On a recent Friday afternoon, I was on my way from western Massachusetts to Manchester, N.H. to meet a flight of rescue dogs coming up from the south to be adopted.
In anticipation of the many miles I had to put on my little SUV, I had recently purchased a set of tires. The next day, I was driving five of the 14 dogs to the Fingerlakes region of New York to another shelter.
As I hopped onto Interstate 91, I realized I had a problem; as I tried to reach cruising speed on the highway, the wheel shimmied violently. The new tires must not be balanced correctly, I thought.
With my vehicle full of dog crates, and having a plane to catch, I reduced my speed, looked at my watch, and made my way to exit 1 in Brattleboro to look for a service station.
I pulled into a friendly looking two-bay garage and got out to plead my case. I explained that I knew I was in a tough spot, but if they could take pity on me, spin and rebalance my tires, and get me back out on the road as soon as they could, I would be seriously in debt to them.
The nice gentleman smiled and said, “Sure!”
I handed over my keys, and they soon had my Honda up on the lift with all of her tires off. In less than half an hour after paying a very reasonable sum, I was back on the road rolling smoothly towards my destination.
I wish to extend a great amount of gratitude to Mike and David of Sonny's in Brattleboro for helping out a slightly stressed female on a Friday afternoon. Thanks to them, I was able to meet the plane right on time, receive the rescue dogs, and have a very uneventful drive to New York the next day!