Fun & Fitness over 50

Well I finally had a flat. At least a flat while riding. The last flat I had was after the Tour de Cure. When I put my bike up after that ride I noticed the tube had bubbled out a hole in the tire. I should have had both tires replaced at that time.
I was intending to ride 56 miles on a new route. It was a beautiful day. We've had a string of 'em but I was working each one until today.
I mapped the route on mapmyride.com and one of the first roads turned out to be a dead end! Fortunately, I'm getting to know the area and was able to easily figure out an alternate route. Have to check that out!
I was riding up the first big hill, Blossom Hill Road, almost at the top, only going about 5mph when I suddenly skidded and thought I was going down as if the pavement was slick and I was cornering at 25! But it was a flat on my front tire. I walked it a bit to a level spot in front of a house. The guy came out and offered me tools if I needed it. Must have taken me 40 minutes to change the tire! I don't have a lot of experience.
The small pump that I carry gave me a little trouble but I finally got 60 lbs of air into the new tube.
Anyhow, that tire didn't look too good. I had at least one slice all the way through.
I was kind of paranoid after that. I almost went down at 5mph? What happens at 45!? I took it kind of easy on the downhills after that at first not knowing why the tube flatted and thinking about the hole in the tire. But I got more confident after a little while.

I decided to head straight back to matt's bike shop and get a new tire rather than finishing out the ride. It turned out to be about 30 miles total.
At first Matt didn't think he had any good 27" tires but after a little digging he had a match for the one I got before.
I couldn't get the new tire on the rim to save my life. I was sure there was something wrong. I brought it back to the shop and Matt had it on in 2 seconds with his hands. I was embarrassed!
Here's the route: