Epilog
So there you have it. 37 days on the road, 5515 miles, two nights camping, 16 different motel/hotels and, thankfully, the hospitality (and laundry facilities) of the Megan and Zack Sterngold, all the Cauwets in Phoenix, Reen & Brian Bookman & Rob & Nancy Schwartz (all family). And, hundreds of pictures and over 20,540 words. And, a lot of lessons learned along the way. And . . .
From Portland, we made it to Roseburg, OR, where we spent the night. I drove over Siskiyou Summit and on to Weed, rain threatening. Connie took over then and it began to actually rain. We’d forgotten how long the descent to the Central Valley is – a 127 mile series of twists and turns going on forever in the rain. We finally reached flat land in Redding and by Red Bluff we were done in and stopped. It rained all the way home the next day, but the smile on Rosie’s face when we walked through the door, made us forget the last, long stretch.
Lessons
Itinerary
Our starting date was determined by Maya and Lila’s spring break. Early spring around here may be a bit rainy, but the temperatures are usually pretty mild. However, the Great Basin must average an elevation of over 5000 feet. We drove over passes near 9000 feet and saw lots of snow. We also saw a lot of the coming Spring pushing hard at the door and a lot of resorts and campgrounds waiting for the season to open. Our course to the Yellowstone country was altered by the spring weather. Though camping was part of our expected experience, weather and timing limited that option. Lesson 1.
Our trip was essentially a tour of the Southwest and the Northwest with a lot of driving in between. We’ve decided to plan better in the future and spend more time exploring one such region. More time to look around and more time to visit friends and family. Lesson 2.
The Land Yacht
Although we hadn’t done any long camping trips in it, we had done enough short ones in the van to know that, with a few planned improvements, we could camp just about anywhere. What this trip showed us was that our Dodge/Fiat self-converted camper van was every bit the vehicle we had hoped it would be. It was comfortable for driver and passenger, able to handle all the road conditions we encountered and, when challenged, thumbed its nose at the wind. A couple of the added in – house electrical details need some fine-tuning, but all in all, its maiden voyage passed with flying colors. Lesson 3.
Hotels and Motels
Though we had planned to stay in a motel occasionally, we had pretty much given up on camping by the time we left Colorado. Back at Gallup we were talked into joining HHoners, one of the clubs chain motels now offer. It was free and offered easy check in and points, etc. for stays in any of the Hilton family of hotels. We probably stayed in 5 Hampton Inns. The nicest ones were deep in the Navajo Reservation and were much cheaper than others in cities. The only bad motel we stayed in was in Springdale, Utah (Zion NP). We splurged when we stayed in downtown Vancouver. Though it was nice in some cases to be able to go down to the hotel bar for a snack when we were too tired to cook, we still would rather have camped. And, all that high living made the trip cost a lot more than we had planned for. Camping availability is now high on our planning checklist. Lesson 4
Road Food
Burgers, nachos, burritos, pizza, fish & chips, chili, sandwiches, enchiladas . . . Fries or slaw with your order? As the lodging expenses went up, the dining budget suffered. We did have some great meals – at Elote in Sedona, at the National Park Hotel on Mt. Rainier, at Pike Place Market, and, also at the hotel in Kayenta, way out in the middle of the reservation. And, one huge disappointment. Near where we stayed in Boise there was a seafood restaurant voted best for seafood. I was drooling for some trout. All they had was farm raised Atlantic salmon in a variety of preparations.
We like to cook and are very good at camp cooking. (See Lesson 4)
The Blog
Connie and I have both been blessed to be able to do a lot of traveling. We’ve both kept notes and about our trips and I’ve written travel logs about some of them. Some are yet to be completed, I admit. Doing a travel log as a blog while traveling is a little like taking your homework with you to the movies. It’s always there and you’re always behind on it. On the other hand it is the most complete memoir of our travels we have and knowing it would be read by an audience other than our future selves, has made me pay more attention to the writing. Will I do it again? That’s a definite maybe. Lesson 5
A couple of fun things and then the end
Connie and I really like the Southwest the best. We love learning more about the First Americans of that area, especially the Hopi and the Navajo. But one thing was strange. We never saw the riverbed through the water until we got to the Cascade Mountains in Washington. All the rivers and streams before then were heavily laden with silt. Mother Nature is still sculpting the land out there.
While driving through Oregon we passed a highway road sign that said, “45th Parallel, You are now halfway between the equator and the north pole”.
Looking out our hotel window at Mesa Verde, I brought up the compass app on my phone to see if I was looking east. I was. Then, on a whim, I held it against an interior wall. It was perfectly aligned north-south. After all we know and had recently learned about First American culture of the southwest, it blew me away. Was it intentional? Or serendipitous?
We listened to 5 books along the way: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman, The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, Honolulu by Alan Brennert and The Dark Wind also by Tony Hillerman. The Hillerman books are part of a series of mysteries, the main characters being two Navajo Reservation policemen and all the action takes place on or near the reservation. We both have read most of them and learned a lot about the ways of the people who live in that part of the world. The Orphan Train takes place in 2011 and the early part of the twentieth century and is about the struggles of a foster girl about to turn 18 and her relationship with a 91 year old woman who road the orphan train west after loosing her Irish immigrant family in New York City. Though suitable for older teens, I would recommend it to anyone. And Hololulu is a history of the city and Oahu seen through the eyes of a Korean “picture bride”. Again another recommendation.
Okay. Enough. Connie and I really enjoyed being on the road and are looking forward to the next one. Hope you’ll ride along with us then.
The End