Tuesday October 19th

[22:15 EDT]

It's been an odd day to say the least!

Started off OK, I guess - we awoke to a cloudy but very humid morning. During this humidity, we had to take our cases down the stairs and load the car up. We got everything in OK.

So we set off and stop not long after at a nearby shopping mall. Nothing much there. So we move on to the local power station. Yes, you read that right! We'd been told that this power station pumps out warm water into the sea which attracts animals like manatee to the location. This is such a popular place with the wildlife that the power company have set up an observation area. That was where we were heading.

However, we got to the observation area only to find that the whole place is shut seasonally, not opening until November 1st.

So we drive on into Orlando. We stop off at the Premium Mall - not much there really.

On we go, driving out of Orlando then on past the airport, heading East along the 528. We were just about to reach a small hill in the road when the noise of the car suddenly changed. At first I thought we were just on really noisy tarmac - some of the roads we'd been on today were a bit naff. However, as I drove on, reaching different tarmac as we reached this rise in the road, the noise continued. I glanced into the right mirror and saw smoke! Fortunately, I still had control of the car (we were doing 70MPH) so I got over the rise and brought it to a stop on the hard shoulder. Getting out we both could see the passenger rear tire had shredded itself and has rubbed against something in the wheel arch to set the tire smoking like crazy. The smell of burnt rubber was overpowering.

Fortunately, the tire cooled and stopped smoking soon after so we set about emptying out the back of the car to get the spare out.

Bags and cases were put into the verge and I peered into the boot to find the spare. There was no sign of it under the case area aside from a small sign under the carpet suggesting I use my spanner (wherever that was) to loosen the nut for the wheel. This said to me... the spare is under the car. So I peered underneath... no spare! Initially, I though this meant that the spare might have fallen off, but looking into the boot again it was clear to me that where the nut holding the spare should be, there was nothing except a blanking plate.

So there we were, on the verge of the 528 with a car sporting just three wheels.

I got on the phone to Dollar - fortunately one of us had a signal. It was explained to me that "that particular GMC car (the Arcadia) is not supplied with a spare by the manufacturer". They estimated a 90 minute wait for a 3rd party pickup company to drive to the airport (where the local Dollar place is) pick up a new car or equal size and then drive to us.

We sat down to wait.

In the end, it was over two and a half hours after the blow-out before the pick-up arrived. However, we weren't alone in that time, not by a long chalk. In the first 90 minutes, no fewer than 6 different vehicles stopped nearby to check we were OK. Almost as soon as it had happened, a tow truck pulled in - the guy offering to help change the wheel (I'd have said yes if we'd had one!). Then we had a precession of other individuals including two old women in their small Honda civic, a couple of women, who I doubt were more than 20, pulled up with a boy in the back of their beat up car, to ask if we needed help. We even had a guy offer his spare - I don't think it would have fit anyhow!

Eventually the local sheriff's office also turned up to check if we needed assistance. He had the coolest, most intimidating mirror sunglasses I've ever seen :)

Finally, the tow truck turned up, carrying our new car on it's trailer. A quick swap of paperwork and we started to load up the new car with our stuff. We pulled away at 18:20, the tire blew out at 15:30.

The last part of the journey was tiring but fortunately only about 40 minutes long.

We unpacked and then went out for a quick bite to eat.

On our return to the apartment, we noticed that the new car, a Grand Jeep Cherokee, has a broken rear light so I think I'm going to be calling in at the local Dollar site (luckily only a few miles from where we are) tomorrow morning.