Clock & trip counter died after long trip

Just came back from a long trip to South Dakota. The car ran really well, mileage was great etc. Stopped in Grand Forks N.D. for 1/2 hour and tried to start the car. The clock and trip meter was dead and the car would start but not run. Phoned the help line and they were all set to send a tow truck when all of a sudden the clock and meter came back to life (still stuck on the time it died). I tried it again and it ran well but the check engine light & air bag light was on. After about 10 minutes the check engine light went off but the air bag stayed on all the way back home (2 hours hwy driving). So can anyone give me an idea of what went wrong here? I guess it will have to go the dealer on Tuesday however I'm hoping there is an easy fix..
Any ideas?

For the record the folks at the help desk were really helpful even with the Canadian handoff to American line.

Check the battery(cells, connections, etc).

Are you suggesting to just disconnect the battery for a minute or two and then reconnect? Won't lose any information in the computers will I?

Which year & model of car is it?