Home for Christmas

Yesterday I made it home after a very adventurous drive. Even after all of my preparations that my wife thought was overkill, I still had a number of unknown variables to deal with. My Jeep had no problem in the snow as I crossed the Sierras on I-80. I did have to stop at the chain control station but the guy waved me right through as he saw I was in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle with awesome snow tires. I was glad I knew where the cheap hotel in Reno was. A word of caution though, the price of the room was only about 60% of the total cost. There were a number of taxes and fees. My $25 room ended up costing $36.04. It was well worth the price as having to spend the night in my car was not something I was looking forward to. I also got a hot shower in the morning.

The real adventure happened after I got through the expected hard part of the trip. My Jeep threw a "check engine" code when I got into Reno. I didn't think anything of it as it was one of those you-can-ignore codes. It turns out, I shouldn't have ignored the code. The engine was running too lean and it was causing problems. Every time I stopped for gas, it would throw a code and the car would struggle to stay running. I would clear the code and the car seemed to run fine only to act up 100 miles later. Eventually I figured out what was going wrong. Whenever you car illuminates the "check engine" light, it runs the fuel a little richer. Your gas mileage goes downhill but the car still runs. Even though you turn off the light, it still runs a bit rich for the next 90 or so miles. I knew this was the case but didn't figure it out until I was about 200 miles from home. Then I left the service light on and limped home. I was glad to pull into my driveway and know that I don't have to go anywhere for the next 20 days.

I still have to work for the next few days but I get to do it from home instead of out in California. That will give me plenty of time to track down the problem on my Jeep, play a few video games, and spend a lot of time skiing.