Coach to the rescue!

Oh, you guys... I have a story for you. We had a CRAZY day yesterday!

 A little history first:
The other day this little light came on on Mommy's dashboard.

Mommy is helpfully pointing to the problem light here.

We've seen this light before, so Mommy knew that it meant something was wonky with the pressure in one of her tires; she checked them with the gauge-thingie, but then she remembered she isn't really sure she knows how to use that. Everything *seemed* fine, though so she made a mental note to have someone who actually knows what they're doing check it out.

Fast forward to yesterday.  The morning started with Coach coming over to visit while Mommy and Baby Lulu went off to a Mommy & Me class. I was a grumpy munchkin, so I just stayed in my room while Coach watched the History Channel and played Hooked on Words on my Mommy's iPad.  Easiest babysitting gig ever.

After Mommy and Lulu came home, we got ready to head off to meet Max at the zoo.  Mommy, remembering the light, asked Coach to follow her to the corner gas station to check her tires before we set out.

Coach took the gauge, checked the tires (in the rain, poor Coach), and pronounced them okay; he told Mommy she should check them again in the morning before she had driven anywhere for the day.

A direct quote from Coach:

They are okay to drive on, but you should really check them in the morning when they are cold.

Fine. We got to the zoo just as the rain was letting up and we had a FANTASTIC day.  I haven't seen Max in a while, so it was really nice to get together, and we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves because of the iffy weather.  I was a little disappointed that we couldn't visit the elephants (they are only viewable from the monorail which is closed for the season), but we saw so many other animals! We even rode on the bug carousel and I watched a 4D Diego & Dora movie - all in all, a really great day!

Baby Lulu fell asleep on Mommy's back, and I was getting pretty tired so we decided to leave at around 4:00. Mommy called Daddy to let him know that we were planning to stop at the temple's holiday boutique on our way home. He responded that that was fine, given he was catching up on work, but that his phone was dying and he wouldn't be home until 6:00.

Did you catch that? Mommy ensured that no one would know were missing until 6:00 before she started the car.

All righty.  We flew up the Bronx River Parkway, onto the Sprain, and made it to 287 without any problem.  We had JUST passed the Tarrytown exit (i.e. the *last* exit before the Tappan Zee Bridge) when the car started to shimmy a little and make noise like we were going over one of those annoying rumble strips.  Mommy slowed down and then, as soon as we started over the bridge, the whole car began shaking violently and making LOUD thumping noises.  At the same time, steering all of a sudden took all of Mommy's strength.  I asked Mommy why she was making all those bumpy bumpy noises while Lulu, suspecting imminent death, began Screaming Her Head Off.

Mommy turned on the hazard lights and inched her way over the bridge, where she was so flustered that she missed the emergency pull off and went the wrong direction.  We finally found a safe spot to pull over about a mile later.  Mommy called Daddy's cell phone, which went straight to voice mail.  Sigh.

It's a really good thing Coach lives near by.  Did you see that picture up there? We completely lost one of our tires! I'm not sure if you're aware, but that is not an ideal driving situation...

Coach came and changed the tire (again, in the damp weather and - Bonus! - in the dark), and we headed home.  Mommy will have to get a new tire (and possibly a rim?) while I'm at school today.

Mommy did NOT have a new tire on her Hanukkah list.  Bah!