We already know that bad things happen in threes. So it goes without saying that we’d been waiting since the third day of the trip for that last straw to appear. Well today may have finally delivered.

After bidding farewell to the two octogenarian lovebirds, we started our slow trek north towards home. We made a brief pitstop in Ventura for some shakes and fries at In-N-Out Burger, and were joined by an old sidekick from back in the day. She filled us in on a few too many details from her most recent pregnancy… nice to see that not too much has changed with this one.

We made it to Ojai late in the afternoon to meet up with Scott Martin, a quadriplegic of virtually the same level as me for the last 30 years. Just when I was starting to think that I was pretty cool for getting out there and doing life, I meet Scott who is taking it to a whole new level. This dude cooks like Bobby Flay and lives like Evel Knievel. When he’s not jumping out of airplanes or winning professional baja races, he is either remodeling one of his two homes or custom designing his own off-road wheelchairs.

It was while he was giving us a tour of his five-acre compound that Life tried to interject with the third wrinkle of the trip. We were somewhere between checking out his world-class RC car racetrack and his garage full of toys (including a motor home, a party bus, a pontoon boat, and multiple off-road vehicles) that I started to hear a strange clicking on the left side of my chair. After a few feet, we figured out it was a good-sized nail sticking out the side of my tire. Suh-weet.

Scott took the whole ordeal in stride, guiding me into one of the three workshops in the backyard, fully prepared to have his sister, Jill, swap out my bum wheel on the spot. Fortunately, her mechanical skills were not needed, as the nail didn’t end up causing a flat. With the crisis averted, we were able to enjoy some good food and some stargazing to wrap up the night.

I’d never been to Ojai until today. What a beautiful place with incredible views around every corner. Meeting Scott was a thrill, and he has me seriously considering stepping up my game. Hopefully with all three strikes covered the road trip, I can get to work when I make it back home.