So, let’s give this
blog a try again. We have owned our
Lance 2385 travel trailer, “Iggy”, for over a year now and have officially
lived in it for around 8 months. We
still love it and find our lives are so much easier. Although, that could be because Jen is not
working anymore. Instead she has been
finishing off her Certificate Program at Skagit Valley College in Marine
Maintenance and Technology, while Monica continues to try and finish her
Master’s Degree at UW. Anyway, we are
taking a 45 day trip all over the country this summer and I figured this would
be a good way to share with people our adventures who aren’t on Facebook and
also those who feel like sitting back and reading my confusing, yet hopefully
sometimes entertaining blogs. However,
if you’re looking for just pictures, stick to Facebook.
The start of our Summer
Road Trip began yesterday, June 22nd, 2014. We left Julann’s house in Arlington, WA
around 7:30pm and headed south to dump the tanks, do some last minute checks
(tires, brakes, lights, etc) and ultimately brave the Seattle traffic
southbound for Hwy 90 and Snoqualmie Pass.
Fortunately, leaving as late as we did (really, we were only 2 hours
late in our departure!), we had clear sailing down the highway. We wanted to at least get over the pass
before stopping for the night. We had
originally wanted to get to Yakima and camp along the Yakima River, but decided
staying at one of those really “fancy” Flying J truck stops would be just the
ticket instead.
**You will find a recurring word pop up in this blog for the
next 45 days and that is, “FREE”. We already had to cut our trip short 15 days
due to our budget, so any type of free camping, free anything, etc., etc.,
helps us out a lot. **
So, around 11pm, we rolled into the
fancy Flying J in Ellensburg and parked next to a few trucks….wait, I mean, we
squeezed in between a crap load of trucks!
Fortunately, we found a site that would allow us to stick out our slide
just a bit (which is needed for us to get back to our bed without becoming
monkeys) without interfering with any of the big trucks. It was a bit loud with all the engines and
generators running, including our neighbor who really needs a new belt of some
sort for his squeaking issues, but it actually wasn’t too bad. We threw in some ear plugs, turned on some
music and once we fell asleep, we didn’t wake up till around 8am the next
morning. Well, at least Jen didn’t. Monica may not have been so lucky. By then, we were one of about a dozen
trucks. Although, I find the trucking
life to be kinda an interesting career, I’m not sure I would do well with the
hours. I would definitely be the type of
driver who slept during the day and drove at night as I am not an early riser.
Anyway, we packed up, sucked
everything in and headed for Hill’s RV, where we originally bought our trailer
in Yakima. They had a replacement awning
arm waiting for us that needed replacing while under warranty. We dropped the trailer off and headed off to
do a few other errands in Grover.
Unfortunately, while filling up the gas tank, Jen realized the door over
the gas fill was not closing right. It
usually springs shut and helps seal the tank fill area since it’s one of those
new “capless” types. Without the spring
though, we had a little problem. (Insert Jen's head thunk here) The
truck would still run, but not very efficiently. So, we found some shade and Jen looked up
online for the problem and fortunately found yet another wonderful Ford F150
enthusiasts blog with step by step instructions and pictures describing how to
fix the problem. Woohoo! Fifteen minutes later, everything was fixed.
Right after we finished up, Hill’s RV called and said our trailer was
ready. What timing!!!
From Yakima, we headed south via
Hwy 97 towards Bend, OR. We stopped at
Maryhill State Park and finished off our lunches and took the dog for a
walk/swim in the Columbia River. With a
cooled off dog and filled bellies, our next stop was the Mountain Identifier
stop in Oregon. What or where in the
world is that, you ask? Well, it’s a pull
off along Hwy 97 that identifies surrounding mountains and volcanoes. The picture below will help make sense.
 |
| There's even some green stuff still around. |
 |
| Mt Hood is that-a way |
With all the volcanoes around and a
wife whose hobby is geology and she used to collect rocks, a girl needs help
trying to figure out what mountain is what without seeming like a complete
doofus. You have Mt Hood, Mt Saint
Helens, Mt Jefferson, Three Sisters, Mt Washington, Mt Bachelor and so on. We have been here before where we could see
all approx. dozen mountains. Today was a
bit cloudy and we could only see a few of them.
After this stop, we pressed on
towards the Bend/Sunriver area where we have currently dropped our anchor for
the next few days. We will be here for
two nights and will enjoy some exploring of the surrounding areas including
volcanoes (Monica of course!) and a tour of the Deschutes Brewery (Jen of
course!). Miss you all and can’t wait to
see many of you.
Jen, Monica and Bowie
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