Welcome back to Tire Mom! Today we begin the actual retracing of my

50-state journey to educate people about tire safety … among other things.

I officially began the journey on April 4, 2018. The mileage on my

Suburban, who I’d named Wolverine, was 120,640. The temperature was a

warm 42 degrees Fahrenheit. (I‘m obviously kidding about the “warm”.) I felt

like a true road warrior: full gas tank, empty bladder.    

I was accompanied by Gimli, my 15 inch garden gnome.

Meet Gimli, my faithful companion!

Marcia was my first Tire Mom. She and I became dear friends when

Clayton and I lived in Williamsburg during his time at the College of William

and Mary teaching MBA’s.

Gimli welcomes you to Virginia:)

This first time I set out with simply the hope that Marcia

would need new tires, and she did because hers were obviously worn and too

old. The dealership ordered the tires for her, and she was set.

Trust me, it wasn’t always going to be this easy.

Now to have some fun driving along the Colonial Parkway, drinking

root beer and eating sweets from the Williamsburg Bakery and the Wythe Candy

Store. As we drove by the Yorktown Pier, flashes of memory filled my mind and

heart.

Williamsburg and Yorktown- wonderful places!

Clayton teaching the girls how to fish.

Clayton showing them how to catch crabs off the end of the pier.

They were sweet memories, and yet I couldn’t help wondering if I was

ever really going to be able to heal from the hurt and the loss of losing

him.

Yorktown Pier

And as for the tire journey, I had no idea where it was going to take me.

Even if I had, I couldn’t have dreamed up what was to take place.

If you’d like to comment, please do! I would love to hear about your

bittersweet memories. We are all on this journey together.

Stay Safe,

Diana Hubner, the Tire Mom