CHECK ENGINE!
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2005
1
4
15
Trip End
Oct 02, 2005
Spearfish,
South Dakota,
United States
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
I got on the road and it wasn't 5 minutes before I looked down and saw the almighty dreaded "check engine" light blaring into my fear-filled eyes. Oh no!!!! After a few minutes deliberation, I decided to stop and see if I should check it out.
I stopped at the next exit... which was mysteriously devoid of life. Oh wait... but it's South Dakota. There was, however, a gas station and I asked the ladies who worked there if there was a mechanic in town. They responded that the nearest person with a computer to check an engine out would be 12 miles up the road in a lovely place called Plankiton. Hmmm....
A self portrait in South Dakota
So I drove 12 miles up the road and into the mechanic's "yard." He was a nice guy, but only worked on domestic cars. (I have a Toyota). Nearest mechanic West of Plankiton- 50 miles. Apparently, I should have turned around back towards Mitchell, but it was too late now and I went West. Meanwhile, the car is running perfectly fine- I sense absolutely nothing different in it and I think back to my little Geo Storm that had a continuous check engine light- to which I proceeded to pay no attention at all. Why is THIS one freaking me out????
I got to Chamberlin, SD- which was pretty beautiful, all things considered. The town was 5 miles off the expressway and at the top of the these awesome rolling hills. Admiring the scenery, I almost missed "Mel's," but I caught it and pulled into the lot. There were 2 guys working- I think one was Mel and he was a chubby little character with thick horn-rimmed glasses which he was continuously pushing up on his nose. I swear, I think he had them taped in the middle too... He took out his little computer doohickey and hooked it up the car. And guess what? It's an oxygen sensor that's out (apparently). Will it affect anything? Make me be on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere? No- it's just the sensor. That will be $35 for that 5 minutes of work. OUCH!
The Missouri River was just west of Chamberlin- and it was a beautiful crossing
And more Badlands
. The sky was blue, the hills were that yellow-green color, and the water reflected the sky. The wind was really kicking up after that- and it wasn't helpful that I have a sail on top of my car. But I kept my speed up and continued west, heading for the Badlands National Park.Badlands was awesome- huge gray monuments of stone, striated with various color tones, rising up from the pale gray desert earth for no reason at all. There were waves of stone, rippling until they were broken by patches of grass. The sun was harsh there and dried everything out as soon as it touched. I drove the road through the park and ended back on I-90 about 1.5 hours later.
Next stop of the day was Mt. Rushmore- which was a little out of the way, but I'm guess I'm glad I went. The road to the monument was hilly and long and it started to rain by the time I got there. I paid my $8 parking fee and drove into the parking garage. That monument is very... tourist oriented. The parking garage is very schnazy and new and everything is stone gray colored. The viewing platform was a short walk from the garage and I stepped out (without my raincoat... because I thought the rain had stopped) and went out to see what all this was about. I went, I saw, I snapped a few pictures and I left
Another one
. Next to Badlands, Rushmore (sorry) didn't really strike me that much. I mean- amazing carving and whatnot... worth seeing... but not that impressive next to the natural wonder of the Badlands. Who knew? I guess it was kind of like that time I watched The Excorcist right after I watched Lawrence of Arabia. It just didn't strike me like everyone said it would.... Next thing I know I'm back on I-90 and headed west again. The sun was dropping quickly and I figured I'd better get off the road if I was going to set camp. And (finally) I did. I found a KOA in Spearfish and threw down the $24 to set up a tent. Camping felt great- being outside instead of cooped up in a room. It took me a little while to figure out my tent again since I hadn't used it in 2 years (HORRIBLE!) but it was up in no time and I spent the rest of the evening writing and planning. I also made a few calls and was convinced to stop into Bozeman and get the oxygen sensor fixed.
Not too bad of a day- but I really could have done without that check engine light....
