Plans Gone Awry (Or The Essence Of Jello-Ness)
Over the past 3 days we’ve driven 845 miles East on a route that was completely unplanned. This is not only utterly insane (at least for us), but has exhausted us to the point that we’re barely able to drag ourselves off the couch this AM to make coffee (pathetic I know…I could never be a trucker). It’s a pace of travel that we never, ever do and has taken us to the very edge of our RV travel sanity.
The reason for all this madness is what I call the “essence of Jello Planning ” (jello-ness for short) = a technique critical to your survival and enjoyment of the fulltime RV lifestyle.
The idea is thus. You plan your route weeks (or even months) in advance in painstaking detail and then, for whatever reason, throw those plans out at the very last minute and do something entirely different. For you non-planners out there this will be bleeding obvious and your day-to-day norm, but for folks like me (i.e. planning/picky types with somewhat OCD tendencies) this is a bona fide skill that takes a zen-like mastery to acquire.
Trust me, this is life-critical stuff….
It all started 3 days ago (surprise, surprise) while we studying the fire & smoke maps for the 1,000th time. We had hoped that the storm which pounded us in Cape D would produce enough water to dampen some of the stuff happening further East. It did clear the smoke, but most of the fires were unaffected and our original planned route was looking pretty dire. The air quality forecast in Lewiston, ID (our planned stop for Labor Day weekend) said “hazardous” with an equally unappealing forecast of “hazardous”, and our planned route East from there looked like an impenetrable wall of fires no matter which zoom level we looked at.
There was an obvious alternative route, one which looked perfectly clear, but that we had been avoiding (ignoring?) for the reason that we’ve done it far too many times before, it was going to add more miles to our already-time-limited route and…well…we already had the other route completely planned, darn it.
That very morning, the morning of our departure we both realized we just had to do it. Throw the original plan in the trash pile and do a mad dash East to get beyond the fire wall. All I needed to do was graciously let go of my picture-perfect plan and release myself to the gooey serendipity of the RV travel Gods.
Like I said it’s a skill and I can’t tell you how many times we’ve done this in our 6 years of RV travels, but it’s been worth it every single time. The important thing (at least for my OCD sanity) is that my plans never get completely trashed. They just get put into the “maybe one day” section of our travels until the right time comes along.
So, off we went. It was a crystal clear day too, sunshine flooding the ground, fluffy clouds and temps hovering in a most comfortable 70 degrees. We traveled due East to the dry section of the Columbia River Gorge, a raging river bordered with mountains layered like textured gold. From there we veered SE on I-84 and traversed arid plains and desert, finishing the day’s route with a scenic pull up the mountains to a green and fragrant forest.
That evening we ended up in a campground (Hilgard Junction State Park, OR) with literally no-one else around, drinking a glass of wine to the setting sun with the RV silhouetted against the babbling creek in front. And just to make sure we knew we were on the right track, Nature gifted us with a rainbow and a frikkin’ unicorn (well ok, that last apparition may have been a deer but you never can tell…).
Oh and skies were blue & clear the whole way. I couldn’t have written it any better if it was a fictional novel.
Our second day we continued East, our goal a State Park that had been recommended a multitude of times to me by my Idaho blog readers, but had just never panned out. Once again (I know, this is almost getting boring) the day was crystal clear and once again we ended up as the only campers in the loop. This time Nature gifted us with sand, oceans of sand. We’d arrived at the tallest (470 feet) single-structure sand dunes in North America (Bruneau Dunes) and they were beyond gorgeous!! Majestic mounds of seductive curves with colors that change from brilliant white at noon to deep orange at sunset…and not a single soul there.
It was sizzling hot on arrival, but we cranked the air and waited out the desert sun, walking to the dunes as the earth cooled and her last rays left the earth. Magical! Next morning we got up at sunrise (and for those of you who know me, you’ll understand what an astonishing thing this is) to hike over & photograph them again. This time we were the first (and only) paw prints on the sand and it was beyond amazing to walk the knife edge up to the rim. The experience was so utterly cool (and I took so many pictures) that normally this would warrant an entire blog-post of it’s own, but we’re on a mad dash here…
The third day we veered off the I-84 to take Hwy 20/26 through Idaho, part of the Peaks to Craters scenic byway and yet another completely new experience for us. Under once again (I know, I know…booooring) perfectly clear skies we embarked on a crazy, desolate stretch of road which would take us through a surreal black Volcanic landscape (Craters of the Moon), past the very first nuclear power plant in the WORLD (I guess they really wanted this thing to be remote errrrm just in case, ya know) and by a mountain plastered with 20-foot high numbers (Numbers Hill, a local curiosity in Arco, ID where every graduating class since 1902 has painted its class year on the rugged cliffs above town). The landscape is achingly dry and the roads rarely traveled making it our kinda perfect RV travel material.
That evening after our exhausting, but highly satisfying drive we finished our day in yet another quiet campground surrounded by juniper trees and…yes…clear skies.
So there you go, 845 miles of mad dash on a route we never planned to do, but we are (hopefully, maybe?) far enough East to avoid the worst of the fires/smoke and we’ve got at least a day of rest before we embark again. Plus we got to see stuff that we’ve always wanted to see, but have just never gotten around to before.
Our only potential hitch? We had to cancel our Labor Day reservations so now we’re without home on the last busiest week-end of the summer (ugh!). Hopefully the RV travel Gods will shine in our favor and we’ll get lucky, yet again. Should be interesting to see where our jello-ness takes us from here….
