check engine

you never want to be on day 2 of a 5-day drive and have your “check engine” light start winking at you from the dashboard. but that’s what happened in the suburu (AKA jupiter 2; the buick is voyageur when we’re communicating via walkie talkies — damn these new-fangled communication devices!) yesterday as we were cruising into nipigon, about an hour east of thunder bay, road-weary and gobsmacked by lake superior’s majesty.

it’s probably just the sensor, we all agreed, smiling on the outside but anxious on the inside. day 3 of the drive (today) is the t’under bay to winnipeg leg, featuring dead man’s curve (see previous post) and you don’t want to be taking chances with a potentially wonky engine on any inch of that particular stretch of pre-cambrian asphalt, so just to be on the safe side, jupiter 2 is now at the local suburu dealership in beautiful downtown thunder bay, on the receiving end of the automotive equivalent of a tongue depressor to the tonsils. it’s delayed our departure by an hour so far, but as long as she requires no major surgery, jupiter 2, voyageur and their valuable cargo (including four restless drivers, three books on CD, two thermosii of coffee and one amazingly mellow cat, NOT named toonces) should be pulling into kenora in time for afternoon tea and yodels. she said hopefully.

see you in the central time zone …

 

0 Replies to “check engine”

  1. you are driving the land that spoke so loudly to me the first time I saw it
    the lake, the birch, the soft curve of rock
    my ancestors travelled by foot, canoe
    les courierres de bois avec leurs femmes et leurs enfants bois brûlés

    o to be there now…
    drink it in for me

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