And over 130 miles after Fort Liard, I entered the town of Fort Nelson, British Columbia to gas up and possibly replace the tire. I stopped by one of the tire shops, and they didn't have the tire I needed, so I kept going. The mechanic at the tire shop told me it could blow at any time, but I hard-headedly kept going- already drove over 130 miles on gravel road with it.
After 30 miles west of Fort Nelson on the Alaska Highway, I wised up and replaced the bad tire with the spare. While driving I thought to myself, "If the tire blew, I may lose control of the Rodeo and hit another vehicle." Probably unlikely to lose control since it was the rear tire...I've had the experience of blowing a rear tire once...there's an unmistakable loud pop and acceleration decreases rapidly. Also, I figured with a bad tire, I really couldn't stop any place for fear of losing air. After replacing the damaged tire, I felt mentally so much better. Just hoped to not get another flat soon. I guess I considered myself lucky that I've made it this far. Now, the rear of the car was a little out of balance and I could hear the right rear tire making a cricket sound.
What's weird about the nothwestern part of Canada was Canadians spoke length in terms of miles instead kilometers. The speed limit signs were in kilometers, while the distance signs were in miles. Weird.
Finally, over 300 miles of driving, I stopped at Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. This was one of those times, I didn't really expect to find anything, but landed on a treasure. I stopped to make a phone call, and then decided to drive through the park to see what goes on here, and I saw a whole boatload of people camping (about 10); therefore, this must be a safe place to camp.
I set up camp and explored the park a bit. Later the park ranger came by and I payed the $12/night to camp here. The outhouses were clean and fire wood was plentily available. The park didn't have electricity and I couldn't get the water pump to pump any water. The park ranger lived onsite. I had to use the water I brought all the way from Austin. During the night, I had a can of beans for dinner.
