Our second morning in Blanca was shaping up worse than the first.
The Fox still had the chills...so we called an audible on the field.
Rather than stay in "Colderado" to visit Mesa Verde NP, we decided to head to warmer climes.
So we hitched up Clyde to head south to New Mexico...far south...like 70 degrees south!
We were thankfully leaving 8 degree Blanca, CO...
And don't cha' know, Clyde started acting up!
His "Check Engine" light came on...brighter than the lights of Las Vegas...and with 350 miles of road in front of us...on a Sunday morning.
Uhhh-Ohhh...
Hmmmm...let's see...Fuel=Full...DEF=3/4...Temp=Normal ...nothing else amiss.
A check of Clyde's care and feeding book said: "See the Vet as soon as possible...". This can't be good?!?
But it's Sunday morning, and we have to get out of
The guidance in the book was Check Engine indicates some undefined exhaust problem.
So best we could deduce was Clyde either had gastro-intestional distress from eating green apples, or he had bad gas (we can't say 'the farts' in public)...we just didn't know which it was.
So remember the Rules!
Rule 1: Adventures are too few...and life is too short - to not go for it!
So we started south, cautiously...Clyde with the trots and the Fox with the chills...New Mexico or Bust!
(Does anybody really know where Bust is?)
In the 8th grade, in the 70's, "The Grapes of Wrath" was required reading, which explains why Boomers now act the way they do...it is all Steinbeck's fault...horrendous book!!!
Spoiler Alert: The only part of the book remembered by this 8th grader was when the dirt poor Okie farmers loaded up their broken down trucks with their 10 kids and their 2 boxes holding all their worldly possessions, and started out for Oregon...their promised land.
And on their trip towards the setting sun, nobody could talk, breath or move, since Pa needed silence, so he could intently focus - listening and feeling that old jalopy the entire way for any change in vibration, sound or smell...which indicated a roadside breakdown was immanent.
Fast forward from 1920 to 2020...I was now channeling my best Okie Pa as we headed south to our promised land...feeling for any change in Clyde's determination.
But we had Google!
It said Taos was the closest place, at 150 Miles away with an Autozone. And those good folks at Autozone would be happy to hook up an ODBC reader to help diagnose Clyde's problem.
So we held our breath, urged Clyde forward...and listened and felt for any change in his performance...
And there was none...other than that glaring, scaring, undefined Check Engine light!
Does anyone know what a P244A code is?
We don't either, and neither does Autozone!
They probed and prodded Clyde, and the result was "Particulate Filter Pressure Differential", with no suggested fix action.
So back to Rule 1 - Press On Towards Adventure!
We passed through Santa Fe, our original planned stopping point, since temps were only in the 40's.
Onward, onward, to the promised land...which was now Lakewood, NM, tucked down in the southeast corner of the state with daytime temps of 70 degrees!
Uncertainty and concern growing with every passing mile...
And Clyde...
Near Lakewood we stopped for diesel, so I topped off the DEF also (fuel additive used by diesel engines for cleaner emissions).
And surprise, surprise...that crazy Check Engine light went away, never to return.
That Clyde is a beast!
And the Fox...
When we unhitched her in warm, balmy Lakewood, she was recovered from the chills...
Even better, no runny noses...or dripping hoses from her previously frozen condition!
All was well and life is so good!
And God is so kind to the undeserving!
Let the adventure continue...
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