At the doorstep of Yellowstone and a new tool for me

From Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone, MT

We departed from Thompson Falls (sniff) Wednesday morning and drove to Missoula for a replacement tire and some adjustments to our ABS system on the motorhome.  Then we drove another 100 miles to Deer Lodge for an overnight stay. 

Our plan was to drive Thursday to an RV campground just outside of Yellowstone.  We awoke to heavy  rains on Thursday.  Not being tied to a schedule and not having to be at Yellowstone that day, we decided to stay put.  Good decision.  Driving a huge motorhome on wet roads with steep grades is not something we want to do when we can safely stay in the same location.  The park we were in was glad to collect another day's rent.

Today we made the 200 mile drive.  It went smoothly.  We got here about 1:30. 

Unfortunately, this park is coming off of a record attendance year and is still quite busy.  While they could accommodate us, we have to move Saturday morning and then again on Sunday morning.  We get to stay in the same site for our last two days here.

Now for the "new tool."

Almost two years ago I bought our Tire Pressure Monitoring System from Mike and Pat McFall.  As part of the sale they tossed in a little multi-tool that I would use from time to let excess air out of a tire. 

 I had no clue to the other uses of this tool.  I found out today that the fat end closest to the dime is called a "thread chaser" and is used to re-cut the threads on tire valve stems.  What led me to discover this extra feature on this tool was a careless employee at the tire store in Missoula who damaged the threads on my tire valve extension.  On a car tire this would not be a big deal, but with damaged threads on the coach  I could not screw on the Tire Pressure Monitor on the tire that was replaced. Fortunately, for me the store has a great manager and he dug around in his junk drawer and found a temporary replacement for me.  Tomorrow I can put the correct extension back on.

And tomorrow we head into Yellowstone.  Stay tuned.