Leaving the motorhome repairs behind we headed out again for Moscow,Idaho and visit with our friends for Tuscon,...

Leaving the motorhome repairs behind we headed out again for Moscow, Idaho and visit with our friends for Tuscon, Barry & Darcel. Dagmar and Darcel were made to road bike while Barry and I really enjoy golfing. So the girls did 4 bike rides there, one of them a 72.5 mile 'Trail of the Coeur d'Alene. Barry and I played 3 rounds of golf, one of them a best ball tournament where we captured third place. We called Bill & Shirley who were following the Oregon Trail out of Independence, Missouri and had made it as far as Casper, Wyoming. They left the trail to join us for few days in Moscow, so we all had a great time together, biking, hiking, golfing, and exploring the Palouse region before Barry & Darcel leave for a 7 month Austraila/New Zealand trip.

Looking from Steptoe Butte, Washington towards Moscow, Idaho.

Looking from Steptoe Butte, Washington towards Moscow, Idaho. Steptoe is at an elevation of about 3800' and the Moscow Mountains in the lower left are about 40 miles away. This picture does not even do it justice and was taken from my phone. Hope to have some taken with the camera ready soon. So busy, golfing, biking, hiking and sightseeing just not enough time for posting pictures. The land in the Palouse Region is simply AMAZING!!

Since we really could'nt do anything about the RV until Monday wedecided to explore Missoula.

Since we really could'nt do anything about the RV until Monday we decided to explore Missoula. Our friends told us it was a very cool college town, the University of Montana is there. We drove in, and made our way to the center of town which is Caras Park right on Clarks Fork river. We spent a delightful day with the dogs and even got to listen to a wonderful performance by the Missoula Symphony Orchestra in the evening. Heading home tired, but happy, that evening we were refreshed from the troubles of the previous day!!

We still had a bit of battery trouble in Three Forks so I replaced thefinal battery with a new one from the NAPA...

We still had a bit of battery trouble in Three Forks so I replaced the final battery with a new one from the NAPA store in Butte, Mt about a half hours away. But even though we had all new batteries, we were still losing battery power to the coach while plugged in to shore power or running our generator. The batteries were just not being charged. After consulting with my friend Bill Boyce, who was still following the Oregon Trail in Nebraska, and following up with a call to Ron's Diesel repair in Three Forks we decided to move on down the road and tackle when the repair shops were open next week.

About 100 miles later when we stopped in Clinton, Mt for diesel fuel I was checking the tow straps on the car when I noticed a little spray of antifreeze coming from the motorcoach engine compartment. The plastic coolant overflow container leaking from four different spots. They plastic was just giving way.

We were about 20 miles from Mizzoula, Mt with a large RV dealer, CAT dealer, and a Freightliner dealer. After many calls it was decided that the best approach was to remove the part and take it in Monday morning to try and match it up for a replacement. Today being Saturday afternoon we looked to camping at the Conoco Super Grocery Store until then.

We arrived in Three Forks Montanna, in the late afternoon, weary fromtraveling.

We arrived in Three Forks Montanna, in the late afternoon, weary from traveling. We had tried a few other RV stops only to be told they were full up. It seems Yellowstone visitors had them all booked. Camp Three Forks was a very nice, peaceful park, if just a little more expensive than we like to pay at $38.50/night.
The 10th was my birthday so we had to have a little cake to celebrate. Then we were curious to visit the birthplace of the Missouri River so we headed out to the Missouri Headwaters State Park to learn more. Finally we decided on visiting the town of Three Forks itself and ended up having dinner at the Sacajawea Hotel.

After we put the car on the dolly, pulled in the slideouts and jacks,we couldn't get the engine to start even using...

After we put the car on the dolly, pulled in the slideouts and jacks, we couldn't get the engine to start even using the crossover switch that adds the power of the coach batteries to the starter batteries. After calling around we found 3 suitable batteries at the NAPA store 20 miles back east. After removing the 4 batteries and  marking all the wires (many) for reconnection we took the car off the dolly and headed to the NAPA store. Three of the batteries tested 'dead' while the fourth one still had some life in it. That was good because the store only had 3 new batteries. Back in the park we put all the batteries in and the motorhome started easily. We were on the road by 12:30pm but not for long. About 15 miles down the expressway I spotted a piece of wood in the road. I tried to avoid it without swerving too hard and although it missed the front tire it clipped the back outside dually. At first all seemed 'OK'  but then Dagmar yelled from the kitchen of the coach to pull over, something was wrong. The pictures tell the story!! The board, probably a loading board from some 18 wheelers bed, put a huge hole in the tire and popped the fiberglass sideboard out. We used the Verizon wireless Mifi and our computers to locate the Farmers Union mobile support. They sent Carter, a more hard-working, professional, South Dakotan young man, you will never see. He jacked up the motorhome, popped of the old tire, put on the new one in about 1/2 hour. I followed him back to the store in Beach to pay the bill. Emergency service tire replacement was cheaper than the new tire I put on in Tucson last hear. This time it was about 3:30pm when we started out. Pulling in to Mountain Canyon RV park some 5 hours and over 300 miles later the long expensive day was finally over!!