Day 5 - Utah to Idaho

We headed north out of Utah and traveled across the southern part of Idaho, crossing the beautiful Snake River several times. Our drive was just four hours today, one hour shorter than yesterday. We are seeing more farmland and cows now. Maybe even some Idaho potatoes? Not sure.  

Apparently people like to put stickers on the welcome sign.

The days are still warm but at least the nights are cooling off.  

Jack threw up in the RV but thankfully it wasn’t while we were on the road. It’s always something.

When I let Jack out last night for his final potty break, I marveled at the stars in the sky. Usually Chris lets Jack out; now I see what I am missing, but don’t get any ideas, Chris, you can still have that job.

We got a request for pictures of the inside of Thor. Great idea. I took some while we were all cinched up on the road and then some to show when we are parked with all the slides out. Jack seems to star in almost every picture.

With slides out:

On to Oregon tomorrow where we’ll spend our final night on the road camped near the Columbia River.

Day 4 - Ahh... Lush Green Grass

We have progressed from dry, rugged Wyoming to greener, beautiful Utah.   

Jack is happy once again to be in soft grass, as are we:

It was just a 5-hour-drive day so we got settled into our campsite in Tremonton, Utah by 3 pm. Fun fact: Tremonton is near the site of Promontory Point where the transcontinental railroad met up in 1869. I had visited the site with my parents in 1980.

I put a load of laundry in our stackable washer/dryer and we headed out with Jack for a walk to a nearby neighborhood park. There was an inviting splash pad at the park but sorry, Jack, your kind is not allowed to partake of it. The city library is located in the park. I would’ve loved taking my kids to this place when they were young. The old Town Bell that tolled curfew for children for 25 years sits in the park too. The bell was replaced by an electric siren in 1936 to signal special occasions and emergencies.

Back at camp, we enjoyed a pleasant dinner outside for the first time on this trip. It’s been either too hot, too windy, or too cramped. Then Chris scrubbed bug carcasses off our giant windshield.

Even as we’re driving along and I go in the back to make myself a cup of tea, I find myself doing some dusting while waiting for the tea to steep. I guess after living in our vehicle for four days, the housekeeping bug sets in. 

Day 3 - Rolling Along

On Day 3 of our journey northwest we said goodbye to Kansas, did a quick cut through Colorado, and ended up in Rawlins, Wyoming. Drive time was about 7 hours. No mishaps with the slide covering today and only one broken kitchen saucer.   

Chris planned our trip to be front-end heavy on the driving to expedite our voyage out of the Texas heat. Each day we drive a little less and the weather has finally started to be a little cooler and definitely less humid. My glasses have stopped fogging up when we step outside. Our air-conditioning vents no longer have condensation on them.   

Less humidity may mean cooler weather but it can also result in a lack of grass. The RV park in Wyoming was all gravel. It made me long for the lush grass at the Oklahoma RV park that our dog Jack positively relished rolling in. 

Oh yeah, about that broken saucer... as we were turning out of the Kansas RV Park, one of our giant tires hit a dip in the road just so, and the sudden jolt caused a kitchen cabinet door to fly open and dishes to come crashing out. I learned that Corelle dishes do break. Luckily it was only one saucer that broke. Ironically, I had forgotten to bungee-cord shut the refrigerator and drawers that normally fly open but this time it was a different door that popped open. I might have to start duct-taping the cabinets shut. 🤣

We’ve seen a variety of scenery already: hills, plains, bluffs, snow-covered Rocky Mountains, not to mention flying cows in Kansas!

Here is our view driving through Wyoming:

We look forward to seeing what the road ahead brings.

Day 2 - Thor in the Wind

We’re taking a more direct route this year to get up to Washington state. So this is Thor’s first time through Oklahoma and Kansas. 

The Oklahoma sticker got added to our map of places where Thor has spent the night. 

Whereas Oklahoma was “okay” (see what I did there?), Kansas was windy as all get out.

“One of the worst crosswinds we’ve had.” So stated Chris as we drove through central Kansas heading west from Salina on I70. The wind was blowing from south to north, so right into Chris’s side of Thor. You could literally feel the wind blowing through the windows on his side and hear it howling. We pulled into a rest area but the truck/RV area was full, so we continued along the highway, battling through the gusts.

Strange banging sounds started coming from the roof and outside of Thor. We found a truck stop to pull into and Chris hopped out into the 30 mile an hour wind to check it out. The cover that rolls up over one of the slide-outs had torn loose. Actually it was the duct tape from a previous patch job that had torn. (You’re smiling aren’t you?) Not to worry, we carry the almighty all-purpose duct tape with us so Chris climbed on the roof and patched it up again.

It was no wonder we saw so many wind turbines. They were getting a workout.

Kansas must be the home of “amber waves of grain” because that’s the phrase that came to mind when I saw the wind rippling through the fields.

At the risk of carrying it too far, how appropriate that the song “Dust in the Wind” was written of course by the band “Kansas”.

We passed a sign for the “World’s Largest Czech Egg” tourist attraction in Wilson, Kansas. But Chris was not in the mood to see it. He wouldn’t let us pull over in “Russell”, Kansas either (home of Bob Dole) for a photo op.

On top of all this, the Astros were losing big time as we were listening to the game on the radio. 

Interesting way to spend our 32nd wedding anniversary. Through good times and bad, we’re still truckin’ along.... Happy Anniversary Honey.

Day 1 - Repaired, Recovered, Ready to Roll

Just a few weeks ago Thor, our RV, was being towed into the shop and Chris was recovering from jaw surgery. But I’m happy to report all is well now and we are back on the road for our annual summer trip up north. 

Thor needed a new water pump and it’s actually a good thing that we discovered it before we hit the road. He was on his way for his annual physical, also know as State Inspection. Instead, a 3-hour ordeal ensued.

First a tow truck that could handle Thor’s girth had to be located. Then Chris waited an hour and a half on the side of the road for the tow truck to arrive all the way from Conroe. Thirty minutes to hook it up to the tow truck and finally the tow to the RV repair shop, which seems to be Thor’s second home. I think Chris secretly enjoyed getting to ride in the cabin of the tow truck and chat it up with the driver. 

We left for our journey on the day that Chris’s one-month no-chew diet ended. But he’s still on a soft-food diet so this time our blender is accompanying us instead of our toaster. Smoothies are replacing waffles.

Amazingly Thor was repaired in just under two weeks; our RV mechanic is usually ridiculously slow. Thor stopped off for his physical on the way home from the shop and passed inspection. So both Chris and Thor now have a clean bill of health. Let the summer vacation begin!

Our first stop is Oklahoma City. I love the Twin Fountains RV Park WiFi password:  happycamper 

Two Happy Campers