May 25, 2018 - Ashton, ID to Three Forks, MT

It was around 7:45 am when we left the pullout and got back on US 20 N after spending the night.  As soon as we pulled out Erwin noticed smoke coming out in the back of our Lil’ Home (LH). I was horrified because I thought the tailpipe was the problem. No, it came from the Pilot!  What happened???  Erwin forgot to set the gear in N, he left it in P. That caused the tires to lock and drag on the road.  It was a good thing that we did not drive very long with that happening. 

Well, a couple miles north of Island Park, ID we suddenly felt wobbles, knew something was wrong. Erwin quickly pulled over to the shoulder to see what the problem was.  Ahhh, damaged front tire on the passenger side. This also caused damages to fender and wheel well.  

Just before coming to a stop on the side of the road, Erwin noticed
the bicycle rack violently rocking back and forth causing Edith's bike
 to come off and land right in front of the car!  Good thing the RV
had stopped by then or Edith's bike would have been totaled!
The highway patrol kindly assisted me in loading the bike back on.

While Erwin was in process of changing tires I quickly filed claim with our insurance company.  A passerby stopped by to see if we were okay, and there was not much he could do for us.  We were going to go ahead and drive, but after a close inspection Erwin noticed that the left front tire looked bad. That was about that time the police came by, took a look at the tires and suggested Erwin to drive 4 more miles at 20 mph to the service station. The police followed us from behind all the way. 

We got to Elk Island Gas Station ( Phillips 66) in Island Park, ID where there is a small repair shop n the back.  Unfortunately, they did not have tires for us, and Joe called Jake’s Auto in West Yellowstone. 

Jake's Auto had 4 tires ready for us, so we left the car behind, drove in our LH, which took about 28 miles to West Yellowstone. Mike, one of the shop workers, helped us load 4 new tires in our LH. We then got back to Elk Island Gas Station.  

That was where the tire blew out 

Precious cargo??

Joe was somewhat miffed when he found out how hard it was to take out the shredded tire, took a while to figure it out.  It took him about half an hour to replace all four tires.  

It was 12:45 pm when we finally got back on the road to Three Forks, Montana. As usual, the drive along Highways 20 and 287 was so pleasant and the view was to die for.

Ennis, MT

Shortly after we left Ennis town we stopped at Madison River Propane to get the propane tank filled up, since we will be "dry camping" in Three Forks, MT for one month.  

Painted Propane Tank 

The Country Road to "Home"

Backing in at Keri and Dustin's property

This is where we are staying "home" for one month ❤️ 

Keri and Dustin were still out of town when we arrived Three Forks at 3:15 pm. Keri asked us to do her a favor by doing few things while she was away.  Erwin went on to work on the Styrofoam prop, while I got the supper started in Instapot (my first time using it).

Erwin cutting out the shapes for
the Hogwarts prop

The sky looked so menacing, but it did not rain a bit

~~Edith

Miles driven: 224 from Ashton to Three Forks

Campground: Dry camping at Keri and Dustin's residence 

May 24, 2018 - Springville, UT to Ashton, ID

The shop was open earlier than 8 am, and Russell, the owner/manager brought in a chrome tailpipe that needed to be cut to size.  It took the mechanic like 15 minutes to fit the tailpipe in and secured it with a hanger.

We slept among those semis overnight

Erwin checking to be sure the tailpipe is positioned correctly

Ta-da... How does it look?

It was around 9 am when the repairs were all done, but we had to wait for Easy Care Extended Service Warranty for approval on parts/labor.  Russell had to run through each part with stock number and quantity. It was time consuming for him and us. He told Erwin that he had never dealt with extended service warranty companies before, said he would never work on any vehicle if there was a warranty.

After going back and forth between Russell and Easy Care the invoice had to be revised a couple times to show our balance.  I felt sorry for the secretary who had to revise the invoice on the computer.  It was around 2:20 pm when we finally left the shop! Whew! 

We took I-15 North, and the traffic jam was not so bad, but it took us 2 hours to reach Brigham City, UT. There we pulled into rest area because we left a case of bottled water in the car and needed to have some in our Lil' Home.  We rested a bit before continuing the journey.

Devil Creek Reservior
See how deep blue the water is
off I-15 north of Malad City, ID

We took an exit to a rest area in Blackfoot, ID to fix supper.  Since I did not take out meat to thaw I settled on breakfast with bacon, hash browns and eggs.  I thought we were going to dry camp here, but Erwin wanted to continue driving.

It was near Ashton, ID that it started to rain and there were lightnings.  Erwin had a hard time focusing on the road when it started to get dark  At 9:15 pm he turned into a wide pullout to park for the night.

It looks like Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast movie

The Old Wizard

~~Edith

Miles driven: 314 from Springville, UT to Ashton, ID

Campground: Dry camping at a pullout off US 20