Friday, Day 27

Today was the day drive to San Diego, where we would reunite with Lidia and Maria. The plan was to leave at noon, but my errands and last minutes tasks prolonged the departure time to 1:15. We took our normal route of south on 101, east on 46 and south on Interstate 5. As we were on the Grapevine Grade, the engine light came on. This was a first for the van, so I was perplexed. After pulling over, and checking the oil, we resumed our trip south. Once in the Friday rush hour slow down in North LA, the engine light came on again. I pulled off a Burbank exit, found an automotive repair shop that was still semi-open, and was served by Dro. He was closing for the day, but was kind enough to put his sensor on my engine and report that the van was running extremely lean. In other words, I was getting too much air in the fuel/air mixture. Dro did not have the manpower or time to fix it, and I was not real keen on finding a rental. Dro SURPRISED me by telling me "no charge" when I asked what I owed him, so I gave him a $20 tip for his time. Then I took the risk and resumed our trek south. I did call my friend "Mechanic Mac", back in Salinas who said that as long as the van was not overheating that we should be ok. Thankfully, we made it all the way to San Diego without incident.