My my!!! The Universe sure has a way of rewarding a deserving soul who, after a tough year, needs it the most right then and there! What terrific places happened to get put into your new path! Love those dunes shots– just spectacular!
Well, I’m about to start traveling on Labor Day weekend without reservations too. There’s always a Walmart parking lot if worse comes to worse, but what the heck– let’s roll the dice and see if Sweet Serendipity might dish out something way better!
Yup thank goodness there’s always Walmart, or Cabela’s or something like that. I think we’re going to look for a first-come-first-serve campground and see what we can get. Let’s just hope the skies stay clear. Good luck to you too!
Nina
I’m laughing. You’re just like me. Or should I say, the old me. I always have to have a plan…and a reservation. We’re heading out tomorrow on our first test of the rig and all the improvements we have made…solar, battery bay, inverter, converter, interior remodel, blah, blah, blah. We’re headed to parts unknown…Coloradoish. Our first reserved stop is not until next Tuesday. Tomorrow is Thursday. Whatever will we do? I said I want to be a boondocker. I guess this will be a test of more just the rig. 🙂
But back to you. I’m still trying to figure how heading “east” avoids the smoke as long as fires are still burning.
Well most of the smoke is blowing north, or northeast so by detouring south below the biggest fire areas we’ve (so far) kept within clear skies. We still have to make it to SD to renew our drivers licenses (that’s one stop we HAVE to make), so we’ll just have to play it by ear as we drive further east. We could have more mad dashes ahead.
Have fun testing your new systems! Even when I boondock I plan LOL…..
Nina
845 miles in 3 days, don’t think we could handle that! At least you had some good weather, good camps, and amazing views. Hope you find a good place for Labor Day weekend.
This has been the MOST miles we’ve ever done in 3 days. Given that our typical pace is ~150 miles followed by at least 3 days of rest, it’s been pretty tiring for us. Can’t say I’d want to do it again, but you never know….
Nina
So cool that you’re jello-ness led you to Bruneau Dunes and Craters of the Moon. We just passed through both and loved them. I made that same hike along the razor’s edge at the dunes the morning we were there and it is truly spectacular. Your photographs are always great but are particularly stunning this post! Good luck with Labor Day, hoping the RV gods find you another perfect spot (and maybe even more rainbows and unicorns)!
We just loved, loved Bruneau Dunes. I’m so happy we finally made the detour to see them. Sounds like you’re driving in exactly the opposite direction to us. If we didn’t have to stop in SD for the drivers licenses we’d be sticking west too.
Nina
When I heard “845 miles of mad dash” I was thinking around the clock driving to get away from the fires! Sounds (& looks) like you had a nice drive.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the summer.
I think most truckers would laugh at us for being so exhausted at the end of a mere ~800 miles, but we’re just utter wimps when it comes to long days of driving. Glad we’ve got a day of rest now. Hoping we find a good place to stop and more days of rest over the week-end.
Nina
We’re doing something similar. We canceled all our UP (MI) reservations and pointed the rig west. We covered 610 miles in two days took a breather for a day and then another 210, but unlike you we had rain and overcast skies, plus we didn’t stumble upon anything unique. Those sand dunes look amazing and of course you captured them beautifully. Hope you can slow things down a tad.
Sometimes plans just have to be changed. Here’s hoping you find a good stop to rest & enjoy through the long week-end.
Nina
Great post Nina. We are in the same bowl of jello. Started in Butte, MT to Columbia Falls then on to Bonner’s Ferry, ID. Enroute to Moses Lake WA area now! Smoke we have seen and smelled! Stay safe out there!
Hope you make it past those fires quickly. Much of NE WA is still very heavily affected, unfortunately. Terrible stuff all-around.
Nina
Hi Nina, Paul
Well we’ve been tagging along with you on the Blog for three years this month, all starting with taking your recommendation for Valley of Fire SP when we picked up our Rv in Vegas.
We are still full timing and just wanted to say thanks for three wonderful years of great stories, reports and amazing photos. We hope a book is in the future plans for you, it would be a shame not too.
We have just spend 3 weeks traveling in our Rv with my sister and Brother in law from NZ and we have now introduced them to your Blog.
Be safe and hopfully one day we will get to meet.
If you ever see an RV with HONKY TONK INN emblazoned across the front and back, that’s us.
All the best
Rusty, Kelly and dog Izzy
SWEEEET! Lovely of you to follow along (and comment). By the way we car-camped around NZ many years back and just loved it. It’s one of those places we hope to go back to one day.
See you on the road!
Nina
Well if anyone can make lemoncello out of lemons it is you! Great stops and fabulous photos. I am sure the RV Gods will be with you…we loved Craters of the Moon….
It certainly helps when Mother Nature works in our favor, and I have to admit we’ve been incredibly lucky so far. I’m sure we won’t be able to avoid the smoke entirely on our trip East, but at least we’ve gotten some nice clear days.
Nina
I love reading your blogs. I read this last one to Wayne as he drove. We are thinking of spending the night at Hilgard State Park as we are on I 84 driving in Oregon!
Thanks
Excellent. I definitely recommend it! Our favorite site is near the end (site 15) which has a full river view. Enjoy!!
Nina
Nice drive, great pictures
We just returned from a 14670 mile trip to Alaska! We were gone over 3 months.
Traveling 845 miles in three days, our engine would barely get warmed up:)
You have added some places for us to see, thanks.
