Aug 15th to 17th - Missoula

Aug 15th – Sun – Missoula
The service department is closed today so we knew we would just be waiting and shopping. I made a large batch of cookies as Todd jokingly included 2 dozen homemade cookies in our deal and I decided to call his bluff.
Another Cougar 5th wheel just like Walter & Marlene’s parked beside them and they – Lynn & Candy - have no 12 volt power but luckily their slides work. We all ended up sitting in the shade in front of our rigs and having a great gabfest with happy hour(s). Lynn & Candy’s fridge won’t even work on propane so we plugged our cooler in so they could put their frozen items in it. They thought the cooler was such a great idea that when they went to get ice for their fridge they also bought a cooler.

Aug 16th – Mon – Missoula
Waiting, waiting, waiting! Our new rig was pulled into the shop to have a small spot of rippled siding fixed and Terry bought a fantastic fan for the bedroom which they will install.
We went shopping for a knife block to fit a narrow, open “cupboard” beside the microwave. We found a really different one that has tightly packed tiny plastic rods to hold the knives rather than slots. While we were gone, Walter & Marlene got their new 5th wheel pulled (rather than backed) into the spot beside them so the doors are facing for moving. I went over to try the knife block in their kitchen and it was ¼ inch too wide. So we went back to the store to return it, stopped at a couple more stores and bought a tradition, narrow knife block that will work really well.
In anticipation of getting our Montana tomorrow, we started pulling stuff out of drawers & cupboards and weeded out some excess baggage. I cut pieces of non-slip shelf liner so I can put it in quickly before loading the cupboards. We sat out and visited a bit with other “campers” and then Marlene & Walter joined us when they were too exhausted to continue moving.

Aug 17th – Tues – Missoula
I made jelly biscuits to share with Walter & Marlene this morning as they were still trying to get everything set up in their new rig. We went to a liquor store and picked up some boxes (as well as liquid refreshments) and then did some more packing. We went to check the rippled siding that the service department had worked on and told them it was not acceptable which the warranty manager agreed with so it has to go back in the shop. I backed up Marlene’s pictures on her computer. We had an appointment at 3 for the final signing and then a walk-through where we found out that the fantastic fan in the bedroom had not arrived and therefore – obviously - was not installed yet. And we have a problem with the hitch for the bicycle rack. We had them order an adapter to go from the new 1 ¼ inch receiver to our existing 2 inch bike rack and were told that it would not take the weight and would bend so they sent it back. We don’t have too many options so Terry said he would take the responsibility for it possibly bending and we would use it to get us to Spokane where we can get a permanent solution. The owner went and picked it up again!
At 5:45 we were finally ready to get the new rig set up beside ours but it was quite a circus to get that to happen. Someone had just parked in the space vacated by Walter & Marlene so our salesman Todd asked if they would mind trading spaces with us. One forklift pulled Walter & Marlene’s old 5th wheel out and another one brought our new Montana to the parking area. He set it down and moved our old rig to Walter & Marlene’s spot, the nice people who moved pulled into our spot and Terry hooked up to the Montana and pulled into the spot beside us so the doors would be together for moving. Got all that?!
It was really hot so we had both air conditioners running which was a bit of a losing battle with the doors open. We had made pretty good progress when Walter & Marlene brought Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner as a thank you for helping her with her computer. It was very nice and we definitely needed a break.
We continued to move until I finally said “enough” and we got to bed at midnight. The Montana does not have as much storage space as our old rig so it was a challenge trying to figure out where to put everything.