Kansas Highway Patrol saved us

What a great post by John yesterday. One of my favorite reads on this blog since we started it.

Jamie and I had a scary situation on Friday when a rear tire blew out on the highway. It didn't just go flat; it exploded. Not fun. Jamie was driving and did an amazing job of getting us over the shoulder safely (she's a great driver).

I had all the equipment to change the tire, but the mechanism to lower the spare from below our SUV was rusted and I couldn't lower it myself. So Jamie got on the cell phone and eventually found the Kansas Highway Patrol's Motorist Assistance department.

She told them where we were (on I-435 near Midland Road in northern JoCo). Within 10 minutes - no kidding - a Motorist Assistance truck pulled up behind us.

He had heavy-duty tools and was able to get my spare tire down. He also had a heavy-duty jack and tire iron, and changed the tire for us. He even had a portable compressor and aired up our spare.

It was a lifesaver. I can't say enough good things about it.

So if you find yourself on a Kansas highway with a blowout (or even a dead battery - or even if you run out of gas!), dial *47 on your cell phone. A motorist assistance truck will be there in a jiffy.

Missouri has a similar program. Their hotline number is *55.

Here's the website for the Kansas program. You'll find the site for the Missouri program here.

--Matt Kelsey, a grateful motorist