The Church Hideout

This morning, Tyler hit the ground running…at a near sprint. His meetings were back to back and lasted until nearly 6 pm with a short afternoon break. At the end of the day, even I was tired from the amount of meetings he had. While he got up and started meetings right away, I walked a short distance to a convenience store to grab him coffee.

I was happy to see the wind subsided in Lincoln City. I was certain we were going to blow away, but as the night fell, the wind died down and allowed us to sleep peacefully. This morning when we woke up, the weather was perfect and I couldn’t help but think about going back to the beach. I also thought about the outlet malls just a short distance away, but knowing we had the trailer, I knew parking would be a mess.

Instead, I tinkered around the trailer and listened to Tyler as he discussed the current market conditions with clients. I love the passion he has for his job. We had a small window of opportunity for breakfast between two of his meetings. Years and years ago we went to this cute little breakfast spot. We both remembered it being amazing and we were able to find it nearby. We parked in an upper lot and walked to the Wildflower Grill. At one point it felt we were playing frogger as we crossed the highway, but we survived.

Our breakfast was just as AMAZING as we remembered and we sat in the back sunroom overlooking a little riverbed. I immediately noticed a stork on a log working diligently to find food. After Tyler pointed out that it had caught a fish (I missed it), I couldn’t peel my eyes away. We finished and froggered our way back across the highway and up the hill to our trailer.

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When Tyler finished his last meeting of the morning, we set out towards Grand Ronde, OR, where we planned to stay in the RV parking at Spirit Mountain. In less than an hour, we were parking and situating ourselves to stay for the night. A short break between meetings allowed us to go inside and sign up for their player card and register our trailer to camp for the night for FREE!

Tyler’s meetings continued into the evening so I took a short nap while he finished up. Then we went back into the casino for dinner and Tyler placed a few bets at the Roulette table. He quickly won $30 and we bought dinner with his winnings! While we were enjoying our meal, he touched base with Cody about our arrival the following day. Cody convinced us to head his way RIGHT NOW…so we did!

We packed up and headed to Corvallis where we are staying with Cody and Lacey for the weekend. It seems like it has been forever since we saw them and in that time their beautiful baby boy was born. The last several hours have been spent getting cuddle time with Canaan, getting the scoop on all things new motherhood from Lacey, and listening to Tyler and Cody have bro time!

They say home is where the heart is, so today, we are basically home!

It’s a strange twist in circumstance as we navigate closer to home, fewer miles at a time. For the past 40+ days we have mostly traveled a few hundred miles daily and today when we set out from Florence, OR, we had 75 miles to travel.

Our morning was spent in Florence, OR at Three Rivers Casino. Tyler was on call after call as I cradled our needy old dog like a baby. She was being quite the diva today so when Tyler was on the phone, she chose to faintly whimper. I was forced to hold her and lightly bounce her up and down until his meeting was over.

The dogs, for the most part, have been the easiest part of this trip. There are days, however, that one of them will be needier than we are used to. Today, was Chloe’s day! When Tyler finished up his meetings, we began our travels towards Lincoln City.

The drive to Lincoln City was slow. While it was only 75 miles, the slow-moving highway made our travels take longer than anticipated. I enjoyed driving through the curves and it was fun passing through so many beach cities. I think this is the first time in my life I have been so far south and driven north along the coastline. Oregon and the coast specifically have no shortage of beautiful scenery.

It was much cooler today than we have been used to. When we woke up, Tyler was freezing. So much so, he immediately put on his sweats and a long sleeve shirt. I am cold much of the time, but I sleep warmer so I was fine. The biggest change came while we were driving and the wind gusts nearly picked our whole trailer up from the road.

We have noticed more and more travel trailers, motor homes, and van conversions traveling as we navigate the PNW. It would seem that many are taking advantage of this time to travel. We have also noticed a lot of RV rentals on the road. I can’t help but think how ripped off they are getting by choosing that method and find myself so grateful we chose to purchase a travel trailer when we did to explore the whole USA without restrictions.

