Just our family, Fulton around!
As you can see above, we made it out of the snowy campsite from last night, but it wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. When I saw the truck “rip” up the hill with their chains on I had my suspicion that I’d need the same assistance this morning to extract ourselves as well. Sure enough, I took a couple tries on each exit route to no avail, the roads were too steep and the snow too slippery to get out without
Continue reading “1/2/2019 – Chained up to go see the airplanes”Not the best night of sleep in my life, but I’m not complaining. I’m in the middle of nowhere Washington, with the people I love the most and we can go and do “just about” anything we want today. I know, lets go play in the snow!
Our compass is pointed towards Seattle, Not for any particular reason, it’s just the right direction for us to be heading at this point in our journey (we’re roughly going around the country counter clockwise) and after taking a look at iOverlander we found a good possible site and set off along the 90. I guess google maps wanted to make sure I knew which road I was on:
We already had a stocked fridge, full water/ fuel tanks, and an empty trash can, so our only stop after being on the road for a couple hours was at Mountain View Park in Ellensburg Washington to run out some energy and make some lunch.
After swinging and teeter-tottering (love how playgrounds are getting dangerous again!) and eating lunch we hit the road for our last little bit of the drive for the day (about 30 minutes).
It was really neat as we got close to our site, we were flanking a wildlife refuge and saw a big heard of elk (~100) and a couple dear. Didn’t stop for photos as the kids were actually asleep in their carseats and evening was approaching which meant if this site didn’t work out, we’d need to quickly find and get to a backup. Fortunately no backup was needed as we made the sharp left down into an awesome flat next to Taneum Creek which clearly doesn’t receive much sun exposure as most of the hills around it were bare, but it still had ~8″ of snow covering it. There was one truck down there when we pulled in, but they were chaining up to drive out and after we backed into our level spot for the night, one of the guys came walking down the hill to ask if we were “all right”? 🙂 I said, yeah, we’re good, we’re staying here for the night. He gave me a quizzical look and said alright. After watching them need chains to get up the hill to the main road, I figured we’d need to do the same, but I wasn’t worried as we’d purchased two sets of chains and had already test fit them in the driveway to ensure we were prepare for just such a situation.
We all got out and played in the snow while the sun set and then settled back in the van for dinner, a few games of “Left, Right, Center” (aka: Washington), and bedtime stories.
Here we go! We’ve talked and dreamed, we’ve planned and built, we’ve been excited and terrified, but today the rubber meets the road. We’re leaving the comforts of driveways owned by family in Spokane Washington and heading Southeast to Heart Lake (near Moses Lake WA) where we’ll spend the first night of our road trip around the country.
The drive itself (~111 miles) was easy and uneventful. We stopped once for groceries to fill up the Dometic CFX 95 Fridge/Freezer and once again to fill up the van’s fuel tank. It’s a diesel, so every time I fill it up I chant to myself, “Green Handle, Green Handle, Green Handle”, this has worked so far!
We pulled up to Heart lake and were pleased be be the only ones around. Molly, our dog (yeah, we brought her with) was also excited as that meant no fireworks which in the past has lead to shredded carpet, peeled paint and drywall, and messes we don’t want to discuss when the percussions of fireworks start to go off.
After a yummy dinner we tucked in for the night and dreamt of the miles, days, and adventures ahead.
Kind of, we’re now 3 for 3 on leaving the day after we’ve planned when we’ve had to “load the van”. It just takes longer than we expect to get everything in it’s place and by the time we do it’s too late to set out for anywhere and drive/arrive before dark. So tonight we’re sleeping in the van in Dan and Rickie’s driveway in Spokane. It’s nice knowing there’s a key to grab for hot water and a proper bathroom so close. Thanks boys for the hospitality, see you next Winter!
What a great finale for our time with family in Spokane. We were blessed to attend the Chiefs vs. Americans (Western Hockey League) and watch the game from a suite where the kids (and us adults too) enjoyed bottomless popcorn and a game winning goal scored with three seconds left in the game by the Chiefs. I didn’t notice while we were there, but the pictures make me wonder if any of us got any popcorn in our mouths 🙂
The hardest part of leaving so far, has become the physical act of leaving. After setting off on our Northbound course last week, we were abruptly stopped after driving only 100 miles from Phoenix. The culprit, the other major piece of the drivetrain that we didn’t replace, the transmission. In the end we made it as far as a good campsite near Arizona’s ski resort Snowbowl, but cold weather and a questionable heat source for a bitter cold night (low was supposed to dip into the teens) pressed us to tuck our tail between our legs and head back down the mountain to the warmer climate of the Phoenix valley where our friendly Mercedes Benz dealership rewarded us with the good news that the tranny was failing. The mechanical failure cost us some Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) that we were replenishing as we returned to Phoenix, and obviously some money as Phil is rather certain they can’t just “give” us a new transmission for free. The worst part though is a week of delay in our actual departure which happens to put us past my mom’s 60th birthday and puts the Thanksgiving deadline for an arrival in Washington much tighter than we would have liked. I suppose this is the life we’ve chosen, and I have to say how proud I am of our family, we’ve shown our frustrations, but we’re still excited for the journeys ahead and haven’t lost any of our passion for the adventures awaiting.