You guys are NUTS hahaha…..I’ve been following lots of RV buddies up in Alaska this summer. One of our friends just did ~1,900 miles back from there in just over 3 days. We also have good friends of ours who consider 400 mile RV drives and 100 mile day-trips as perfectly normal. I think we’d be zombies after a few days like that, possibly never to return to the world of the living again. But you DO get to see a lot more stuff 🙂
Nina
Ah yes, those plans made in jello, how well we can relate. We’re other RV’ers who due to smoke / fires in Idaho have altered our plans. We had originally planned to be in Lewiston ID over Labor Day weekend, then with Lewiston having the worst air quality in the state right now, we considered Riggins and some rafting on the Salmon River, but have now decided to do a one day mad dash straight down Hwy 95 from Coeur d’Alene to Boise ID (where we have to be by the 10th due to work). So, after much consideration of the holiday traffic on a 3 day weekend, we’ve making the dash on Sunday, one long day with a time zone change that is not in our favor, but hopefully allowing us to have 2 days of the 3 day weekend off to relax. Not at all what we planned, but hopefully the sun will shine and we’ll have our own little fictional account to share!!
Yup, sounds familiar. I really wanted to see Lewiston ID and had looked forward to our stay there, but the air quality forecasts were horrific. Hope you find yourselves a nice stop (and rest) in Boise. Air looked clear when we passed through there yesterday.
Nina
We’ve driven over the surface of the moon a few times. It’s a remote and interesting drive. Come to the Tetons. This campground is dry camping, quite large, and at the moment beautiful and quite. Normally for Labor day it gets busier, but doesn’t fill. I just spent an hour sitting by the river enjoying the fall air. And the wildlife can’t be beat.
I think we may well end up there (or around there) this week-end. If we do I’ll send you a note.
Nina
That would be great.
Hello Nina, i completely understand your need for planning. I am the same way, just have to know when and where our next stop will be. So far, my DH and i have thrown two road trip plans since getting on the road last May. 🙂
We just took the 20/26 route heading east, we originally planned to go south and we end up in West Yellowstone, MT last week. We were fortunate to get a spot, this NF campground is just 10 miles north of the West entrance. If you and Paul are heading east, you might want to check out Rainbow Point Campground. It is a neat campground, right next to Hebglen lake.
I love following your posts, and have been very very helpful Thank you for sharing!
Your pics brought back fond memories of our travels through Bruneau Dunes and Craters of the Moon. Glad you got to experience that area. We’re nestled into our new mountain home and loving it so much! The sellers have moved into an RV for full-timing and working on the road. We switched lives with them. Serendipity!
Hi Nina,
Do you know of any of your buddies who travel full-time in an Airstream travel trailer that have a blog? We are considering the purchase of a 28′ or 30′ Airstream Flying Cloud. Thank you for your time and response!
All the best to you on the road,
Lindy
Oh LOTS!!!!!
My good buddies Aluminarium write a daily blog (and run Campendium on the side). Both great resources.
Our buddies Watson’s Wander have a great blog with lots of good info, both on living in an Airstream and fulltime travel. We’ve caravanned with them multiple times.
The Scenic Route are other buddies of ours with a very active blog. She just wrote a book (The Happy Camper) too!!
Van Tramp moved in with ASoloJourner and they’re both living in her Airstream, so that’s another resource. These are the guys that just drove 1,900 miles back from Alaska in 3 1/2 days.
There are probably many more I’m not remembering off the top of my head. Outside of blogs there are TONS of fulltime Airstreamers on Instagram. It’s a very active medium for the silver-riveted lot.
Nina
Nina,
I appreciate your response about your Airstream buddies! Thank you so much for directing me to their blogs!
I thoroughly enjoy your blog and beautiful pictures. You and Paul are living the dream that most of us who love the outdoors and the USA want to pursue. Take care, and safe travels!
All the best,
Lindy
I’m definitely a planner by nature also, but I’m learning to embrace jello-ness and find it quite freeing!
Before Dave retired those kinds of drives were our norm. We drove from home (Geneseo, NY) to Albuquerque, visited friends and attended the Balloon Fiesta/Festival, then drove back home in 3 weeks. Never again.
Its so nice to be able to plan OR go with the flow, whatever works best. I appreciate how luck we are to have these choices.
Love the sand dunes pictures (not to mention the ones with some of our favorite “people” in them) not a place that was on my radar, but it is now!
I think I’ve managed to find a decent planning/jello balance. I can’t help but research & plan (it’s just my nature), but I’ve become A-OK with giving up those plans when needed. Fulltime RVing has definitely taught me to be more “jello” in general.
Nina
Isn’t it amazing how, in this gypsy life, things always seem to work out?
These darn holidays do cramp the fulltime RVer! We have to move from our beautiful, peaceful spot here looking at Scott’s Bluff tomorrow because they are full for the holiday. We found a spot in a KOA in Cheyenne for the holiday…should be interesting and loud I’m afraid!! Oh, well, so goes the life for those that don’t plan:)
Darn holidays LOL!! Only one more “big one” left and then it’ll be free sailing for all us fulltimers. Can’t deny that I do love it when Labor Day ends.
Nina
Labor Day is the final push for all children to return to school!! Our favorite time of year!
That’s a lot of extra miles for you, indeed. I wondered if you’d end up on this route due to the wide sprea conditions. But you made the most of it with those amazing finds along the way. The photos are free, I really enjoyed them, so thanks for that.
Did you have opportunity to stop at Rimrock and/or Walla Walla? If so how were they?
No, unfortunately we didn’t. Although the air quality looked fine at Rimrock, Walla Walla looked like it might get us back into the smoke-zone, and the route East from there was really bad. So, we just decided to ditch it all and zoom through the Gorge on I-84 while the going was good. It’s a bit of a detour, but so far it’s working out. We’ll see if our luck holds….