Our arrival in Lincoln City came just after 2:30 pm. Since we have found casinos to be quite accommodating, we decided to see if we could stay at Chinook Winds for the night. We weren’t really hoping to game, but many casinos have certain restrictions to stay within their grounds. Chinook Winds required us to be members and earn at least 50 points on our member card. We signed up for their card which came with $5 free play. Since each of us signed up, we both received free play which we chose to use at the little blackjack machine. Tyler used his free play and it was established the machine was not player-friendly. Our main goal was to get our points up without spending our own money. He earned 9 points. Then we used my free play. My $5 last us a while and we ended up with 55 points and $5.25 without using a dime of our own money. We aren’t gamblers as we both value our earnings enough to not want to throw it away. We were so happy we earned the 50 points so we immediately cashed out and headed to retrieve our overnight voucher for the lot.

Once we made it back to the trailer, we prepped ourselves to do a workout on the beach. It was WINDY to say the very least and we weren’t sure how it would turn out. We drove to an area we could walk our weights to the beach and completed a WOD, beachfront, with the wind nearly blowing us over. When we finished, I had sand EVERYWHERE.

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We couldn’t stick around for long as the wind was much too strong and it was cold. Both Tyler and I completed the WOD in our long sleeve shirts and never broke a sweat. Afterward we headed to the store to get dinner supplies and we ended up cooking dinner in the trailer while watching a UFC fight.

It was a relaxing night, knowing tomorrow Tyler has a full schedule of work meetings. We will likely be in this lot for much of the morning while he holds back to back meetings. We will leave in the early afternoon and head towards our next FREE night at Spirit Mountain as we get closer to Corvallis. We wish we would have known about casino stays before we left. When given the option to stay for $30-$40 in a state park or private RV park, or stay for free in a casino parking lot, the answer now seems obvious! Free is never a bad price, especially as we near the end of this adventure.

I am counting down the days until we arrive at our best friend’s house in Corvallis on Friday. We have been anxiously awaiting this day for a while and with it so close, we are beyond excited. Only two more sleeps and we meet the most handsome little man that will capture our hearts forever. There is something so special about watching your best friend start this next chapter in their lives and we cannot wait to be a part of it!

Since we didn’t have hookups last night, we didn’t get coffee OR showers this morning! It wasn’t all that bad though and we both woke up and got moving early. After Tyler’s morning meeting, we hooked up and gathered our camp gear, leaving Ashland and heading towards Coos Bay.

Our original plan was to travel about 3 hours, landing in Coos Bay. Tyler had a few more meetings so we made stops along the way. Our first stop was Canyonville and we sat parked outside Seven Feathers Casino. Casino parking lots offer a wonderful place to park RV’s and hang out. While Tyler was conducting his meeting, I let the dogs out. We went into the casino for about 3 minutes (not even joking) before deciding we were ready to head a short distance to Myrtle Creek.

We haven’t been to Myrtle Creek since 2004. We wouldn’t pass up a visit with grandma Opal who is laid to rest in the cemetery there. Tyler had another meeting and once it was finished, we parked at the bottom of the hill and walked up to the cemetery. Our memory was vague of where she was, but Tyler was able to find her nestled under a shady tree on the edge of the grounds. She certainly had the best seat in the house. A lot of emotions came over us as we stood over the site. Tyler’s mom had left flowers previously and I snapped a few pictures and tried to comfort Tyler.

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As we traveled further down the road, we decided to stop in North Bend. We looked into the RV park at The Mill Casino but decided their nightly rate was too high and there were plenty of other places we could stay. Tyler found Three Rivers close by with RV parking so we decided to give it a whirl. When we arrived, the parking lot was small and there were no other trailers in site. A quick google search revealed there were actually 2 Three Rivers Casinos.

We had made it to Coos Bay, but the day wasn’t getting any younger and we feared the first come first served sites we had our eye on would already be taken. It was already after 3 pm and we hadn’t eaten. I knew I was on a time clock and needing to feed the bear so we stopped at a little eatery in Coos Bay then we decided to continue our trek to Florence, OR.

When we arrived at Three Rivers Casino in Florence we could see the large lot with campers parked within. We went inside and made arrangements to be able to stay overnight. The process was easy and it was FREE with a player’s card. We signed up for the card and got $10 each in free play. It entertained us for a bit. We stayed in and played for a short time before returning to the trailer. Tyler had work on the brain and immediately started back at his tasks to prep for tomorrow’s meetings.

