Day 16 - Friday 7/15/2005 -  Towtruck ride #2...

Up at dawn, packed up, and working to get a "jump" from the campground.  They bring over the jumper battery, connect it, thirty seconds later the engine springs to life.  I still need to take it to the local GM dealership to get it checked out, but at least I won't have to tow it.  I thank the man, and he pulls the cables off of the battery.  The engine dies.  We both look at each other.  He reconnects the cables, am I can restart the car.  As soon as he disconnects the cables, the engine dies.  We repeat this excise several times with a simian fascination, before we conclude that either the battery cannot even carry current, or something in the circuit is dead.  I thank him, and get on the phone to AAA.  They get me routed, collect my info, and 30 minutes later the towtruck arrives. In the meantime we pulled the bikes and carrier off of the hitch so as not to destroy them during the tow. I'm also on the phone to the Farmington NM dealership, asking if anything from the other day could have caused a lingering problem.  

The driver arrives, the "Danger Cart" is loaded on the truck and we have an uneventful trip to the dealership.  We unload, and now it is just a matter of killing time until they can look at it.  Just after lunch, they confirm that the battery appears fine and is holding a charge, abut that the engine is not getting any power.  They track it down to one of the battery terminals (actually under the terminal) has dirt and is not carrying current.  Why all of a sudden???  Just one of the mysteries of Moab I guess.  They clean it, test it, and all appears fine.  I call Ed at the dealership in Farmington and let him know it was just a coincidence and nothing related to night other night.

 We go back to the campground, reattach the bikes, get some lunch and head for Zion NP.  The route takes us on interstate, so I feel comfortable in the event we have a car problem...until I see the sign that says "next services on I-70 110 miles".  Should be a fun ride.  The temperature is 112, and we are heading up through mountains, so I am watching the gauge carefully.  It approached overheating, but stopped short.  We saw a lot of trucks on the shoulder, obviously waiting for their engines to cool.

 Eventually we reached the junction of I-15 and headed south to Hurricane UT, where we stopped for the night.  The 8pm temperature was 105.  Should be a warm one tomorrow.