Friday, 9/2/22 Walden again, into Laramie

 9/2/22 Friday

46 degrees as we begin the drive back to Mike the mechanic in Walden.  The Check Engine light comes back on about half way back. We arrive about the same time Mike does at 8 AM.

There is a laundromat a few blocks away from Mike's garage, so we will do laundry while he is checking out the Trek.  Nothing fancy - no restrooms, no wifi - but we do find electrical plugs and the gas station/convenience store across the way has clean restrooms and hot COFFEE.  We talk with a nice man from Minnesota who is out here fishing and hunting with his son and others.  He was elected for laundry duty today.  Laundry is done, but we just hang out here till Mike calls.

Mike reports that the transmission fluid smelled burnt.  He has replaced a gasket and the filter and added new fluid.  The hope is that the filter was restricting things and causing overheating, but.... we'll see.  We are back on the road about 11:20AM.  He tells us to call if we need him.

Next stop was going to be the Snowy Range just over the border in Wyoming.  But there is a lot of elevation there, so we're not sure, even though Greg is faithfully using 3rd gear on inclines.   We are in Wyoming when the Check Engine light comes back on - boo, hiss.  We talk with Mike who suggests a GM Dealership in Laramie - says they are pretty good guys and since it is a GM product he thinks they can better diagnose things.  He says he used to rebuild transmissions but doesn't do it anymore (as we find out hardly anyone does). We also have been texting with Tom and Sue, who used to live in Laramie.  They say we might have better luck in Cheyenne because it is bigger, but their friend Tim says he has heard positive things about the GM dealership.   

Greg calls Curtis, our mechanic back home who asks us to get the code and call him back.

We decide on the GM Dealership and make an appointment for tomorrow morning, knowing they will be closed Sunday and Monday.

Some pretty scenery and we begin to see antelope along the way - a welcome change from cows! But we are rather preoccupied.  I keep telling Greg it is "an adventure".  Yeah, right.

We find a dispersed camping place on Forest Road 703B not too far out of Laramie for tonight.  Atop a rocky hill, there 2 or 3 other campers.  It is hot in the sun, but a nice breeze blowing.

Meanwhile, Tom and Sue have contacted a friend, Tim Sullivan, who has a small apartment in the basement of his house in Laramie, who has offered to let us stay there! We'll talk with the dealership tomorrow and then call Tim. The family reunion begins on the 8th and we were planning to meet Anita and Kevin before then.... lots of balls in the air right now!

Beautiful sunset tonight as we are hopeful about tomorrow's results.