Of course, you will also need a way to fill your flat tire. Invest in a tire repair kit that can both fix punctures and plug flats. Make sure you have a jack and the tools necessary to change the spare-this includes the special lug nut key typically required for locking type lug nuts. Before heading out, inspect your car’s spare tire. Hearing this story compelled me to offer some ideas and supplies for avoiding being stranded “in the middle of nowhere” (and helping find your way out if you find yourself there).įirst.

Fortunately, the breakdown occurred next to one of the park’s many fishing streams and the kids and their dad made the most of their unstructured day. In the end, the experience resulted in a day’s delay. Reaching the tire store just before it closed, a new tire was secured, but (now) how would my friend find make her way back to her husband and family still abandoned on the side of the road 40 miles away? As it turns out, by the most expensive cab ride of her life–the bill for the lift cost as much as the repair. All the while, my friend and her husband were unable to communicate. Fortunately, a park service employee was just ending her shift and offered my friend a ride into town. The next option? Find a way to the nearest tire store before nightfall. Using a landline to call her insurance company, she was disheartened to learn the soonest available emergency service was a four-hour wait. And while America’s national parks are renowned for their natural beauty and vast wilderness, my poor friend found out that consistent and reliable cell phone coverage is not really a thing you can and should count on.įast forward several hours, my friend left her husband and children with the car and hitched a ride with another family to the nearest ranger station. Compounding the problem, it turns out the vehicle’s spare tire was also defunct. Somewhere in the park’s interior, a tire on their minivan went flat. Recently a good friend of mine was traveling through Yellowstone National Park on a family road trip through Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.

What to do when you have a flat tire