American Gam

“Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!”  ~ Ingrid Bergman

Spiritually, the number 66 implies balance in life and unconditional love. Our mailbox in New Hampshire, before we started the Great American Road Trip 2025 was number 66. And while traveling on said road trip we skirted on and off of the mother road, Route 66. Now, on this Great American Road Trip 2026 we are celebrating Treva’s 66th birthday! 🎉 Yay! 🎈

We finally escaped Florida on our third day. We camped at a couple of nice campgrounds in Alabama for two nights. On day five, as we were heading west on Interstate 10, just a few miles from the Mississippi state line…

💥 Boom! A tire blew out on our trailer! I managed to guide our rig into the breakdown lane with a cloud of dust and the smell of burnt rubber filling the air. We have a single axle trailer so when a tire blows out it drops down on the road hard! As you can see, both the tire and the rim were mangled beyond repair…

The sun was dropping off the horizon and the temperature was dropping too. It was rush hour in the Biloxi area and the two lanes of traffic were thundering by us; tractor trailers shook the camper violently as we worked. Luckily, it was the tire opposite of the traffic, but I knew it was going to get dark and cold very soon.

We couldn’t hesitate! With twenty minutes of daylight left we hustled the jack into position, retrieved the spare tire off the back of the camper, and managed to complete the mission of replacing the tire in an adrenaline-pumping half hour!

Emergency Roadside Service arrived just as we were finishing up; he helped us to get back on the highway safely.

So… that was a fun way to celebrate Treva’s 66th birthday! 🎉

We finally made our way over to Mississippi. Last year when we came through here, you might remember, we stayed at another Harvest Host site called The Cypress Taphouse in Ocean Springs.

Well, Treva enjoyed her time there so much she decided that’s where she wanted to celebrate her 66th birthday. 🎂 🎈 🎉

As you can see, she enjoyed the food, drink, and atmosphere of the place. It was Trivia Night so we played along. Team “American Gam” came in last place but we had fun! 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♀️

I hope you don’t let age define you.

The gam continues…