December 5: Pooler, Georgia, to Charleston, South Carolina

This day got off to a lousy start.  When I walked outside of the motel to put my stuff in the car, I saw a right rear tire that was flat as a pancake. I checked the pressure with my digital air pressure gauge.  0 psi.  That is really flat!

Luckily there was a gas station nearby. I drove there very slowly with my warning lights flashing. The station had an air pump and I pumped the tire back up to 35 psi.  How long would this last?

I looked through the car's manual for info about the spare. It is one of those small emergency tires. The manual said that it was good for up to 3,000 miles. Great. But it also said that it should not be driven over 65 mph.  Ugh. I have 1,000 miles to go, all at that speed (or a little more?).

So where can I buy a new tire? Two tires actually. I'll need to have the same tread wear on the two rear tires. It is Sunday morning, a day when a lot of stores are closed. The gas station guy suggests WalMart.  They do tires?  I checked the air pressure. It was already down to 32 psi. I drove to Sam's Club. They only had 1 tire the right size. I drove to WalMart. They didn't have any tires of the correct size. But they gave me a phone book. The only place that seemed possible was Sears in Savannah. I called and they said that yes they had the right size. I drove 10-12 miles to the Sears. Tire pressure was then 25 psi.

At first the mechanic thought they might be able to fix my tire. But no luck. It was too damaged. So I had to spring for 2 new tires -- about $380 altogether. By the time the tires were mounted, balanced, and installed, it was 2:00 pm. I had lost most of the day.

But at least I was able to get on the road again. I drove I-95 out of Savannah north over the border into South Carolina, then took US route 17 though the Low Country inland from Hilton Head and Kiawah islands to Charleston. I arrived in Charleston as it was getting dark and registered at a motel that claimed it had high speed wifi. As it turned out, that wifi did not work in my room. They said they couldn't fix it and refunded my money. I found a second motel and a similar problem - the advertised and promised wifi was slower than a dial-up. They too refunded my moeny and I finally found a place where the wifi actually worked.

On this entire trip I have not used the motel room TVs. The internet is now my place for getting news and communicating -- like writing this blog. So whether a motel has a functioning high speed wifi has, along with price, become the criterion for selecting a place to stay.