Our night has been slow and relaxed. We don’t have anything planned for these next few days and I am looking forward to spending some time at the beach. We will scope out a new place to stay tomorrow. Our next solid plan is to be in Corvallis by Friday where we will finally meet our new little nephew, but the next couple days are all ours and will also close out our cross country adventure. It’s hard to believe we have been gone for nearly 50 days, it’s even harder to believe we will be HOME soon!

I forgot to mention, we stayed in the parking lot of The Atlantis last night! It’s a different world we are living in as we tow around a mini house suitable for sleeping and housing us for both short or long stays. A small part of us worried we would be asked to leave by security, much like the last Casino we tried to stay at as part of Harvest Host. The Atlantis had the biggest parking lot and it was empty and perfect for us to park and stay.

We both were up early for Tyler to begin his workday and I tried to more thoroughly clean the trailer from our stay in South Lake Tahoe where it was by far the dirtiest campsite we have stayed yet. We stuck around for a Zoom call Tyler had and once it was over, we said our goodbyes to mom and Allan. We had the BEST time with them for the short few days we spent together and the casino just topped it all off. I think we all needed that little carefree fun!

Our travels today led us through California and finally back to Oregon! Tonight we are staying at the Oak Slope Campgrounds at Emigrant Lake in Ashland, OR. We explored the option of a beach in California, but after attempting to find places to stay, we came up empty-handed. We later learned their governor shut down everything again making it better off for us to get back to Oregon.

It was very quiet today as we traveled. Such a different experience without the kids. Ashton text me a few times to ensure I would provide him a workout for grandmas before his night swim. Keeping the kids active while they are away was important to us and I am happy it resonated with him and he will continue even at his grandmas.

After a few stops along the way for better service, work calls, fuel, and lunch, we made it to Ashland, OR. Once we set ourselves up in our campsite, we went to the lake and Tyler went for a swim while I waded in the water and took pictures. Surprisingly, it wasn’t nearly as cold as I thought it would be and Tyler said it was refreshing. Since we don’t have hookups, our trailer was quite warm so it was nicer to spend time at the lake.

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As we made it back to the trailer, Tyler couldn’t help but get back to work. He worked for a couple of hours and we are now watching a movie on Netflix. I think it’s safe to say we will be calling an early night tonight. Tomorrow, we might head to the coast. We are so close to home, but a small part of me wants to soak up every last minute of this time we have on the road!

We woke up with a timeline and we met our timeline perfectly. We thought our pack up from Lake Tahoe would be a little more strenuous, but with the help of the kids, we were up and loaded in record time. Our departure from South Lake Tahoe was sad, but we continued heading towards home.

Tyler and I still weren’t sure what our plans were from here. We thought about going through Idaho and Eastern Oregon before heading home, but after some discussion with family, we have decided to visit another time. This has left us wide open to anything. We ventured towards Reno, NV, where we knew we would be meeting my Dad to drop off the kids.

Since they finished online schooling, they have had a hankering to get to Condon. They were thoroughly enjoying our trip, but deep down they just can’t stop thinking about their summer weeks spent in their favorite little town with a few of their favorite people. Since our trip was coming to an end, we caved and decided to allow them to ride home with my Dad. They plan to spend time with my mom and the rest of the family while soaking up some pool time.

Tyler and I on the other hand are at a crossroads. We aren’t sure if we should continue to adventure, or head straight home. We have been traveling for 45 days now and we desperately want to meet our new nephew as well as get back to routines, but we also want to take advantage of this time we have. Tyler has a deadline to be home for work purposes, but with a little more than a week until that time, I can’t help but think of the things we could do!

We made it to Reno, NV this morning, and met up with my dad, grandma, and aunt who are all traveling together in a Toyota Prius. The kids and I prepped their bags last night and as the evening progressed, more and more items made it into the GO pile. I became concerned for space they would have as they traveled back in such a confined space with a packed car, but today, we were able to load all of their clothes, scooters, and dumbbells into the car.

