Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Ready to Hit the Road Again

This past week has been a whirlwind of activities.  It started last Tuesday when we pulled the trailer out of the backyard, and started loading it up - the trip was finally real.  This year, the plan is to head south - through Salt Lake City; Bryce Canyon; Grand Canyon; Las Vegas; San Diego; L.A.; and up the Pacific Coast Highway to home.  Another amazing five week holiday, but before all that can begin there was A LOT of work to do.  In the fall, I learned how to winterize a trailer now it was time to de-winterize.  Thankfully, my handy husband (Kevin) was will to come out and show me the ropes.  We got the anti-freeze out of the trailer and found I needed to replace the tires, the first (and thankfully) really only big pre-expense of this trip. 

And loading?  It went a lot easier than expected.  Between the list from last year, experience of what worked, what didn’t and where things fit it was a lot faster than I expected.  A few things I forgot how to do but I figured it out as I went.  Really, the biggest thing I have to remember in the trip this year is NO HOSPITAL TRIPS!  We`ve learned our lesson I think!
On the road ... First stop Lethbridge.  Finally hit the road on July 22nd a couple of hours after we anticipated but at least we are on the road.  We decided to stop at Bridgeview RV Resort, it sits right near the longest running railbridge in the world.   Nice people, great scenery but, a little close to the highway for my liking.  Overnight we were hit with a huge thunderstorm making it even harder to sleep through.  Oh well, what can you do?  Just have a later start in the morning than you hoped but sleep is just as important as getting there!  Still, this is the life I think.... 
 
 We got to the border crossing and ended up with a fantastic border security guard.  He had no issues with the fact it was just me and the kids (thanks Lynette for signing the paperwork the other night!).  And, while we had to get rid of a few tomatoes, peppers and the avocado but the rest of the items were safe!  A quick stop at the Great Falls Albertsons had us set up for homemade salsa again and we were good to go!   We made it all the way to Butte, MT where we stopped at our favourite campsite (yes KOA!), had a swim in the pool, met some great campers and then a great night  of sleep!