We are so green that we spent 22 months preparing for this day. Granted, we had to find buyers for our business (not an easy task in our line of work), get that transaction done, buy the “perfect” RV for our needs, sell 95% of our personal lifetime-collection-of-belongings, rehome our beloved farm animals and sell our favorite farmhouse and property, and prep our RV “Brutus” and our Toad “Brody”. During that time we also starting following several key fulltime RV bloggers and vloggers, and followed several informative podcasters as well. We watched a ton of YouTube videos and stalked a bunch of fulltimers on Instagram.
So we are totally prepared, right?
Not so much. We found ourselves having to put Brutus in the shop 6 out of the 10 days preceding our hard launch date. With each appointment, Brutus got sicker and sicker. You know when you have to go to the hospital for a friend or family member and when you leave you are CERTAIN that you have contracted something from the hospital air? Well it was like that, but it was TRUE and it was with Brutus’ internal systems. Talk about stress! We had a 6 week trip planned, during which we made commitments to several friends and family members. It was so bad with Brutus that just a day or two before launch, we came very close to canceling the entire trip!
Many of the bloggers/vloggers/podders had stated that since the RV population has been growing at alarmingly exponential rates the past few years, RV service was in high demand which creates a multitude of problems as an RV owner. So we were experiencing the epitome of that and it was beyond stressful and frustrating. And then, as if God himself said, “Okay you two, you have passed my test because you have not cursed at anyone or thrown anything at them; I will let you proceed in peace.” And just like that, everything was fixed about 12 hours before our departure time the next morning.
Whew!!!
Our next step was to set-up the Toad and pull out of the driveway. Seemed simple enough. We did so while grinning ear to ear and driving toward the freeway through the streets of suburbia. We were SO proud of ourselves for all of the time and energy we put into our planning so that everything would be PERFECT.
We had to stop at the gas station to fill Brutus up and just before we left my husband suggests that we check the magnetic lights that we had attached to our Toad, Brody. I rolled my eyes (because everything was going in slow motion as my husband quintuple checked everything with full-blown paranoia) and hopped into the driver’s seat to test the lights. I watched as he gave me his hand signals from behind Brody, and I complied. Then he disappeared for a short moment before he popped through the RV door. He spoke in a very low tone, almost a whisper, as he told me that we needed to go through the process one more time. I asked him, “Why?” with exasperation in my voice. I just wanted to get on the road! He sheepishly explained that he had put the magnetic lights on in reverse so that when I used the left turn signal on Brutus, the right turn signal flashed on Brody; and so forth.
I began laughing a genuinely hearty laugh and then slowly grew more horrified as I imagined the path of destruction that we would have left behind us driving down the freeway for several hours with that configuration! OMG. “We are SUCH rookies!” I proclaimed with both shame and pride.
With all of that behind us, we began our 3 hour trip eastbound on I-90 over the Snoqualmie Pass through Cle Elum, Ellensburg, and Vantage. It had been so long since I had left Western Washington that I had forgotten how diverse the topography of Washington State is. Even I was asking myself, “This is Washington State? Seriously?”
We stayed at our friends’ property right on the Columbia River in a little hidden gem community called Sunland in Quincy, WA. We were deep, deep down in a significant canyon cut by the river. It was an absolutely delicious slice of heaven right here on earth.
Sunland is a very remote place where although it was surprisingly modernized, time stands still there. Everyone waves and says hello to everyone. Kids play freely and uninhibited without supervision as a unknown/unapproved stranger would die in the desert before making it down to Sunland unnoticed. People relax, play, and soak in every last drop of the beauty that God has provided us. We wished we could have stayed longer, but we had to be in Coeur d’Alene the next day to begin house and dog sitting for our friends. Nonetheless, we feel very blessed to have had our one night in Sunland.
The next morning we stopped for breakfast in Moses Lake, WA and found this unusual place called “Mom & Pops Diner” where the actual dining room had been trolley car #53 of the Seattle-Everett Interurban Line back in 1939. When the trolley line folded, car #53 was moved over to Moses Lake and has been hosting a restaurant since 1946. The food was not the best but it was not horrible either. We enjoyed this place just for the unique ambiance, so in that sense we would recommend it as something to try at least once.
Next stop Coeur d’Alene, ID!
ROVER RANGERS 