9/16/14- Day 2

We had a good night's sleep and then got up to watch the sunrise over the lake.  We had a great breakfast with sausage from a local butcher named Schuffelmire.  After eating and packing up the T-bird we were ready to roll.  Turned the key; it started first try.  Hurray!  Put it in gear; it went nowhere! When we checked trans fluid, the dip stick came up dry. Joe went to town and purchased a quart while I checked for repair places in Coure d'Alene, ID, I  found a small shop that had good reviews.  When I called explained our situation, the owner said he would make time for us. We added a quart of tranny fluid and the T-bird made it into to Coure d'Alene .  Bollers shop put the car on a lift and inspected it. The pan bolts on the transmission were not torqued correctly causing the hose to the transmission cooler to leak. Paul ordered the parts (which had to be returned the first time) and replaced what was required, cleaned everything up and checked the tightness of all bolts.  Then he had us drive for 15 minutes and bring it back so he could check the repairs.  We were out of there and on our way again by 12:30 PM. If anyone ever needs auto repair, I recommend Bollers Automotive in Coeur d'Alene, ID. 

We hit the road about 1:00 after topping off the tank.  Premium was under $4.00/gal. so we took advantage of it. I-90 has a 75 mph limit so we took advantage of that too and made up some time we lost this morning.  We were four hours behind and had a long way to go to get to our night's lodging in a teepee.  I'm serious - a teepee!  I've always wanted to sleep in a teepee.  We got to the park by 6:30 PM on my watch, but the park was closed. We then realized that we were in a different time zone and arrived to late. We inspected the teepee and found that it was not like the Yurts in Oregon. 

These teepees had grass growing inside ,dirt floor, and miscellaneous stuff from other campers.  As we were taking pictures lightning could be seen beyond the valley we were in.  We could see through the top of the teepee structure even with the poles closed.  We decided that we could forgo the experience of sleeping in a teepee at this time in our trip.

By the time we got back to the freeway it was getting dark, so we continued on to Bozeman, MT for the night.  When we checked into the hotel the receptionist noticed our car and was interested in our trip.  She gave us her grandfather's phone number.  He lives outside Springfield, IL and restores cars for a hobby.  He has 8 of cars of various kinds and most are completely restored.  We have decided to stop and see him on the way.

Tomorrow we are headed for Devils Tower.  We are planning to intercept a friend from Wisconsin who drives truck.  He is headed for the west coast on a run that passes us.  Tomorrow, after a morning stop in Bozeman , it is on to Custer for the 66ers for a couple of days.