Nina
Yep, guilty here. Gotta have a plan. Usually each day has several planned stops at quirky things I’ve found on the web, plus of course the campground. The plan “seems” to take as much time as the trip.
Why is this pace so tiring? At 55 mph you would have been driving about 5 hours per day, say from 10 am until 3 pm. Yes that is a long drive. But, to me it is more about being bored than tired. Is “The Beast” hard to drive? My largest vehicle is 8′ wide, 10 feet high, and 24 feet long. So, it is hard to know what you are experiencing. Sorry if I’m too personal.
Repetitive long drives are taxing. Sometimes I just want to get the drive over with. It seems so much easier to have it behind you sooner. Shreveport, Louisiana to Carlsbad Caverns NP, New Mexico (680 mi) in a day, arriving by 5:00. Several times mid-Florida to central Ohio (1100 miles) after work on Friday, arriving Saturday evening. I never look forward to those. But, Saturday evening I’m ready to party with friends, and then get up Saturday and play, play, play. At your “exhausting pace”, it would take me 4 days to get there and several days to rest before I could join my friends. Sure wish my wife wasn’t still working in a corp job. Your slower pace sure seems relaxing. Thanks for all the wonderful posts.
Honestly I just find 5-6 hours of driving way too much. I never liked it, even back when we car-camped. Plus you can’t always go 55 mph in a “beast” along the smaller roads (which we do like to take). The rig is easy to drive, but the hours are just too much and I much prefer to take my time, stop and enjoy the areas we visit. By the time we’ve driven we barely have time to set-up, work, have happy hour, hike/relax and sleep before we have to pack-up and move again (plus packing up takes time).
For us shorter drives and longer stays is far, far better. It’s the difference between a vacation (which is not what we do) and a lifestyle (which is what we do). Very different perspective 🙂
Nina
I am so looking forward to driving only 845 miles in 3 days when I retire to a FT lifestyle a little under 3 years from now. I currently work for a supermarket chain where my duties involve driving to every one of our stores across 3 states. My daily driving is around 3,500 miles/month – divided by 24 days = 146 miles/day . When I do get my week long vacation I often tow my little camper straight through from New Orleans, La. to Big Bend in Tx. (a 980 mile day) or the Smokies (a 700 mile day). I’ve even driven straight through from New Orleans to Burbank, Ca. (about 1,900 miles) several times. So I’m no stranger to miles on the road, but really looking forward to a slower pace.
I’m going to be fulltiming on limited resources, so I’m budgeting on only 1,000 miles/month towing and about 1000 additional miles when not (divided between my truck and 2 motorbikes.) This is the reason I chose a 3/4 ton diesel as a TV, (towing a TT) rather than a bigger, more fuel thirsty rig. My goal is to average around 12mpg towing my FT TT. I now average in the low 20s MPG with it unladen and around 17-19 mpg towing my lightweight, low profile Aliner. I have a couple little 125cc motorbikes that get around 100 mpg so I hope this will ease our fuel budget some for around town use, errands, short sightseeing trips, etc. Plus I look forward to putting a few more miles on my shoe leather. I wonder what kind of miles per sole I’ll get? 😉
Chip
That’s some seriously tiring driving! The hiking thing is another reason we don’t like to drive much. I’m much rather rack up sole miles than tire miles 🙂
Nina
Amazing pictures, I can’t wait to visit those state parks! I love your jello solid plans and find myself using the term
Love the post, but this is really about Polly. We recently adopted a mutt named Willow. She was purported to be part Husky and part Shepherd, but she is only 38 pounds, and looks very much as Polly would look if she didn’t have the white streak on her face. We think there is some Australian cattle/sheep dog in there somewhere. Do you know anything more about Polly’s genes? We always just say about our mutts, “A great deal went into their breeding.”
I’ve never had Polly tested, but she’s definitely got a lot of cattle/sheep dog in her (her mannerisms match that breed too). We fostered her and her sister back in the day, and her sister (from the same litter) looks almost identical in hair (same fluffy coat and tail) except she’s completely brown and small. So, who knows what else is in there.
Polly was also a VERY nervous and difficult doggie when we first got her (likely she was abused as a very small pup before she ended up at the rescue). I actually took a year-long course and became a certified dog trainer mostly because of her! She took a lot of training, but she’s a lovely doggie now. She’s still cautious, but folks would never even know she had issues.
Nina
That nervousness is very much a part of Willow’s personality also. We wondered if she had been abused, but perhaps it is also a trait somewhat common to her (one of her) breeds. She is very comfortable with my husband and myself, but can still be startled easily. She even scares herself sometimes! She also chews things when we leave her without a chew toy rope. I recently came home from a brief errand run and found bits of my ottoman all over and a big hole in the side. My fault, really, but I just wasn’t gone that long! She is a very sweet dog, however, and loves to be rubbed. She does that thing where they lean into the leg of the person rubbing them, leaning more and more until she is practically lying down. She is becoming a great dog for us. We just caution people to leave her alone, and let her come to them, and if they are quiet, she will eventually decide they are just another human, there to rub her ears!
