Part 3: Radford, VA, to Seattle
Stops planned in:
- Ashville, NC
- Great Smoky Mountains
- Cumberland Gap
- Corbin, KY (to visit Hank's niece Cathy and her husband, Todd)
- Nashville
- Noah's Arc replica
- Harrisburg, PA (Hank's hometown and home of his brother Joe and Aunt Jean.)
- Sugar Creek, OH, for a reunion with Hank's father's side of the family
- Terre Haute, IN, to visit Hank's sister Eleanor
- David City, NE, to visit Angie's brother Joe
- Badlands
- Yellowstone
- The Grand Tetons
- Missoula, MT, to visit Hank's son Jonathan
- Coer d'Alene, ID
- Ashville, NC
- Great Smoky Mountains
- Cumberland Gap
- Corbin, KY (to visit Hank's niece Cathy and her husband, Todd)
- Nashville
- Noah's Arc replica
- Harrisburg, PA (Hank's hometown and home of his brother Joe and Aunt Jean.)
- Sugar Creek, OH, for a reunion with Hank's father's side of the family
- Terre Haute, IN, to visit Hank's sister Eleanor
- David City, NE, to visit Angie's brother Joe
- Badlands
- Yellowstone
- The Grand Tetons
- Missoula, MT, to visit Hank's son Jonathan
- Coer d'Alene, ID
Part 2: St. Petersburg, FL, to Radford, VA
Hank rejoined Angie. After a last day and night with Angie's friends Tracy and Karri, we resumed our journey with a southward leg to Key West before turning north to visit family and arrive in Radford, VA, for the 30th anniversary family reunion for Hank's mother's tribe.
Part 1: Seattle to St. Petersburg, FL
4,260 miles in 23 nights
Why so fast?
Hank wants to fly to LA to drive with his daughter Madeline as she returns home to Medina, WA, after her freshman year at Chapman University. Angie will hang out with her Navy buddies, Tracy and Carri for a week. Hank will fly back to St. Pete to continue their journey south to Key West, before turning north en route to the Duncan/Hypes reunion in Radford, VA, on June 25.
Why so fast?
Hank wants to fly to LA to drive with his daughter Madeline as she returns home to Medina, WA, after her freshman year at Chapman University. Angie will hang out with her Navy buddies, Tracy and Carri for a week. Hank will fly back to St. Pete to continue their journey south to Key West, before turning north en route to the Duncan/Hypes reunion in Radford, VA, on June 25.
|
Preparations
We bought our trailer on March 11 from a dealer in Yakima, 100 miles from Seattle. After a two-hour check-in where they hitched us up and briefed us, we practiced backing up in a supermarket parking lot for 10 minutes. Then we hit the road. We decided on a short drive to Ellensburg, about half-way home, for our virgin campout. We had a whole fairgrounds to ourselves on a clear, cool night. I was glad there was no one around because it took us several tries to get the trailer into the back-in site in proper alignment. But we established some good practices for communication and hand signals. The site had electricity, but no other services, so we had a chance to test out many systems. The next day we drove home over 3,500-foot Snoqualmie pass on a sunny day with dry roads.
We've been working through a long list of major preparations, which included selling Angie's Mom's house after she moved to a senior community. We also had to prepare and list Hank's house for rental, move Angie's things into Hank's house and prepare the trailer and ourselves for a 12,000-mile trip that starts April 24th. Nothing like jumping right in to the deep end!
Hank had rented Class C RVs a couple of times in the past and also has done a couple of months of cruising in a sailboat. Angie has travelled with friends in a camper a few times. That was the sum total of our RV experience. It has been a revelation! Thank God for the Seattle RV Show and the Internet. We've gathered tons of great advice from experienced travelers. I feel pretty well prepared for the most common types of issues such as:
- dry camping
- hookups that are far away from our parking spot
- roadside emergencies
- Levelling the rig
- pre-trip inspections
- trailer maintenance
- poor electrical service
- overpressure water supplies
We hope to avoid a Robin Williams-style poop geyser.
We had a pretty humbling experience recently when we tried to unhitch the trailer in the rain at a handyman's home. The hitch kept binding on the ball when we cranked up the tongue of the trailer. Luckily, the handyman had a big hammer and experience towing trailers. I'm going to put some bearing grease on that ball next time I hitch it up! The handyman is modifying a cabinet to accommodate a microwave upgrade. Our trailer came with no oven, so we are replacing the conventional microwave with a convection model. Angie makes some awesome casseroles that we intend to have as staples in our road menu rotation.
We've been working through a long list of major preparations, which included selling Angie's Mom's house after she moved to a senior community. We also had to prepare and list Hank's house for rental, move Angie's things into Hank's house and prepare the trailer and ourselves for a 12,000-mile trip that starts April 24th. Nothing like jumping right in to the deep end!
Hank had rented Class C RVs a couple of times in the past and also has done a couple of months of cruising in a sailboat. Angie has travelled with friends in a camper a few times. That was the sum total of our RV experience. It has been a revelation! Thank God for the Seattle RV Show and the Internet. We've gathered tons of great advice from experienced travelers. I feel pretty well prepared for the most common types of issues such as:
- dry camping
- hookups that are far away from our parking spot
- roadside emergencies
- Levelling the rig
- pre-trip inspections
- trailer maintenance
- poor electrical service
- overpressure water supplies
We hope to avoid a Robin Williams-style poop geyser.
We had a pretty humbling experience recently when we tried to unhitch the trailer in the rain at a handyman's home. The hitch kept binding on the ball when we cranked up the tongue of the trailer. Luckily, the handyman had a big hammer and experience towing trailers. I'm going to put some bearing grease on that ball next time I hitch it up! The handyman is modifying a cabinet to accommodate a microwave upgrade. Our trailer came with no oven, so we are replacing the conventional microwave with a convection model. Angie makes some awesome casseroles that we intend to have as staples in our road menu rotation.
This will be our first major stop after three nights in Oregon and Idaho (Emigrants Pass and Sun Valley) and two nights in Park City, Utah.
Upcoming Destinations
New Orleans
|
Yellowstone
|
Wysong Reunion, Sugarcreek, OH
30th Anniversary Duncan/Hypes Reunion
|
|
|