TIE DYE TRAVELERS 
(Link to YouTube video of our cross country adventure at the bottom of blog post)
We absolutely love road trips but this one was different for a couple of reasons. The first major difference was that we were in two separate vehicles. Usually TR is the driver and Hailey the co-pilot. The second major difference, which hadn’t really set in yet, is that there is no return trip planned. We have all of our earthly possessions inside our RV and we are moving across the country one state at a time, still not knowing exactly where we will call home for the next few months. We realize that’s anxiety inducing for some, but to us it’s all part of the adventure!!
The goal for day one was to get out of Texas. When headed west from Seguin that is not exactly a small task. We made it through some construction and traffic in San Antonio with no problems and the maiden voyage of hauling our home was going well. We were well on our way and in the middle of nowhere on I-10W when the first unforgettable moment of our journey occurred. We had yet to even stop to refill our tanks and something unexpected happened. TR felt the truck engine lose some power and called Hailey as it was coasting to a stop, losing power steering and braking in the process. We had ran the truck dry of diesel even though the truck still read 30 miles to empty. Lesson one for us: when in doubt – refill the truck! All was good though and we were able to grab a can of diesel, prime the fuel pump, and hit the road again making it to Carlsbad, New Mexico before calling it a day.
Day two of our road trip out west was long, but uneventful. We kept our fuel tanks full and just kept chugging along. We left Carlsbad around 9 and were on the road a solid 12 hours or so before rolling into Moab, Utah for the evening. We stopped in the middle of nowhere Colorado to get our daily mile run in with some mountain storms and lightning as a backdrop. One of the best things about places out west is that there is a lot of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land which you can camp on for free. So we found a nice little spot for the evening and got straight to bed since we knew we had an early morning to get ready for sunrise at Canyonlands National Park the following day.
We had heard that sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park was a must. Sunrises are one of our favorite things so we were definitely game for that! Apparently all the rest of the folks had gotten the same memo. A lot of times we are the only people in sight to enjoy a sunrise and see the world come to life. However, at Mesa Arch this was definitely not the case as there were close to 50 other tourists all fighting to capture the “money shot” through the arch. We ditched the crowd and scrambled our way up to a spot on top of a different peak that offered much more solitude to enjoy the rest of the sunrise.
After our sunrise adventure and short trail run through the park we decided it was time for mountain biking! We are rookies to the world of mountain biking but the trails in Moab are SO much fun and we definitely recommend the Bar M Trails!
From there we continued west a few hours and landed in Salt Lake City to spend the weekend
catching up with a dear friend from college. It was a fun time filled with good beer, disc golf, and meeting new people of similar mindset which is always refreshing.
Back on the road a short few hours to Idaho. Idaho is a place that neither one of us had ever been, but had always been enamored with as soon as we saw pictures of the mountains, rivers and lakes there years ago. It was a rainy drive into Idaho but our first stop was the Perrine Memorial Bridge in Twin Falls, ID. It was amazing! We were driving along on flat ground for the longest time and then BAM! A huge bridge with a big canyon underneath, with beautiful waterfalls flowing down into the Snake River below. We explored down to the water’s edge, climbed around on some rocks, and then ran our daily mile across the bridge – enjoying the majestic bridge from many different vantage points!
After that we continued through the cornfields for another 45 minutes before getting to Box Canyon State Park. We pull up to a very unassuming parking lot, not really sure if we were even in the right spot. We walked over to the rail and were amazed at what was lying down below! Cut out of the flat land was a deep canyon with water flowing through, and the most incredibly inviting blue and turquoise swimming holes we’ve ever seen! We couldn’t turn down an invitation like that, so we began plotting our route down into the canyon. One option was to hike a bunch of miles along the top of the canyon before descending. But another (don’t try this at home) option was to (ever so carefully of course) descend the immediate drop of the canyon walls right by the lookout- allowing us to jump into those swimming holes sooner than later which we were all about! We loaded our pack with one “get there beer” each and a towel, and began to make our way down into the canyon. It was a bit of work to get to the bottom so we were more than ready to jump in that water! It was refreshing alright- take your breath away freezing cold refreshing! We enjoyed our beer, soaked in the incredible scene, attempted to capture and then climbed back up the canyon. From there we got back on the road headed towards Boise.
Look closely and you can see TR climbing down into the canyon! 
We arrived late in Boise and settled in nicely to our favorite free campground, the Walmart parking lot! We woke up early to head to what we thought was an easy to get to trailhead. Thank gosh for Subie because before we knew it we were off-roading up and down through the Boise mountains. We enjoyed a good trail run and then it was time to cool off. Following advice from a local we put the paddleboards in at Lucky Peak State Park. Before heading west again we enjoyed a hard earned brunch downtown, and watched the local surfers ride the river wave.
Somewhere in the middle of Oregon a nice fellow was passing TR on the interstate and gestured a cautionary warning about our tire. We pulled over to inspect it and noticed one tire was definitely warped enough to raise concern. We were in the middle of nowhere, so we were delighted to find out through our google search that there was a tire shop 6.5 miles away in the small town of La Grande, Oregon. The nice fellow at Les Schwab tires said very matter of factly “wow- I’m surprised this thing hasn’t blown out on you yet.” With further inspection, one other tire was in questionable shape so the fellas got us fixed up and back on the road in no time with two new shoes on the RV.
The rest of the drive through Oregon and into Washington was uneventful, but unbelievably beautiful. It was the best feeling, almost indescribable to be driving behind the RV, seeing it wind through the mountains, alongside the lakes and rivers, being fully submersed in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Our heart strings have been pulled by the PNW for many many years, knowing that’s where we wanted to go first as soon as we were able to start travel therapy. And here we are, with our home and everything we own just driving through it all. Even though it may just be temporary, it feels like home for now and that’s an incredible feeling!!
Since writing that initial blog post capturing our cross country road trip, we have settled into a nice little place in the Oregon countryside called Wandering Spirit RV Park in Grand Ronde, OR. We are amidst the farmlands, vineyards, and trees as far as the eye can see. The best part is that we’re only 30 minutes from the coast! So far Oregon is everything we hoped it would be and more!!
Home sweet home! 
Click below to watch the YouTube video capturing our one way road trip out west!
