Last Saturday I left the Valley at 0400 and drove 10 hours to Mesquite, NV. It turned out to be a stressful run because my sweet little pickup was running rough and I had no idea why. I installed a new cap, rotor and plugs before I left along with an air filter and fuel filter. She should have been purring like Piper. At a rest area I checked the plug wire connections and after I arrived at the Virgin River Casino I tightened down my plugs. As I settled into the hotel hot tub I was hopeful for the next day.
Heading south in the morning, the problem was still there, and I had to make a decision. Do I drive through Vegas and then down into the desert towards my four night stay in Laughlin, moving my wounded truck further and further away from home on a Sunday when auto repair shops are closed, or do I limp her back north towards Idaho.
It killed me to do so since I’ve been looking forward to this desert getaway for months, but I took the first exit and turned back towards home. I ended up in Lava Hot Springs for the night, had a couple great soaks, and was home Monday morning.
Since I’ve been back I’ve managed to fix my truck (new coil and plug wires), attend a large meeting of the local Eclipse group where I ran my new app TetonPath for the crowd, and whipped up some great database editing code for it. It’s been a very productive couple of days, so why am I so damned depressed? Oh, maybe because it’s cold and rainy here and it’s 85° and sunny there. Ya think?
Here are the culprits before I replaced them:
