Well Tuesday dawned crisp and clear. Full of Promise. I had a plan that should work. Leave the trailer in Missoula to get fixed. Drive on to West Yellowstone, spend a couple of nights there and explore part of the park. Next day we had reservations at the Old Faithful Inn, explore Old Faithful, and Friday night in a cabin at Lake Lodge and go see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
I ambled over to the KOA’s breakfast buffet, an expensive mistake, but it didn’t even rate an Honorable Mention on this trip. The previous day, the desk at the KOA had given me a list of RV repair services and RV dealers to help me get my axle fixed. I called the guy that claimed he’d fix RV’s on site, turns out he specialized in appliance and plumbing repair, not rolling systems. He suggested the smaller RV dealer near the KOA. I called them, but couldn’t talk to the repair department, but they would call me back.
I got back to the trailer, and found my wife who’d spent the last day and a half on the couch wrapped in a blanket moping over a lost vacation, up, dressed and busy sorting what needed to go in the truck with us to Yellowstone and what we could leave in the trailer. I was ready to call this chapter “Episode 4: a New Hope”.
We cleaned out the trailer, threw away the trash, including the broken bits of sheet metal fascia that the tire had destroyed. We donated the frozen food to a worker at the campground, packed up the rest of the chilled goods, hooked up the trailer and headed off. I got over to the RV dealer, who hadn’t returned my call, and found out that their service department couldn’t handle bent axles. Now what, the promise is deflating rapidly. Oh, they brightly tell us, try Les Schwab, they’re just up the street, they can handle this kind of stuff.
If you’re not from the PNW, Les Schwab is a large regional tire store that brags about it’s customer service. A lot of their TV advertising is about employees who go above and beyond to help stranded motorists. And this was the largest store I’d ever seen, 10 bays for cars plus two more for semis. The counter guy is a bit dubious, but he goes back and checks with the alignment guy. A long 10 minutes later he comes out with a blank look on his face (we’re doomed!) and agrees that our axle is bent and that they can repair / replace it. A long battle with the computer ensues as it’s sure my phone belongs to someone else. Finally, we use my wife’s phone as she has purchased a tire from one of their stores. So my trailer is now listed as a 2013 Chevy Impala. We also order 3 new tires, a new rim and tell them to proceed on repairing the axle. We’re going to be out of phone range for a few days. They help me park the trailer, they’ll move it with a forklift they tell me.
And then we’re off. A mad dash to West Yellowstone, MT, just over 4 hours away over the now dreaded Homestake Pass (looking at you Yellowstone2011). I know Montana is supposed to be “Big Sky Country”, but up till now the sky is just this narrow band between two nearby mountain ranges. Finally we get out of the small valleys and into the open plains, then the sky opens up.
We stopped for lunch and some new coats. September mornings in Montana are COLD. Back on the road we climb the dreaded Homestake Pass, give the brakes and the transmission a workout on the way down. Around the exit for Cardwell, we opt to go cross-country on 2 lane highways. Funny, the truck I couldn’t get over 75 Mph on the 80 Mph Interstate, can now reach speeds in excess 85 while overtaking and passing slower cars.
As we approach West Yellowstone, we pass Quake Lake, a massive lake caused by an earthquake back in 1959. It’s a reminder and preview of the Tectonic wonders ahead.
We finally arrive at West Yellowstone and I manage to get lost, thanks Google Maps. Check into the hotel and finalize our plans for tomorrow. This vacation might happen after all.
Previous Episodes:
Yellowstone 2016, Getting there is half the fun?
Yellowstone 2016, Halfway there?