The followup

Last night, driving through LA on I 10, we had a blowout on Jake's van. It was the right rear tire, but it went fast and we were in the furthest left lane on the freeway, with no breaks to get to the right. So we were stuck in the median until a highway patrol officer saw us and blocked all traffic for us by driving in a zig-zag pattern across all lanes of the freeway. That also happened at the same time that AAA's tow truck got to us. The spare is just a doughnut, so as soon as places here open, we'll be getting new tires. The tow truck guy was really helpful, and instead of just going about his business when done, he stuck around to try to get a tire for us at 8:30 on a Sunday night. After an hour of tire searching, we decided to call it a night and find a motel. So we are in Fontana, California, at a reasonable hotel by I 15, waiting for places to open. We'll be back in Phoenix soon, especially since we've already taken care of the worst few hours of our driving.