Sitting Bull Sez "STAY!"

I finally replaced the broken headlight from my deer attack after finding a great deal from a salvage yard in Minnesota. The same day I fixed it, I had to plug a flat tire, which was my second on this trip so far. The next day, I had to redrill bolts that hold mounts that keep the radiator fan in place (that one was kinda my fault—a mishap while putting in the new headlight). A couple days after that, I started my pretty little car and none of the electrical systems came on. Dash lights, dome light, radio, turn signals, fan, odometer, tachometer, speedometer, the button that opens the gas cap cover—all dead. The only things that did work were the headlights, power windows and locks. After driving a couple minutes, everything came back on, but then the same thing started happening every time I turned the car off and on. Lousy timing, since I was planning on leaving South Dakota tomorrow.

I bought this 17-year-old Infiniti last year because I wanted a car to drive on weekends to visit my folks 20 miles away, and for an occasional surfing trip. It was an affordable clunker with 110K on it, and I never imagined I’d be taking it cross-country. I’d like to be back in Oregon for Thanksgiving, so I’m hoping and praying it will pull through just one more month.

I asked Shannon if she knew a good mechanic and she told me auto shops were scarce around here. The good news, she said, was that just about every Indian on the res grows up working on cars. She referred me to Adam, Gerald’s son and her boyfriend.

Adam diagnosed my issue as a bad alternator. Since my battery light came on after the second day of the problem, I readily agreed. And I felt extra fortunate that Adam not only had experience changing alternators, but was happy to help.

Unlike most normal cars, my alternator was buried deep behind several engine components. It took us a while to figure out that we had to remove the AC motor and several hoses just to get to it, and I slashed my hand open across a knuckle pushing it loose (I could actually see my knuckle bone, which was a new experience for me). Eventually, we got the new alternator in and I took the car for a test drive down the street with my neatly bandaged hand.

Two minutes later, I got pulled over by tribal police for not having working taillights or turn signals (for those of you keeping track, that’s about the fourth South Dakota traffic violation I’ve picked up in the past month). Fortunately, the cop knew Shannon and her family, and he believed me when I told him about my electrical problems. He even escorted me back to the house where he, Shannon and Adam had a good laugh about me and my invisible car. It turns out Adam ran after me when he saw I had no taillights. I was oblivious.

So I’m still stuck with a potential car problem. The battery is charging overnight and that may solve everything, but now Adam thinks there could be a bad cable in the harness somewhere. It’s too late to work on it more tonight, so we’ll have to check it out in the morning. And by “we,” I mean Adam while I hand him tools as my mechanic experience is mostly limited to replacing headlights and plugging tires.

My intent was to leave the res early tomorrow morning, visit my uncle in Iowa for a couple nights, visit some old friends in Chicago, then arrive at my next farm in Mississippi by Wednesday evening. Right now, that whole plan is in limbo. I hate to say it, but all these recent car problems are making me feel more than a little helpless. I’m completely dependent on my car right now, and the money I saved for this trip is draining fast with car repairs. I find myself imagining what I would have to give up if I had to travel by bus or train (or foot) and could only carry a couple bags.

I like to think things happen for a reason, so maybe I’m supposed to stay on the res longer, or learn a lesson about patience or money. Maybe God or the universe or the spirit of Sitting Bull is trying to tell me something. I will say that this car issue has brought me a lot closer to Adam and Gerald over the past two days, and I really like those guys. They’re both mellow and down to earth, but also incredibly sharp and friendly. Adam is taking full-time classes in ranching, and is carefully planning his career. I love hearing him talk about what he's learning in cattle care and marketing. I’m also a little envious that I didn’t learn more practical skills in school, or at least something that would have taken me outdoors more. My dual major was in film studies and philosophy. I always told my parents that if the film thing didn’t work out, I could always fall back on the philosophy career. Ha ha.

It’s kind of a crap shoot to see if I’ll be leaving South Dakota tomorrow, so place your bets now!