Happy Birthday Jim

 Billings, MT   High 48  Low 32

It's way too cold for September 8, but it's headed back up to 90 by next week.

We celebrated Jim's birthday by having Chinese food with Todd and Michaela. He also got a huge birthday present. A totally unexpected birthday present.

We always take our truck in for service while we're in Billings at Denny Menholt Chevrolet. Jim retired from the dealership as the Parts Manager when we decided to go full time. They treat him really good.

However, when they were checking over the truck they found a major problem. The head gaskets were not in good shape at all. It would cost several thousand dollars to repair the truck and it was time for Jim and I to have a long talk. We decided that Jim needed to see if he could find a newer truck that we could invest those thousands of dollars in rather than fix the old one.

So he and one of the salesmen, another Jim, went to work and found one.

As you can see, our old topper doesn't quite match in color and this truck has a shorter bed, so we will have to replace the topper when we get back to AZ. Then came all the work. Those of you who have seen the inside of our truck bed know how much stuff Jim carries with us. All of that had to be moved from one truck to the other. The guys at the dealership helped him with some of it, thank goodness. But he still had to do a lot of the heavy moving by himself. It just so happens that it was 103 that day and the Moose's electric was having issues so our air was not working a lot of the time. Not fun.

But everything is done including getting running boards on the truck so I can get in and out. We plan on leaving here on Thursday. And it's none too soon for me. The Moose Lodge folks are talking about upgrading their electric hookups which they desperately need to do. We use our surge guard and it spends a lot of time not being happy with the power output. This is also one of the noisiest places in the whole world to stay. The railroad tracks are just across the street. I know lots of parks have tracks nearby but these trains make our Bungalow shake day and night. This intersection is also one of the busiest in the city. Sirens are going constantly along with motorcycle riders who feel the urge to rev their motors while waiting for the light to change. Just incredible, the amount of noise.

We left the spider infestation back in Canyon Ferry although we brought many of them with us. We will be bombing the Bungalow when we get back to Apache Junction. Here in Billings we have grasshoppers - thousands of them. 

 

 

I do love the sky in this picture.

So I am ready to leave, at least mentally. Still lots to do to get everything ready for the road.