Road Trip Day 2: Durango to ... June 2012

The plan ... Get up early.  Ride.  Drive to Mission Viejo, CA.  Two out of three isn't all that bad right?  I Woke up early and despite the sinus infection I got a few z4 hill intervals done.  Along the ride route I found this cool covered wagon on the route. It's smaller than it might appear in the picture.  It's about 1/2 the size of a sedan.

Ride done.  I found and chowed down breakfast, got in the car and headed W on US160 toward Cortez.  There was talk of closing US160 because of a wildfire but that didn't happen.

I stopped at a Subway and got a sandwich for lunch later and somehow I knocked my phone off the bathroom counter and it lands glass down on the slate tile.  The glass it broken, but the phone still works.  It's just really hard to read.  No biggie.

I got to Flagstaff, AZ with no problem and stopped in the National Forest for a little lunch.  The trip was really uneventful until I got to the AZ/CA boarder on I40.  The folks in CA waved me through and as I accelerated away the car made a horrible wooshing sound and simultaneously the check engine light came on and the cruise light started to flash and I lost all acceleration. I'm not about 5miles out of Needles, CA and it's 109 degrees out.  Assuming I blew the radiator I pop the hood and see some steam, but it wasn't gushing out.  I tried turning the engine over and it just sat there.

Being I was outside Needles, CA cell coverage was weak and I of course earlier in the day broke my phone.  Not a big deal, except I couldn't use the r or t keys ... which makes searching for car repair or auto repair or towing services difficult.  But, I finally got it to accept the search and called for a tow.  It's now past 6pm and no service stations are open in Needles, CA.  The tow driver helped me find a hotel, which was conveniently across from the repair shop.