Day 21 Continued
We got the van and had to wait for the axle. We later learned the front axle was broken and the back one was bent. The transmission had all leaked out from a worn seal and luckily no damage was done. The mechanic said we should “probably” make it home to Colorado. We drove to Port Angeles and went to the boardwalk. We had the “best” clam chowder and fish and chips because it seemed fitting. We missed the sunset because we were going to the bathroom- but caught the tail end of it off Edz Hook. (a breaker of a huge deep water harbor) We drove around to find a place to sleep and the first spot we got barked at by dogs and settled for a spot next to a guy working on his van.
Day 22 July 8th Port Angeles to Washington beach
We woke up and got coffee- used the bathroom at a gas station ( 2 things we miss in the van) we drove to the Olympic National Park visitor center then headed around the peninsula to HOH rainforest. We got lunch and went on a hike. This place receives 200 inches of rain a year!!! Trees grow at an amazing speed and are always covered with moss and epiphytes. It was really cool to see this productive forest. Along the way to the beach we saw trees that make a tunnel over the road, purple, white, yellow wild flowers and the replanting of logging operations. We got a campsite about 200 feet off a rocky beach strewn with driftwood. It was very windy and cold and a few men braved the artic water. After high tide we went on a walk on the beach- looking for clams and shells. The ocean is beautiful!! It is very cold out so we bundled up in the van.
Day 23 July 9th Beach to Portland, OR
This morning was a little less cool than last night. We took one last walk on the beach and found a crab leg and picked up flack rocks to put in our fish tank. We cruised to Portland and felt the heat creep in. we found and drove to Kris’ house (Jacob’s college buddy) and got to experience our 4th shower of the trip. We meet Caitlyn and rode our bikes to a “biker” bar- this is no Harley bar!! It is a Shinn bar. Everyone in Portland loves biking and is a very biker friendly town- bikes outnumbering cars on streets even. We got some BBQ material and headed back to Kris and Caitlyn’s house for a wonderful BBQ and socializing in a summer evening on the front porch with great friends. Portland is a hig city comprised of many 30 something eco-conscious, outdoorsy, old hippy folks. We like it.
Day 24 July 10th Portland to Oregon beach
We made breakfast at the house and contemplated what we should do today. There were hikes to go on, waterfalls to see, boating to do- but instead we soaked up the TV and internet- the 1st time of the month. Being in a home, we had made the conclusion that we are ready to go home. We drove the rest of Oregon- stopping Oceanside miles before the CA border. It is amazing how cold and windy it is next to the beach. CA may be on fire (literally and temperature wise) but it is literally freezing at the beach. We camped on a sweet bluff looking out over huge ocean haystacks. We took a moonlight hike down the beach. It was wonderful!!
Day 25 July 11th Oregon beach to Eureka, CA
We decided to get gas before going into CA $5 a gallon gas. Chelsey started to fill up the gas tank and a lady came running (who obviously doesn’t run very much) and said that she would finish pumping for me. Chelsey was very confused and then remembered it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon…how stupid!! We drove down to Crescent City- Jacob got the urge to go surfing in Artic water and Chels instantly became a beach babe. Jacob couldn’t miss the 2 foot roller waves and surfed them until he was exhausted. Chels read, shopped, laid on the beach and unsuccessfully flew a kite. We continued south looking for Redwood National Park. The signage was awful and we literally drove right past it. We found an information center and they said that we bypassed the entire national and state park. We couldn’t even drive through a tree because they are all on private property and you have to pay to go through them. We drove back to the scenic hwy and had the drive through tour of the park. (not the national parks we are used to). But when you get out of the car into the forest it is an amazingly peaceful place. We went south another 30 minutes and learned that the east bound highways were closed due to wildfires. It was easy to see because the sky was filled with a dark haze of smock. We checked some alternate routes and went to bed in the van behind Safeway.
Day 26 July 12th Eureka, CA to Reno, NV
We awoke to trucks delivering item to Safeway so we decided to eat breakfast at Safeway and headed east. Many of the towns are still smoky and we drove past the Fire fighters head courtiers…which were kinda crazy. Our goal for today is to get to Reno. We stopped in Tahoe and went for a little dip in the lake. It was fairly warm water and many people out today. It was weird because we were on the other side of the fence today. There was a rich “private” side and then the public side on which we were on. I could see why people want a private side- there are some crazies out there! We heard it is gorgeous with the lake and the mountains in the back round. However the smoke was hiding the mountains so no view for us. Instead we bought some post cards and ice cream and made our way to Reno. We have decided to stop and play our luck with a little gambling since we are on our way through. We have $10 left in cash- so we each get $5 to spend in the slots. We each play $2 working the penny and nickel slots and we lose it all. We have decided that we should take a rest and eat and then play the rest of our money. We went to a restaurant inside the casino and ordered garlic bread, bottle of wine, sirloin steaks, and pasta. Our bill was $23 including tip! It was one of the cheapest meals that we have ever had. We went back to the slots with $3 each. Chels went to play the penny slots while Jacob played the poker slots. Chelsey hit the jack pot and won $15 on the penny slots. I was soo excited and would not put that money back into the slots. We were pumped!! Jacob was still working the poker slots and Chels went to the nickel slots. We both had $2 left. Chelsey then hit the jack pot on the nickel slots and won $200!!!! We were even more excited that we finished our games and cashed out $215 at the casino. We were on a money winning high, drove outside of Reno and tried to sleep by other truckers on the side of the road. However Chelsey was freaking out thinking that there were people outside of the van and got her hair stuck in the window that was open. (She thought that someone was pulling her hair from outside). Chelsey then drove another 20 minutes and parked the van for the night under some old oak trees…just us with nature.
Day 27 July 13th Reno, NV to Laramie, WY
Today was the longest driving day. We drove for about 14 hours today through the heat and fast food stops. We have really seen the country and know that there is nothing in Nevada and Utah and most of Wyoming. We stopped and got more book on tapes since we have breezed through the ones that we given to us for this trip. We thought about making it home tonight…but the Wal-Mart parking lot seemed a lot better at 11pm. We pulled up next to the other 10 RVs that were parked in Wal-mart.
Day 28 July 14th Home Sweet Home
This morning we awoke and found out that Wal-Mart was open 24 hours and that we could have peed early this morning instead of just trying to hold it and go back to sleep. Jacob drove to Longmont while Chels caught up on her sleep in the back of the van. In Longmont we had our last fast food breakfast (McDonalds) and finished the drive home. We arrived in our new; one week lived in house by 9:30am. Our honeymoon is just starting in our marriage and we are very excited to keep on living the dream.
