Poor little 'Rigadoon is still stalling whenever I stop. At this point I'm still hopeful it has something to do with the altitude and I noticed that the octane in the fuel has gone from 87 to 85 so maybe using higher octane fuel will help? Stopped just outside Albuquerque and filled up with 89 octane to see if it helped. Nope. The road leads downhill from hill so dropping altitude is my last hope.
Stopped at Truth or Consequences, a spa town that changed its name in 1950 for the radio show of the same name. A series of thunderstorms were forecast and I was happy to see that the Walmart had covered parking - made of solar panels.
Not entirely waterproof since there was a pretty good stream of water coming from between the panels but still not bad.
I hung out here until mid afternoon when it looked as though the storms had run there course. As I was getting back on the highway the sky stared looking a bit scary but I figured it wouldn't be too bad and headed into a rainstorm for the next rest area.
I had just about enough time to fill my water bottles and wash my hair before the next storm came in. And then another one, and then the doozy.
It started with lightning off in the clouds. Not ordinary flashes - this was close-encounters-of-the-third-kind warning lights. Along with the hide-from-the-aliens lightning there was thunder, rain and pounding hail. Although the sound was deafening it wasn't loud enough to mask the sound of the giant hail globs smashing into my roof vents - and then through them.
It's a funny thing about taking things apart. I had been idly looking at the vents trying to figure out how to take the screen off so I could clear out some tree debris that had been collecting there. Had to be something about taking off the handle but I hadn't gotten around to discovering how that handle unscrewed.
Somehow when rain is hitting you in the face and ice is collecting on the screen above you it becomes much easier to understand dismantling things. One screw, pull the handle, shimmy the screen out. Simple.
By the time I had the screens out and thawing in the sink the storm had passed, leaving lingering lightning in its wake. And big holes in two of my vent covers.
New Mexico is flat and I could see at least one more storm (or spaceship) heading towards the rest area so I did the only sensible fix. Duct tape.
For good measure I slid a couple trash bags over the open vents and closed them firmly to keep the bags tight. Super-classy, I know, but I was going for dry, not stylish.
Got up the next morning and drove to the outer edge of El Paso. Wonder if they sell vent covers here?
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