Ever get the feeling that the Universe is trying to tell you something?
Ok, a bit of history is needed.
Back in the summer of '88, I was on a nice cross country motorcycle trip and, towards the end of that trip which went from Houston to Atlanta to West Virginia to Yellowstone and back, I had spent a lovely couple of days in Yellowstone. I left there on a Sunday morning and was planning on spending the evening camping at Devil's Tower and spend the next day going through the Black Hills of South Dakota and seeing Mount Rushmore before taking a couple of days to get home after that.
That was the plan anyway...
To make a somewhat long story short enough for this context, I had blown the alternator on the 3 month old bike I was on, AND the only suzuki shop in the town I got towed into had all of their mechanics on vacation for the week, so was unable to see Devil's Tower or Mt Rushmore. Oh well.
Fast forward 22 years and I found a very nice condition Saab that I had been wanting like for quite a while. It's only issue was that it was in Philly. Time for a road trip and, since I'll be kinda sorta near the places I wasn't able to see last trip, it seemed like a great opportunity to get to them.
You have likely guessed by now that things aren't going quite as planned.
I had stopped in the small town of Fairmont MN last night which put me about 7 hours away from Mt Rushmore. That would make for a relatively easy drive before stopping for the night and I just might be able to get there before sunset to put me quite a bit ahead of schedule. Then my alternator warning light started to glow...
It wasn't on very bright, but it was definitely on and would get brighter and dimmer as the miles went on. I shut everything unnecessary in the car down and hoped to make it as far as Sioux Falls, SD, which was the next closest place resembling a city and, as it turns out, they have a Saab dealer.
When I get there, I find out their Saab mechanic is on vacation this week. ;-)
It's an all European car dealer and it's a simple charging system problem so the other mechanics can handle it. After waiting a bit for them to get to my car, turns out the voltage regulator is toast. They can get one, but not until tomorrow so I'm here for the night.
My original plan was to be home late Saturday so that I could make my hockey games on Sunday. I could still make that, but it would mean abandoning Mt Rushmore and Devil's tower AGAIN. Sorry, not this time.
I know it may shock some of you to hear this, but I'm going to skip hockey Sunday night so I can still make the two places I came all this far to see. I don't know when I'll be in this part of the country again so it's now or never.
Hey, at least I didn't have the car die 40 miles from the nearest town and have to get it towed on a holiday weekend this time. ;-)
They'll have the part in tomorrow morning so I'll be on my way then and then I'll continue my journey.
Back in the summer of '88, I was on a nice cross country motorcycle trip and, towards the end of that trip which went from Houston to Atlanta to West Virginia to Yellowstone and back, I had spent a lovely couple of days in Yellowstone. I left there on a Sunday morning and was planning on spending the evening camping at Devil's Tower and spend the next day going through the Black Hills of South Dakota and seeing Mount Rushmore before taking a couple of days to get home after that.
That was the plan anyway...
To make a somewhat long story short enough for this context, I had blown the alternator on the 3 month old bike I was on, AND the only suzuki shop in the town I got towed into had all of their mechanics on vacation for the week, so was unable to see Devil's Tower or Mt Rushmore. Oh well.
Fast forward 22 years and I found a very nice condition Saab that I had been wanting like for quite a while. It's only issue was that it was in Philly. Time for a road trip and, since I'll be kinda sorta near the places I wasn't able to see last trip, it seemed like a great opportunity to get to them.
You have likely guessed by now that things aren't going quite as planned.
I had stopped in the small town of Fairmont MN last night which put me about 7 hours away from Mt Rushmore. That would make for a relatively easy drive before stopping for the night and I just might be able to get there before sunset to put me quite a bit ahead of schedule. Then my alternator warning light started to glow...
It wasn't on very bright, but it was definitely on and would get brighter and dimmer as the miles went on. I shut everything unnecessary in the car down and hoped to make it as far as Sioux Falls, SD, which was the next closest place resembling a city and, as it turns out, they have a Saab dealer.
When I get there, I find out their Saab mechanic is on vacation this week. ;-)
It's an all European car dealer and it's a simple charging system problem so the other mechanics can handle it. After waiting a bit for them to get to my car, turns out the voltage regulator is toast. They can get one, but not until tomorrow so I'm here for the night.
My original plan was to be home late Saturday so that I could make my hockey games on Sunday. I could still make that, but it would mean abandoning Mt Rushmore and Devil's tower AGAIN. Sorry, not this time.
I know it may shock some of you to hear this, but I'm going to skip hockey Sunday night so I can still make the two places I came all this far to see. I don't know when I'll be in this part of the country again so it's now or never.
Hey, at least I didn't have the car die 40 miles from the nearest town and have to get it towed on a holiday weekend this time. ;-)
They'll have the part in tomorrow morning so I'll be on my way then and then I'll continue my journey.