Our goodbyes were bittersweet. I can’t believe that tonight we lay our heads to rest and our kids are not in our cozy little trailer. I love that they have the opportunity to spend quality time with family, but Tyler and I miss them tremendously and the remainder of this trip will look so much different without them.

After we dropped them off, we remained parked in the Atlantis parking lot in Reno. Mom and Allan had a room for the night and we intended to meet them here for a few hours. Without the kids, we managed to go in and enjoy some adult time in a casino with the family. We went to lunch at a little seafood restaurant in the sky terrace overlooking views of Reno. We intended to continue our travels and stop a few hours down the road, but a little fun lasted longer into the day than we expected and we changed our plans. I suppose with the kids away, we can play!

I, by no means, am a gambler. In fact, I don’t typically enjoy gambling. I enjoy the experience and people watching, but if I am going to spend $20 or $40 on anything, I want something tangible to come out of it…GUARANTEED! Tyler will take small risks, but he is very smart and calculated. We were able to spend the whole day at the little electronic roulette table enjoying ourselves. Tyler occasionally would jump over to the live roulette table for a bet that was too good to pass up. All in all, we did not lose money and we enjoyed our time spent with mom and Allan.

For dinner, we came back to the trailer and made Taco bowls. Mom and Allan even joined us! It saved us another meal out and we had turkey burger in our refrigerator needing to be used. We went back to the casino for a couple more hours and then called in a night, knowing Tyler is back to work tomorrow.

So tomorrow will bring more uncertainty. We do not know what’s next and will need to make some decisions before heading out. We’ve come a long way in our adventure and I no longer allow the stress of planning to affect me. I am actually excited to see what we will land on as we take on the rest of this adventure sans kids!

If you were us, where or what would you do from here?

Tyler was once again up at the crack of dawn, hoping I would not figure out just how early it was and get up with him. I, however, took one look at my phone to see it was shortly after 5 and convinced him to go back to sleep. The next two hours, he claimed to be some of the best sleep he has had…so you’re welcome, Tyler!

Our plans for the day started with meeting Mom and Allan for breakfast. The kids wanted to spend time with their grandparents and Tyler and I wanted to go on a long hike. We left from breakfast and started towards the trail head about 30 minutes away. On the way, there were so many cars parked off the side of the road and people walking everywhere. It has been so busy here.

As we were driving, there was one area where we were above all of the trees. We had just driven through several steep switchbacks where the road could be seen above at least 3 times. When the road straightened, there was water on both sides and it was so beautiful. Sometimes I cannot believe how beautiful some of the places we have traveled are.

When we arrived at D.L. Bliss State Park we were given the option to park and hike down 1 mile to the trailhead or pay $10 to park at the trailhead. Knowing we had planned a 12-13 mile hike, we opted to pay the $10. Seemed like a pretty obvious decision. We made our way down the hill and parked.

I packed our waters, Tyler’s swim trunks, our phones, and some light snacks in a small backpack and we made our way to the Rubicon trailhead. The trail was 6.1 miles one way. As we navigated the trail, we came across the most wonderful views. I’ve never seen water so blue and crystal clear. We made it our plan to test out the water on our return, but our primary focus on the way was to get to the Emerald Bay Campground which would be 6.1 miles. Then we would turn around and come back, stopping at one of the many water holes we saw along the way.

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The trail was busy, but not crowded and people were respectful of one another. Some wore masks, while others did not. I could not imagine wearing the mask while we hiked, but we did have ours in case we needed it. In a little over 2 hours, we made it to Emerald Bay. It didn’t feel like it took 2 hours, but it did so I was insistent on shaving some time off on the return.

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Tyler and I did a mix of trail running and walking for our return. Running posed challenging, mostly because we would catch up to groups of people, and then they would not move off of the path. It allowed us time to breathe, slow down, and enjoy the incredible views. When we made it to a spot we felt was a good spot to check out the water, we detoured off the trail and climbed down to the water’s edge. Tyler was quick to get his shoes and socks off and then slowly got into the water. I took my time and when I touched the water for the first time, I knew there was no way I could swim in that.

