Tag: RVing

Day 5 – Kansas

We pulled into the Fort Collins KOA super late BUT….we specifically choose to stay at an RV park with SHOWERS. It was necessary, needed and just plain wanted.

We woke up and all ran through the showers and it was like we had a new lease on life.

My “Hi, I’m still alive!” photo that I sent my sisters on Saturday morning.

We definitely started the day later than normal and we are not typically a 6am family.

We hit the road around 11am and the plan was to have a short driving day because the previous day was so long.

Jon has done all the driving and I have been navigating; finding the best route, and where to stop for gas or food, and booking sites to stay at.

I’d say that have the better end of the deal as it seems exhausting to be carrying the weight of the trailer – ha ha ha! But seriously, ensuring the safety of the truck and trailer – and us – seems like a big thing to be shouldering.

Colorado into Kansas was a lot of flat, rolling land. We’ve had a lot of cloud coverage with moments of sunny breaks; but it was incredible when the temps jumped and it was all of the sudden warm.

It was windy; but hot and windy and felt incredible. It’s amazing that we could go from hot and sunny to cloudy so fast.

I had initially thought that we’d stay at one campground but it was only 3 hours away and I figured we could easy do 4 hours. As I tried to find a campground that wasn’t outrageously priced, it became apparent that our options were 3 or 5 hours. I chose the 5 hour option and as a bonus we went through a time zone.

So our short day ended up feeling like a sort of long day as we pulled into the campground in Kansas around 7:30pm. We set up the trailer and quickly made dinner.

After dinner, Jon and I played a quick game of crib while the boys zoned on their devices.

He won but didn’t skunk me. Phew!

The air was warm and breezy and it was a welcome change after how cold it had been. We had the windows open on both sides of the trailer and didn’t even need to turn on the heater.

My boys are weird and sleep with a bottom sheet and a comforter. I am glad that we brought our feather duvet. Our bed – aside from the “spectacular” mattress is like a fluffy cloud. Climbing into it at night is heavenly. It’s surprising how exhausting long travel is. It’s not like we are doing anything physical. Just sitting on our butts all day but we pull into a campground and just want to go to bed. I wish I had the energy to draw or read or something but I don’t.

For Day 6 – Easter Sunday – we plan to get up early and book it the remainder of the way to Arkansas. It will be another big day of driving but then we will stay for a couple of days and that will be lovely.

Day 4 – Utah, Wyoming and Colorado

When we woke up in Twin Falls it was -3 degrees. It didn’t actually feel that cold but that’s what the weather app said.

The boys burnt off a bit of energy while Jon and I readied the trailer.

Rock Creek RV Park

And then we hit the road around 11am.

Our goal was a BIG day of driving. We were aiming for Fort Collins, Colorado which was 9 hours and 45 mins not counting fuel stops, bathroom breaks, lunch and dinner.

The weather hovered around 0 degrees for most of the trip…..it did get as low as -7 through Wyoming and it was as high as 7 in Utah.

The scenery alternated between completely white out as far as the eye could see; to snow on the hills in the background to snow dusted mesa.

We stopped for gas once we made it into Wyoming and it was surprising how much snow and how cold it was.

Compared to the white knuckled windy driving of the day before; this leg of the journey seemed easy. The roads were dry and clear which was nice.

We saw lots of tiny deer while driving through Wyoming and even a couple of elk along side of the hwy.

I love seeing the wind turbines. They are SO huge and seem to move so majestically which feels weird to say about a metal structure but I just love the look of them. Like guardians watching over the land.

Because it was a huge day of driving, we ate fast food garbage for lunch and dinner but it was the boys first time trying Arby’s (lunch but no photo) and Sonic. Sonic was a bigger hit than Arby’s. We still have to hit a Jack in the Box at some point. Any other suggestions for these Canadian Boys to try?

Some time after the sun went down, the moon started to rise over the horizon. It was HUGE and so stunningly bright and orange. Pictures don’t even remotely do it justice. It was amazing.

It was interesting how late the sun stayed up but then how quickly night fell. It felt like you could actually see the darkness taking over and growing in depth.

We pulled into the KOA in Fort Collins around 11:15pm; were set up by 11:30pm and in bed by midnight.

We are planning for a much shorter day for Day 5!

Day 2 – Oregon

We headed southeast through Washington aiming for Oregon.

We drove up and over the Snoqualmie Pass. It was gorgeous and cold. There was SO MUCH SNOW.

We stopped and grabbed a quick bite to eat and shook out our legs a little before carrying on.

We needed gas and came across this fruit and antique mall that was right beside a gas station and while Jon and Jude filled the truck; Siah and I ran through all three floors in a time that would have made Grandma Rathjen proud.

It was huge and filled with amazing treasures. You could have easily spent hours looking through it all.

Dad, you would have LOVED looking through it all!

Siah particularly liked the jewelry and he’s pretty sure he needs a cowboy hat to go with his black trench coat.

Seriously! 3 floors of wonder and treasure. Amazing. We boogied down the amazing stairway and flew across the parking lot just as Jon was getting back into the truck.

As we got closer to Oregon, you notice the lack of evergreens as the land flattens out to more rolling hills and flat land.

I happened to be looking at Google Maps as we approached Oregon and was warmly welcomed by this little pop up. We made it to Pendleton, Oregon and had booked a reservation at an RV site at a KOA Campground. We pulled in, hooked up and the boys immediate jumped on the internet to “relax”. Ha ha!

Our site backed onto a gorgeous view of the Blue Mountains and after a late dinner, we shut it all down and headed to bed.

Everyone is still mostly happy and happy to be on this epic road trip; but there’s still time for that to change, eh?

Road Trip

Well, when adventure calls…….you answer?

We have talked about doing a road trip for a while and in the last week, we managed to pull it all together and we are on the road.

We bought a trailer on Monday, packed like coked out squirrels on Tuesday and actually managed to get on the road around 5pm. We had booked a space in Birch Bay for our first night and wonder of all wonders, we managed to arrive around 7pm which is when I had guesstimated that we’d show up. We unhooked, set up and settled in for the night.

The boys were in bed and down for the count before 9pm. Which, if I’m being honest, freaked me out a little because they are both night owls

Jude drew a mushroom – which was the daily prompt. I started and gave up because I was also too tired. Jon and I read for a bit before turning the light out.

Our mattress is spectacular and by spectacular, I mean that even with 2 fluffy blankets under the fitted sheet you can still feel the springs. I’m thinking we will probably need a mattress topper of some sort. It was an experience, that’s for sure!

Jude was awake for the day at 5am. The rest of us started the day around 7:30am.

Jon made our first pot of percolator coffee and it was amazing! There was a quick game of Spot it! to start the day and then we packed up and headed into Bellingham.

We stopped at T-Mobile and grabbed new SIM cards for the month and now we are headed to Oregon.