2015 Western Trip – Recap

Since I'm sure you've read every word of every post during this entire trip I'll keep the recap fairly short J

First a few stats:

Departure Date:  Jul 24

Return Date:  Sep 30

Duration:  69 days

Distance in the RV:  5828 miles plus a couple thousand more in the car – no wonder our butts were sore.

States we stayed overnight:  KY, MO, KS, NE, WY, MT, ID, WA, OR, UT, CO

The primary purpose of this trip was to spend time in the Pacific NW states of Washington and Oregon while visiting some fun places along the route and meet up with some blogger buddies.

Blogger buddies we met with:  We had a first time visit with Diana (Voice In The Garden) and her husband Pete and with Ingrid (Live Laugh RV) and her husband Al then repeat get-togethers with Heather (Rocky Mountain Cooking), Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) and Bob, and Dave (Inspired By eRecipe Cards) and Jackie.  All were a great time and a big highlight of the trip for me – hated that we had to miss a couple though.

Our most favorite places:  Cody, WY; McMinnville, OR; Sisters, OR; Grand Junction, CO

Our least favorite places:  We really didn’t care for Washington as the pace of everything (in the West) seemed too fast and the people were generally not very friendly.

Bucket list items checked off: Union Pacific RR Bailey Yard, Beartooth Hwy, Grand Coulee Dam, Dungeness Crab, Oregon Coast.

Biggest disappointment:  Thanks to my impatience early in the trip I dinged the coach – not sure if I’ll ever learn.  Deception Pass boat ride for Pat & Bev.

Biggest surprises:  The amount of wheat and straw grown and exported from western WA, Dungeness Crab size and deliciousness, the diversity of agriculture in the Willamette Valley, evidence of volcanism in the Oregon Cascades.

Biggest relief:  The RV performed beautifully and while we have a few minor things that need to be tended to, we had no real issues with the chassis or coach.

A few favorite non-people shots:

Things I was most happy to return home for:  My comfortable recliner and a shower I can turn around in.

After our two previous whirlwind trips to the West, I said I didn’t want to do it again but since I didn’t think we’d get back to the Northwest (we're old farts you know) and the girls didn’t want to be gone any longer, we saw as much as we could in the time available.  I think five months would have been about right.

All-in-all, I think we had a great trip - we got to see most of the things and people we wanted to, we were still speaking when we got home, no one got injured, and we weren't stranded along the side of the road.  I think we all agreed we can now say we been there and done that - although we might want to make a non-RV return trip to Oregon.  We now need to decide how we want to spend our RVing time moving forward. 

Thanks so much for following along on our adventure.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry