Travel Recap #3: Wa-Wa-Washington!!

After our jaunt in northern Oregon and a trip to Rainier National Park, we parked the rig at the Fairgrounds in Puyallup and spent the next week visiting family at a lakehouse nearby. All I can say is - it was a week of amazing fun and great times! A vacation from the vacation. Lots of lake play and water activities plus late-night card games and good conversation. The quintessential summer, wrapped into a perfect week with Alyx’s extended family. All I can say is, if you don’t have a funcle (Fun Uncle) in your life, you should look into adopting one, STAT!! ;)

Our next stop after that was meant to be in the Northern Cascades, but when we arrived at our camp spot, we not only learned that they had since decided to dis-allow overnight stays due to issues with transients and trash, but also that the highway (Hwy 20) was closed just a few miles up the road due to wildfires in the area. That meant that in order to get to northern Idaho as planned, we had to go all the way back down I-5 through Seattle and over to Spokane via I-90. It was a bummer to say the least! 

Since it was later in the day and we couldn’t push any further east, we backtracked and spent the next two nights (for free) at a casino in Ferndale. Being just a few miles from the border, we went to a park and walked around the marina in Blaine, looking across the bay at Canada! 🇨🇦 It was a lovely spot and we even found more wild blackberries and an enormous apple tree to satisfy the kids’ endless desire for snacks, at least for a few minutes. 

The drive back down the interstate the following day was long and eventful: we had a number of issues with the bike rack, city traffic was terrible, and we got an (irreparable) nail stuck in one of our trailer tires. We had to quickly find a flat place to pull over (not so easy on the freeway with a semi-sized rig) so Justin could change the rapidly-deflating tire, then find out how far we needed to go to get it replaced, being now outside of the city with only scattered small towns around. A not-so-quick stop at Les Schwab for a replacement meant we arrived at our next destination - a quick pull-off in the center of the state near George, WA - at dusk. The lift-assist arms for our under-bed storage compartment had also both fallen loose sometime during the long drive (being held on by some chintzy staples), adding yet another item to Justin’s ongoing list of repairs. 

Another 100+ miles the next day took us to a Recreation Area outside of Sprague where we spent the day riding bikes and enjoying the Washington sun… that is, until our solar stopped working. Our power intake went straight to zero, seemingly without cause, so Justin spent the rest of the afternoon jimmying with the system and sending me on the roof to check things out. After sunset, however, we had no way of testing whether it was back “online.” We packed up early the next morning, only to realize our awning motor had also gone out, so Justin had to manually move it back in standing on his truck with a power drill. 

It was tough to have so many “down” days after such an awesome week at my Uncle’s. I’ve heard so many times how common it is for things to break on RVs, but it just doesn’t quite hit home until it happens repeatedly and personally. The tire was a simple enough repair and the awning we could do without until we figured out the issue, but it felt like a ticking time-bomb with the solar out, since we were running out of power and couldn’t just run our generator sitting in the Cabela’s parking lot east of Spokane trying to find a solution on a Sunday. 

Thankfully, God once again intervened and got us back on our feet (look for this story in our God With Us segments). It certainly didn’t come without a bit of doubting and groaning on our part, but we are humbled each and every time we behave this way, knowing we should have taken our stresses and worries to Him from the get-go. It’s a lifelong lesson we’re still coming to understand, but we’re always grateful for His unending patience and abundant grace.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” ~ 1 Peter 4:12-13 ~