Herding breeds are traditionally working dogs, meant to be out all day in the fields with their herd. So they tend to have active minds and need a lot of mental stimulation. Training is great for them since they love the interaction. The nervousness is somewhat of a breed characteristic too. They tend to bond strongly to only one person and can be rather jittery in nature. Again, lots of exposure and training helps them to become more comfortable with this. With people you can help her by getting every new person to give her a little treat. She may never become a “people dog” (Polly isn’t), but she’ll get more comfortable with them. If you have any sheep herding training in your area, that’s a great activity for them (we had this in CA). Also training tricks and obstacles is really fun for them. And lots of long hikes, of course
Nina
Thanks for the info, Nina. Willow does love a walk! She is happiest when the two of us are home alone, and tends to be sure I am in sight somewhere close. Her other favorite activity is chasing lizards in the back yard. Maybe she is herding them!
Our last little dog was like that as well. He came from a shelter, and they said he had been abused, but we took him anyhow. I have never had such a great loving pet before in my life. It broke our hearts when he got so old he could no longer function, and we had to have him put down. Now perhaps you don’t believe in ghosts, I know I didn’t till he began appearing in our home every time we were getting ready for a camping trip (he loved camping). Not just to me, but the whole family saw him from time to time, each time when we were prepping for camping. Our cat even saw him and played with him several times, they had a game they played daily chasing each other from the kitchen to the living room couch. Saddly he has given up on us now, as he hasn’t been around for about 3 years now but he was a wonderful pet, and the nicest ghost you ever did see.
If your going to rapid city DVM first thing through the door get a number, then around the corner get a form and fill it out. They really have everything together takes about 20 mins….. We just left there and on the way to estes park , co. to watch the jousting season…..
We’ve actually made online reservations already, so I think it’ll be even faster than that for us. Good to know it’s so efficient. I love SD DMV!
Nina
Just back to the land of the internet, and see a response from you. (Sorry our schedules won’t sync as our paths have:)! But, we’ll run into you and Paul on the road somewhere:)!). And, a new post about jello-ness.
Now for my wife Deb, in order calm her OCD on ‘where are we going, when will be get their, and where will we stay’, shall I say phobia? I have found that a special application of jello is required in order for her ‘free spirit of travel’ to jump in. Yes it takes a bit of fridge space, but the jello-shooters really seem to calm her down…:)!
Our last major shift in a travels plans, were when we were leaving South Dakota in mid September of 2013. We’d plan to head West and do Montana and Idaho, but a rather mean weather man strongly suggested that it would be best to avoid the NW regions of the country, as a very unusual and early winter storm was coming in. So, we dove South on the fly, one night in Cheyenne, with strong winds, cold weather and a trace of snow, the next night in Breckenridge, where we received 7-8″ of snow. Now, us being from San Diego, we just don’t do snow/ice driving. So, we sat it out warm and toasty in to us a unique winter wonderland, while spending some coin at Tigers Run. And, we ‘burned as we learned’, that pulling the slides in during snow and ice conditions, makes it much easier to get underway in the AM… (90 mins plus with my wife’s hair dryer, deicing the not so carefree side toppers, before they would come in…). We ended that trip with what is called the ‘night of red dust’, as we stopped the next night in Monument Valley. No rain, but such a wind storm that to this day, we find ‘red fine dust’ in areas of the coach:)! And finally, on down to Prescott for a few nights, before our return to San Diego.
Was for sure not our planned route, but for sure was one of our more favorite and impromptu trips. We got about 75 miles to the jello jiggle!!!
You and Paul keep and eye on the smoke from those so sad NW fires you escaped. We just cleaned our AC filters for the 2nd time in a month, as we spent 7 weeks in Colorado, with the last 3-4 weeks seeing and feeling the pollen from the smoke out of the the NW.
Tavel safe, and I know I do not need to say, have fun – you two seem to have a knack for that:)!
Best,
Smitty
First, I love reading your adventures. My husband Danny and I are in the process of selling our house and then purchasing our RV. All these stories make me anxious, nervous, scared and excited! We plan on living in our RV and we have no clue how to start, plan a trip ect..I do have 1 question, when you are in those remote areas or hwy with no viable means of life. How do you stay fueled? Thanks for your insights, they are truly helpful. ..Dede
By fuel do you mean fuel for the RV/car or fuel for the body (food)? Most places have SOMEwhere you can fuel up along the way, both for the RV/car and the fridge. On our remote drive east we passed through many, many larger towns (La Grande, Boise, Idaho Falls etc.) all of which have full services. Plus truck stops are everywhere. It’s usually quite easy.
Nina
Having a app like Gas Buddy is also very helpful as it can tell you what is near you or not…
I hear you on the jello-ness of life. Had surgery Monday and now am being held prisoner by my doctor in the GPNW until the end of October. Of course it’s raining, of course two storage bays have started leaking. It’s always something. It looks like your alternate plans were pretty dang scenic. Nice pictures of it all. Polly on the dune is just delightful.
Argh! SO very sorry you’re stuck…and dealing with all the extra issues too. No fun at all. Sure hope you heal fast and can get back out there.
Nina
I’ve been trying to get to the northwest for three yrs now and each year something has come up to keep us southeast & southwest. Currently hoping to make that trip next July – September (Craters of the moon is definitely on the list.)
Oh you MUST make the trip. It’s our fav area in the whole USA 🙂
Nina
Steering clear of smoke did take you through some of the most beautiful country in the USA. Most folks never bother to travel that area. Perhaps if you are in a nice remote spot with beauty and trails, you can just sit a week and miss the holiday animals all together.
During our trip we passed tons of excellent BLM boondocking land too (especially along 20/26). If it were any cooler we’d be out there already, but it’s been hitting 86 and that’s too hot for the paws. We’re hoping to get a bit higher and a tad cooler this week-end.
