July 4th weekend is always a popular weekend for campers to be outdoors. My family and I used the weekend to go scouting in Area 8. Two days into the adventure we were amazed at the fact we hadn't seen another human, not even dust from a vehicle!

Very remote, we loved it. Right up until we got a flat. We were in the Goose Creek area, slowly going down a side hill and a rock sliced through our sidewall. With manuvering and a few growls my husband and son got the tire changed. But we now had a new agenda, getting a little closer to civilization, as we had no "spare-spare".

Great idea, right? Right up until our second flat! We were still 100+ miles from civilization, no sign of intelligent life (ourselves included) and no cell phone reception. My daughter and I got out of the rig, set up chairs and prepared to spend the nite waiting for someone to drive by.

The "men," son 17 and husband decided to "MacGiver" their way through the predicament. Since this flat had not broken the bead on the tire they hooked up a portable air pump to keep the tire from going completely flat. Next they used a nail out of some ranchers fence, a knife, a lighter, and a nylon weaved belt. Hubby cut pieces of the belt and melted them with the lighter while shoving the gooey mess into the puncture with the nail.

"MacGiver" and side kick managed to patch the tire enough to keep the air at a slow leak. We'd drive 2 or 3 miles, stop and hook up the air pump for a bit and then continue on.

After 2 hours of that, cell phone reception was reinstated, and I called the Wells Sheriff's Department. A tire store was open, the Sheriff on duty arranged to have a new spare put on a used rim of the same make, and brought it to us by Thousand Springs. All this on the 4th of July!

We had a great time, saw some great country and remembered first hand how hospitable and trusting most people in Nevada are.

We'd like to thank the Wells Sheriffs Department and Les Schwab Tires in Wells for all their help. P.S. No, one spare isn't enough, needless to say we bought the rim and tire in Wells and will make sure we have MORE backup in the future. Especially since a third tire went flat as we pulled up to our house!