Chillin' in Missoula

We have enjoyed a relaxing day in Missoula today.  We slept in, had a relaxing breakfast and then drove over to the National Forest Service Museum near the airport.  We were the only people there besides the one person staffing the small visitor center.

Neil at Outdoor Sign at National Forest Service Museum Site

Pamela, Smokey Bear, and Neil

National Forest Service Museum Site

They are in the middle of a fundraising campaign to build a new visitor center to house all the artifacts that have been collected from around the country.  It looks like a nice site, and it was good to visit and contribute to their efforts.

We then drove south to Fort Missoula to look over the area, and stopped at an Albertson's for some supplies.  When we got back to the RV park, Neil checked the RV oil, cleaned the windshield, sorted out the water connections, adjusted the BBQ grill, and finally took on step two of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) install--screwing on the sensors.

Isn't it amazing how the simple tasks come back to bite you in the backside?  What should have been an easy task was complicated by the dual wheel valve stems on the INSIDE of the tires.  There are tire stem extensions for the inside wheels, but Neil could not reach the outside tire valve stems to install the sensors on the end of the valve stems. 

Long story short, he was able to install the sensors on eight of the ten tires (six on the RV and four on the Forester "Toad").  They are sending PSI and temperature information to the monitor as they should.  Neil will have to take off the wheel covers to get to the outside wheels, or we may add the 'J' valve stem extensions that make it easy to check and reach the outside dual wheel valve stems.  We had them on earlier RV's and they work great if properly installed.

We will see how well the Toad sensors transmit to the RV monitor on the dash when we are hooked up and going down the road.  We may have to invest in a signal booster if they don't show up on the monitor.

Historic "Camping" #1 Teepees at KOA Campground

Historic Camping #2 - Pamela and I Remember Wall Tents

Tonight, we had a wonderful visit and dinner with Jeff and Heather Miller  at their new place at 4000 feet above Missoula.  Jeff and Neil worked together in the Forest Service Regional Recreation Staff for many years, and he transferred down to Missoula over a year ago.  Tomorrow, we leave for Livingston, Montana on our way to Wyoming and South Dakota.

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