Nina
Good life lesson…..jello-ness! My mottos are, it always works out and getting anxious and stressed usually never changes the out come…..so enjoy the adventure and unknown.
Excellent motto to live by 🙂
Nina
I so understand the OCD problem, sometimes I can’t sleep if it’s not all down in writing w/ reservations made. Then something happens & poof it’s all up in smoke, but somehow it still all works out. Good luck for Labor Day, if you were closer to us (E TX) we’ve got a pasture for you, but I know you are trying to stay north.
Love the pics
Cheers for the offer. It’s still a tad hot by your way, so we’re going to stick somewhat north for a while. Plus we do need to check-in to SD for that drivers license renewal.
Nina
You are such a wonderful writer, I love reading of your travels. You are indeed lucky to have avoided that smoke, it has had my eyes burning, and both my wife and I have been hiding in our little hovel here in South Dakota. We did make a trip to Bismarck on Monday to make a deal on a larger RV, well better and expandable. Our old unit is a 96 Holiday Rambler Endeavor LE, a 36 footer but no slide outs. Our trip last July to Yellowstone National Park proved we needed a bit more room if we wanted to go full time, and our favorite salesman called with a special they had coming in that he figured we were interested in, as we had told him we wanted diesel pusher with slides. A quick trip showed the one he had for us was not exactly what we wanted, however he did have a nice ’03 Rexair 35 footer with a Workhorse Gas engine and drive train, 35 foot with three slides made this unit look like a full size home, and looked very comfortable. The air ride suspension should ease the driving chore, and the added power of the 8.1 liter V8 (496 CID) Vortec Chevy engine is advertised to put the diesel pushers to shame. I guess we will see. We should be picking it up on Friday, but I am sure finding a place to try it out this weekend on a first come basis will be nearly imposable. I guess we can camp in the back yard.
Having followed your adventures as well as others has put me in the mood to go full time, and now that the Doctors have told my wife she needs to get out of our house as it is making her lung problems worse, she is about ready for the move as well. I would like to get it going before the snow flies in South Dakota but there is so very much that needs to be done before we take the dive, and so many decisions to make,,,,
Glad you could avoid the smoke, it is pure hell here with all the smoke for we old farts with ancient lungs, and our heart running on 4 out of the V8’s we came into this insane world with.
Thanks for the lovely compliment 🙂 The new rig sounds great. I wish you the BEST of luck with all your plans and hope you manage to get south before the first big snows.
Nina
Add me to the wimp column in terms of miles per day. I’m in the 120-150 mile category. But you do what you have to do and we’ve done some 300 mile days but never 3 in a row. Well not quite 300 I know. But it felt like that when I read 845. I love the pictures of every single place you’ve been and think each looks worthy of a week. Looks like a fabulous seat of your pants plan to me and clearly it turned out that way. Glad for the clear skies; sorry you have to go back to SD. Don’t suppose you are going all the way East. No fires here, only rain.
No plans to be East this year, but possibly next year. We always talk about it especially since Paul’s family is over there. So, maybe next year we’ll finally get back over again.
Nina
We are all in a great are. And also the Bridge -Teton national forest camp grounds are 1st come 1st serve. Drove hwy 89 north yesterday and today from Salt Lake.. The campgrounds along the Snake river looked wonderful. But I’m also heading east to the Dakota’s but just site seeing.
Love you blog with so much information. Mostly everyone was heading south on 89. Roads are very quiet. But the wind has been blowing in from the south. Most places have openings for this week end but I’m staying put.
Enjoy the holiday.
We’ve been looking at all the campgrounds going north on the 26 today (more research) and noticed a lot of first-come-first-serve campground along that route which we are VERY happy to see. We should definitely be able to find something in all that.
Nina
There’s always something good to see no matter where we go. Sounds like you’re enjoying the travel, even though it’s many miles per day. Good for you! Great photos, but that last one, with the pup, sand, beautiful sunset colors – the whole arrangement – is just gorgeous. 🙂
Those dunes were so incredibly photogenic. I really wanted to dedicate a whole blog post to them, but I’ll start falling too far behind in my posts (another OCD thing for me LOL). What a place!!!
Nina
You are welcome at the Clark RV Resort any time. We have friends who own a home in Driggs, ID but their driveway just about stumped the cowboy–our old coach still bears the scratches from that July 4 weekend.
Well if the cowboy couldn’t make it, there’s NO WAY I could LOL. We may well hit the Clark campground later this month.
Nina
I’m glad that you finally got to see Bruneau and the Craters/Arco area. As a native (er, since second grade) Idahoan you have now experienced two of our favorite places on Earth! You never know what the next turn may show, for us that can be the most rewarding aspects of Jello-y travel plans. Good luck, and keep up the posting.
BTW, we saw you last December in Borrego at one of the Taco Tuesdays, but we are kinda shy. Maybe next time we can get up the nerve to say HI!
Dave and Kathy
Next time we drive through here we want to stop and take the Nuclear Power Plant Tour. We were kinda bummed we didn’t have the time this trip, but we’re now very motivated to go back. And DO say hi if you see us at Taco Tuesday again 🙂
Nina
Looks as if you missed Palouse Falls again?…..It’s much prettier in the Spring with lots of flowing water.
Take Care,
Upriverdavid
Yup the Palouse was one of our targets on the original route, but there’s too much smoke up there at the moment. It’ll have to wait until next time…
Nina
Haha, hilarious and so true!! We create the most perfect plans and then have to change them — it’s such a great life lesson. One that we have the opportunity to repeat over and over again….
