Gaston saves the day!

On Sunday, we loaded up Errin's Malibu and headed to Union Station to drop Rudi off (he was taking the Mega Bus back to the Twin Cities). We then hit the road back to Indiana where Errin was going to drop us off at our car. Not 10 minutes into our trip, we heard an unexpected "ding" from Errin's dashboard and noticed that the battery light had come on. Normally, this might not have been such a big deal, but we were on the Dan Ryan expressway, headed into the worst parts of Chicago and Indiana. Not ideal for pulling off on the side of the road. Errin decided to check the car manual to see what might be wrong. It mentioned something about the car's alternator and to get it checked right away because continue to drive it would result in a drained battery.

Well, as long as the car was moving, we were going to keep driving. We knew it wasn't looking very promising when all of the car's gauges began to go haywire and the windows would barely move up and down. But, good 'ol "LuLu the Malibu" made it all the way to the correct exit in Indiana (but just barely). She conked out at the top of the exit ramp, about 5 miles shy of the train station. Thank goodness Errin carried her AAA card. Gaston, the tow truck arrived about 45 minutes later to take us to his repair shop and then drop us off at our car (also a Malibu that Errin has named "Malibu Stacy"). LuLu was back on her feet by noon the next morning.

We learned a couple of things from this eventful ride:

1. Warning lights on car dashboards sometimes have significant meaning.
   
2. Never take the Dan Ryan or 80/94 until constuction is finished. The signs are terrible and you can't afford an unexpected and lengthy detour when you're running low on battery.
3. Always have AAA (or something like it) when you're not sure about the life of your car.
4. Make sure your cell phone is fully charged before taking a trip.
5. If you have to break-down, it always helps to do so in a town or city that you're somewhat familiar with.