(Blog from trip dates of May 14th - May 17th)
We began our journey home in a bit of a tizzy. We had to ship our van, sell our house, load the RV and fight threw a wall of emotions. Our van was driven out to Washington, loaded to the hilt, by our cousin Matt and his girlfriend Kate. The amount of ‘stuff’ we had crammed into the van was not fully recognized until we had to pack that ‘stuff’ into the RV. Maro, and our friends Jessica and Julia, are truly world class space savers…finding a location for everything in the smallest of spots in the RV. They were literally packing up the moment we got into the RV to begin our journey home. The three ladies handled everything, as I was at the clinic making sure I didn’t have the flu (I didn’t, in true man fashion I was overreacting to a cold). We gave hugs and shared tears with the best neighbors and friends we could’ve asked for, hopped in and drove two hours to Matt and Kate’s house in Portland. We arrived late, ate and the boys and I played video games with Uncle Matt. This was a quick one night stop and we were off midmorning to head toward Bend, Oregon.
We arrived in Bend, hiked around the Deschutes River, played on a playground, watched surfers surf the “River Wave,” and set up camp. Another overnight stop, and we were off to the John Day Fossil Beds. The drive to the Fossil beds is no biggie…..UNLESS, you are driving a 32 foot Class A motorhome. It then becomes tight, winding roads that add significant time to a long day. The painted hills and visitor center are lovely, however, I would say a little underwhelming for our crew. This is a stop we would have probably passed up if we knew more about it. We came, we saw, we continued driving to Twin Falls where we boondocked in a Walmart parking lot. Twin Falls is a normal looking little city, that happens to sit on the rim of the Snake River, which is not at all normal. It is grand and big and really impressive. Maro and I were really in awe of the size of the canyon. It was worth the stop for the picture and view. Another overnight stop and we were back on the road.
Something I have failed to mention is that this is now day 4 of consistent rain. I am not talking start and stop, daily rain. I am talking rain for four days. It wasn’t pouring, but it was raining……the whole four days.
From Twin Falls we headed to Boise, Idaho. We stayed at a campground on the river and walked the greenway along the river for a great night. Maro cooked dinner, we ate outside, Maro put the kids to bed, and I did the dishes. I rinsed the plates, washed everything, and we were all set to chill for the evening. We needed another trash bag, so Maro opened the cabinet to find……a cabinet full of water and food scraps. The whole P trap had fallen off and gone unnoticed. Keep in mind every nook and cranny is stuffed in our RV, which includes under this sink. Needless to say, Maro and I took everything out of the cabinet, dried, cleaned and put a fan on the wet cabinet for the evening.
Finally finished with our setback, I went to the RV bathroom to wash my hands and face. Now midnight, I turn off the light, start to walk out of our bathroom and hear an unusual dripping sound. Light on, different cabinet open, new leak. This time from the bathroom faucet. Maro looks at me and we both just laugh. RVing is fun they say.