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Saturday – Livingston run day

This morning Leviticus was saying hello to his friends.

I call to see if both my car parts are in. I was very disappointed to hear that only one came in.  They said they would order it again. I started getting ready to go to the indoor garage sale. Before I was ready to leave they called back to let me know they found the other part. Off to the trash dump, indoor garage sale and then Livingston.

Was hoping for snow gear at the garage sale. More books, movies, dishes, clothes and kids stuff. I did score two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I also got a super soft Winnie the Pooh towel for the cats to sit on. Off to Livingston.

Hit Taco Bell on the way into town. Found a UPS store so I was able to send my Amazon return. Have to get a few more tools so Ace hear I come. Side note even the dogs drive trucks in Montana.

On to O’Reilly Auto Parts. I get my parts. While in the parking lot I check all the fuses and do some more research on the central locking system. Can’t figure out why it doesn’t work so I move on. I go over to Napa to see if they have anything that I can drive the car up on so I can work underneath. After a search by me and the salesperson we find some. Homeward bound to do some car work.

Good view of the mountains on the way back.

The elk are out in force at the house.

So before I use the ramp, which I am not so sure about on uneven ground I try to get under the car to find the O2 sensor. I am able to squeeze under the car without the ramps. Good thing I am not claustrophobic. It is tight under the car. I get the tools and start working on getting the O2 sensor out. It will not budge. I try to use my left hand, I try by right hand and I get a hammer to tap the wrench. Nothing works. Finally I get the tire iron and use the nut open to hook the wrench and I use all my worth to get it to turn loose. It takes forever with little turns to get it out. Once out I come to the great conclusion that I took out the wrong one. Very disappointed that I missed this. While I have it out I clean it some and put it back in. I do some more research and find that it is one under the hood. Turns out the car has four in all. I go from being under the car to being under the hood. This one is hard to get out as well, but not as bad as the one under the car. I get the new one in. I start the car to test it out. Not sure that I can really tell any difference. On to the second part. After much more research I find that I am in over my head for the second part. It would require taking half of the engine out.  I think I need more than a video to do something that complex, so I call it quits for the day.

While eating dinner and listening to a book on tape a storm rolls in. If it had been Georgia I would have been bracing for a tornado, but they don’t really get those here. It was so bad that it knocked down about 8 power lines outside of town. That killed power for all of Gardiner and all of Yellowstone Park for a little over three hours. During this time I was full off-grid. I didn’t even have running water because the well needs power to pump. For awhile I watched a buck elk play with a branch by picking it up and throwing it with his antlers. Got a little chilly in the house. It was about 10:30 when the power came back on. Added bonus for me was that I had clothes in the washer when the power went off so I had to finish doing laundry before I could go to bed. By the time I was laying down the storm had moved from a rainstorm to a snowstorm.

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Time to recheck the check engine light

My morning greeting.

First task is going to the dump. These cats generate more trash than I do!

Off to Livingston. Need to have my check engine light checked to get the codes. Also want to have the transmission fluid changed. A lot colder as I get near Livingston. Down to 13.

Also crazy to see the snow storm wall.

I stopped at the place that changed my oil to see if they could change the transmission fluid. Well that would be a “no”. They gave me the name of a transmission place. When there and they were closed. Found two other places on my phone. Both were closed. So no transmission fluid change. That was just a guess anyway based on all I was reading online.  Now for the check engine light. When to O’Reilly Auto Parts. The worked for a while to get the codes. Finally got the codes. Good news was that the codes I had before were gone. The work I did with the ignition coils and spark plugs worked. The bad was that I now have new codes. They looked them up and found I needed two new parts. Then comes the dreaded “we don’t have those in stock”. So I ordered them and said I would be back next Saturday to pick them up. Then it was off to Taco Bell. Ran into some people from work at The Bell. Went to the grocery store next. Needed to get some fruit for the after church meal tomorrow, also needed some more soup. Once I had my supplies it was back to Gardiner.

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Headed out to the BIG city

Left work at lunch time to head to the big city to try and get a car tag and maybe my Montana license. You are highly encouraged to make an appointment for getting your license. I could not get one for the day I am going so will be rolling the dice. Going to Livingston first and then to Bozeman so will get two tries.

The bison are not happy with me clocking out early. They setup a roadblock.

Made it home and switched to my car and started on my way. It is really hard to explain the excitement I feel going to the big cities.  What would I see? What would I do? The best way I can explain it is to say it was like when I was a kid and I knew we were going to Six Flags the next day. Part of me is a little uncomfortable that I am this excited.

On the way out of town I had another roadblock. Really cool seeing them up close, and he had no fear. Cars wised by and he didn’t flinch.

It’s a hard drive with nothing to really look at on the way….

Stopped in Livingston and found the tag office. No line and everything went smooth. I got a Yellowstone tag with a bear on it. Montana still has the option to just pay one year at a time for taxes, so went with the year option as I was wondering if I will still have a driver door on my car in a year.

Found the drivers license office. Went in and found about 6 people waiting and only one person working. A sign clearly stated by appointment only. I asked if I still had a house in GA if I had to get a Montana licence. They said that I could only claim residency in one state and I would need the licences from the state I want to claim residency in.

Stopped by the Verizon store on the way out of town as my data is still turned off on my phone. Checked on what a hot spot would cost, which turns out to be pricey and no unlimited plans unless I get a phone with Verizon. Will wait on that.

On to Bozeman I go. Found the driver’s license office. They had two doors. Door 1 was for appointments and door 2 was for walk-ins. The fact that they have a process for walk-ins was promising. Went in and was told that I could wait. Filled out the forms and only waited less than 30 minutes for my turn. So it turns out that Montana is in a fight with the TSA and federal government over licenses. That star on the top right of your GA license is a “smart id”.  They don’t have that in Montana, so the TSA is saying they are going to stop taking the Montana licence for air travel. I asked the lady about it. She said that the state filed for a year extension. This means I “may” be able to use my new Montana licence for air travel. Regular lisence is about $40, and the “smart” one is about $140. She said it wasn’t worth it now and to just use my passport if the TSA stopped recognizing my Montana license. Well alright then….

I am now a card carrying member of “The Last Best Place”.

Now for some shopping and site seeing. I went to TJMaxx, Barnes and Nobles, REI, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Stopped at multiple hair cutters multiple times to be able to get my hair cut. I think they must have a shortage of places to get haircuts. Then for the big Walmart extravaganza. Capping that off with a stop at Taco Bell (inside joke – I am turning into my dad).

My big night out is coming to an end and time to drive home.