Ugh, three days of close to 300 miles — that sounds brutal. Glad you found such gorgeous places to overnight, and that you were able to find respite for at least a few hours. Love your magical photos of the sand dunes. We must go there. 🙂
Indeed, it’s a great life lesson in “letting go”. I think fulltime RVing definitely teaches you that lesson, and if you aren’t able to learn it you quickly become very frustrated with the lifestyle. Hope you guys find a good smoke-free route south when you leave Lopez.
Nina
Oh Nina, you didn’t get the chance to take the tour? We were there in 2009 and did the self guided tour, it was GREAT. Spent part of the day at Craters of the Moon and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We were there shortly before Labor Day. On the drive back to Olympia (the Friday before LD we had a breakdown that forced us to go to Cummins. There we were, pulling into a service bay at 2:30. Got the coach back just as dark was settling in. As we were passing through Chehalis on the way home, Miss Bri (our cat), decided she wanted to ride on the dash board (this has not happened before or since) which she did for about 30 miles. The jello-ness of that day sticks with me to this day.
No we didn’t get to do the tour (boooo). In fact we didn’t really know much about the Nuclear history of that area until we drove through, noticed the signs and googled all the interesting details. We were in a time-strap so didn’t get to stop. I’m definitely motivated to go back and do the tour! Sounds like you guys had the perfectly jello day that day.
Nina
The smoke in Helena and Butte yesterday was very light . Seems to be moving in again today. Weather is supposed to turn to poop for the next 3 or 4 days. Rainy and cool temps.
So now you’ve got to decide on Yellowstone or no. If you’ve never been it would be worth the traffic. Old Faithfull really is pretty faithful. And the boiling mud pots, and the animals. I’ve never gone out the east entrance towards SD, but it looks very twisty. Safe travels.
I’m ok with a few days of poop weather if it helps clear the skies. They soooo need the rain! I’m sure it’ll make for a few decent sunset shots on my side.
Nina
Hi Nina, Glad you escaped the smoke with your new route. We just flew home from Bozeman, MT where we visited friends for several days. All week long there was smoke from fires burning to the west. Much of the time so dense we couldn’t see the mountains surrounding the bowl in which Bozeman is located. Clear skies is definitely better!
So sad. I know there was a big fire burning just not too far from your cabin north of Mammoth Lakes earlier this summer too. Hopefully it’s all clear now. I can’t imagine the beautiful Sierras in smoke.
Nina
Love jello travel. Is that the worlds happiest dog or what? Love that picture at the end of your post.
She’s indeed a very happy doggie. Of course she’s with us almost 24 hours per day, which makes for extra doggie happiness.
Nina
Sounds like you are having a good, but fast trip out of the smoke. We probably saw you flying by. We were ahead you on your route and now are behind you. Thanks for the heads up on the Atomic Power plant. We stopped to tour it. Really a cool stop. We got there late in the day so it was a rushed visit. The tour guide said there is a YouTube video about and also one by one of the men who helped design it. Next up is the sapphire mines. Then SD. Then on to Yellowstone and Tetons before heading to the midwest and home for a few weeks.
How cooooool! Would you believe I got an email from one of my RV buddies that his father-in-law was the guy that flipped the switch to start the reactor?! What a mind-blowing connection. Can’t wait to go back and explore that area further.
By the way sounds like you have an awesome trip planned. Never been to the Sapphire mines ourselves.
Nina
There is always warren bridge near Pinedale, wy, a BLM campground. I doubt it fills up over labor day weekend. I think you know the hosts there also, Diane and Tom Wartman.
Yup! They already invited us over, and we know them well (they’re a truly lovely couple!). Would love to go, but it’ll add more miles to the trip and I think we’re maxed out for now. We’ll probably just head a short ways north to the Tetons. That’ll be brand new territory for us.
Nina
Not sure exactly where you are at this point in your mad dash but Challis Hot Springs is just up the road from Arco and might be a possibility for your Labor Day home! 🙂 Glad you had all those clear skies – we are dashing the wrong way going west soon and hoping that this storm this weekend will dump some much needed rain over our route! Happy Trails.
We’ve already sped waaaaay past this, but the hot springs are an excellent tip. If/when we come back to the area, we’ll definitely look them up.
Nina
We recently left the Thayne WY area after being in smoke for 2 weeks in northern Idaho and Montana. We went south to the Bear Lake UT area for clear skies, a beautiful area by the way.. Safe Travels
Glad you managed to get south of it. It’s probably still a tad hot in the lower elevations of UT, but hopefully you can find some nice cool spots up high. Such a gorgeous state!
Nina
Nope, the highway would have to be on fire behind me to motivate that much driving in three days. One good thing about a repeat route though is that there aren’t any unpleasant road surprises……usually 🙂 You still found a couple really great stops along the way, and the photos are stunning as always. We got a few hours of good, solid rain here in WA last night so I’m hoping it helped some more with the fires. We head toward Spokane tomorrow!
More rain here too. They NEED it….bring it on!
Nina
Wow Nina
What an amazing drive you had. Thanks for sharing the balancing act between planning and not planning. We normally travel about 300 miles in one day and then stop for a week. So I tend to plan in grand sweeps and then make reservations one week at a time. That way, when life intervenes we can adapt.
I got seriously ill while we were in Minnesota. Nearest hospital? Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Could it be any better? (All better now, no worries).
You are absolutely right about the holiday reservations though, sometimes I forget that other people have holidays since my life is so full of jello. Cant tell it’s Saturday, much less Labor Day. Did you have any luck getting Labor Day reservations?
