Small miracles

So we went to Iowa last weekend to visit my mom and stepdad. I love spending time with them. And we basically just relaxed and didn't worry about a schedule all weekend. It was great.

On the way home, about two hours into the 9 hour drive, we ran over a semi's mudflap. Granted, the flap shouldn't have been a big deal. But apparently they attach with this huge, rather sharp metal bar. So our back tire got shredded (it was melted flat to the road when we stopped).

As you can imagine, I was pretty much over the edge. We had to get home in time for me to teach this morning.

But then, a snowplow driver pulled up behind us. He diverted traffic into the other lane, helped Ben change the tire, and told us where to go to buy a new tire. So we turned around and drove to Williamsburg, IA. Once there, I was pretty sure we'd be stuck for, oh, you know, DAYS, or that they'd rip us off because we didn't have any other option. The nice tire store man sold us a pretty decent tire for $30, and put it on for free in less than half an hour. It was great.

So what could've been a total disaster only set us back an hour, and $30. Thank goodness for small (or even large-ish) miracles.