Your photos are beautiful. Looks like serendipity took good care of you! Really enjoy your free-flowing blog!
Pam
We managed to find a site today, thankfully. It’s not my ideal spot, but it’s quiet and it’ll do for the weekend.
Nina
For having to scrap your travel plans, you certainly found some gorgeous scenery to replace it with. Love those photos of the dunes. And you are right, going through this process is a great life lesson. Hope you can now slow down the pace a bit and stay away from the smoke. Good luck on finding a quiet spot for the holiday weekend.
So far so good. As of today we’re still smoke-free PLUS we have a place to stay for the week-end. So, two important things DONE. Cross paws our luck holds…
Nina
Your pictures are absolutely amazing! I can attest to being an OCD planner too. But hey, that jello-ness is looking pretty good! Safe travels.
I’m always going to be a planner (just can’t get past that OCD thing), but as long as I’m able to let go when I need to then we’ll be A-OK.
Nina
Somehow your change in plans will be handy for us next year when traveling to Idaho.
We like to plan ahead too especially during winter when everyone descends to the warmer states. Luckily we have not experience a change in plan like yours which involve a rerouting. But I guess our lifestyle afforded us to be jello all the time.
Its a little hot in SD in the daytime, so maybe its a good thing you are still in cooler areas.
You aren’t kidding on the heat. We drove up to North Dakota to pick up our new (to us) 03 35′ Rexair motorhome, it is 90 Degrees here right now, yesterday it was 100. Fantastic sunny day, had some rain on the way up here, we had to leave at 0630 to be here by 0930 for the walk around and to sign the papers. We were out of the dealership by noon, and setup in the KOA campground in Bismarck by 1300. Getting to know our new Rexair is interesting. It is twice the motorhome of our Holiday Rambler we took out to Yellowstone two months ago. If all goes well, we may well head South for the Winter, it will be our first time trying that. I want to go full time, and I think my good wife is about to give in and give it a try now that we have enough room. This unit has 3 slides so lots of room to live in and seems to have more power then our old one by a long ways with the 8.1 Liter Vortec Workhorse setup.
Well you’ll definitely get to test that air conditioner! Sounds like you picked up a good unit…and are well on your way to snowbirding. Enjoy!
Nina
We’re hoping that it cools down here SOON! We had close to 90 in Idaho Falls and have been hitting mid-80’s here in Jackson, WY. Should be a cold-front coming this week-end which should improve those temps down to the 70’s. Hoping that by the time we get to SD it’ll be reasonable there too.
Nina
Enjoy following your travels. Maybe one day it will be our lifestyle. At some point in the past I think you had a section dedicated to your photography. I can’t locate it now. ?????
Yeah I didn’t have enough in that section to keep it on the blog, and I never got around to fleshing it out and making it more substantial. So, I took it off the tab list. You can still find all those posts by entering “photography” in the search bar. If I ever get around to updating/developing that section I’ll add it back in as a dedicated tab.
Nina
About 10 years ago we headed to Colorado for 6 weeks. Our friends and family thought we were nuts for going due to several wildfires were in progress in CO at the time. The TV, radio, and papers were screaming “COLORADO BURNING!!!”. We went and had a blast traveling around the state. I think we might have seen some smoke once, far off, maybe. All the campground owners and other places we visited were furious at the news media for destroying the tourist season that year. A lot of peoples income was greatly affected that year. However, we could travel anywhere without reservations or crowds.
Sometimes the press does over-hype things, but the wildfires in WA this year have been pretty bad, and the smoke has been spreading wide & far. I’ve been following several RV buddies who’ve spent the summer up here (around WA/ID/MT), and almost all of them have had issues with smoke. Many have now “escaped” to clearer skies. Hopefully next year will be a better year.
Nina
Another OCD-type planner here. And I do so love your blogs. I don’t read them as religiously as I once did, but that doesn’t mean I’m ignoring you either. Whenever I come back it’s like a sweet treat of good writing covered with whipped cream hills of tasty information. Thank you for always providing quality content and nuggets of interesting tips for us full-time RVers.
P.S. If you’re in the Tetons, be sure to hike Cascade Canyon. You can take the boat across Jenny Lake, hike to Hidden Falls and then keep on going. Go early (as soon as the boats start running)…that’s when you’re most likely to see moose either on the trail or just off the trail in a stream. Plus the scenery hiking up in the canyon is stupendous and the trail is a gradual up, not steep, for a few miles. I hope you get a chance to hike there. Lots of other amazing hikes in Grand Tetons to and around lakes as well.
Unfortunately we won’t do much hiking in Teton NP. No doggies allowed on the trails and we really don’t like to hike without her (or leave her that long). I’ve looked at the Cascade Canyon trail, but it’s going to take us too long. It’ll be one of the things we do post-doggie (one day). In the meantime I’ve found some hikes outside the park.
Nina
As to the travel distances…..
My Mom and Dad live in Grants Pass Ore. So, if I am to see them, I must drive from the desert of So. Calif., to Grants pass on hwy 5. I usually do the trip of about 700 miles in one day!
About 16-17 hours, and I am home. Yes, I do have a second driver in my Wife, but she does not really like driving my Ram 3500.
The truck gets the best mileage with the best comfort, of our 5 vehicles, that range from our Fiat 500, to my Wrangler, and my Cherokee, and my Wife’s Tahoe. So that is the vehicle we use when it does not have our 3800 lb truck camper on board. Then we can stop and rest anywhere! I do love having the coffee pot, and the “loo” right behind me!