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I was able to get into my waist, but I was slow and meticulous and then quick to get back out. The water was so cold I felt like my whole lower half had a brain freeze. Tyler said his feet were numb for a half hour. We got dressed and headed back to the trail and continued our trek to the car.

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The back 6.1 seemed a lot further than the first 6.1. and even with running, we only shaved off about 10 minutes. Though, we did stop to swim and a few times for water. Tyler said I was like a camel because I never needed water throughout the hike which made me laugh.

We made it back to the car and headed straight for the trailer. We did stop at the grocery store for a Gatorade and when each of us stepped out of the car, we had the same response. Our legs nearly buckled. I cannot imagine how tomorrow will feel. I typically try to go with Newton’s Law…and object in motion remains in motion. Yet here I am in bed!

The kids went swimming at their grandparent’s hotel. After we checked in on the dogs and getting cleaned up, we headed towards their hotel. On the way we stopped at Lake Tahoe AleWorx where we shared a small pizza. After we finished, we made it to the hotel and picked up the kids and before returning back to the trailer, I reminded Tyler of a little German restaurant that we visited when we were here last time.

We decided to make a small detour to reintroduce the kids to a real pretzel. The last time we came, the kids were unimpressed. We shared a pretzel while Tyler enjoyed a beer and I listed to the kids play critic. It was decided that we have found the best pretzel yet while on this trip. The pretzel was in fact AMAZING and the kids recognized that scoring it a 10/10!

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We returned to the trailer and began packing the kids into bags. Tomorrow, we plan to meet my Grandma, Dad, and Aunt in Reno and the kids will be riding home to Condon with them. While they have had a great time on this adventure, they cannot wait to get to my mom’s house.

Mom and Allan came over later in the evening and we visited for several hours. It’s been so nice having them here and the kids are soaking up the time and attention. They will be leaving for Reno tomorrow as well and Tyler and I have made tentative plans to drop the kids and then hang around Reno so they can show us some of their favorite spots. We haven’t decided where we will land for the night, but as always, we will figure it out.

Our family has all enjoyed Lake Tahoe and each of us find this to be at the top of our list for favorite destinations. I am sad we will be leaving tomorrow and it feels like we weren’t here for enough time. We have already started talking about “next time” so I am very much looking forward to seeing what that will entail.

Until next time…

Today was the perfect mix of relaxation and family with a side of productivity. These are my favorite kind of days. Like a broken record, we went through our normal morning routine, though Tyler made his own coffee again. I think he was tired of waiting for me to drag myself out of bed, but with the coffee pot already set up, it’s only a matter of two buttons and viola…So easy, even a Tyler can do it!

While Tyler jammed away on his to do list, I cleaned the trailer and prepped the laundry for the facility within our RV Park. Tyler made breakfast and when it came time for his first meeting, I left to run several errands in preparation for a family dinner we were hosting. On my way out of the campsite, I stopped at the laundry facility and started a few loads of laundry. I swear I made it to the laundry mat, gas station, and 6 stores and though I felt like I made quick work of it, I didn’t make it back for more than two hours.

I wish I could simply go to the intended stores for the intended tasks and then return home, but while I am out, I ALWAYS find reason to stop and browse and everything takes so much longer than it ever takes Tyler. I think it comes with trying to find the BEST deals on everything. I also do a majority of our errands so he rarely has to step foot in a store!

With family coming into town today, I needed to do a grocery run which ended up being multiple stores. When I returned, Tyler informed me I had forgot the rib rub. I went back out and checked on the laundry and returned with the rub so he could start on our ribs.

My dad, grandma, and aunt showed up as well as Tyler’s mom and her husband. We had the best day spent just sitting outside around the picnic table conversing about various things and catching up. I have really missed our family and it was so nice to spend some time with them. How cool is it that we travel all around the US and have family that will meet us along the road?

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As the day progressed, we were able to convince a few people to learn the game of Sequence. Explaining the rules of the game and concept initially is hard, but it is relatively easy to pick up in short time. Addison and my aunt beat my dad and Tyler twice before we took a short break. Addison is not humble in her winnings and she continually badgers her competition with smack talk throughout her play. I have no idea where she gets her confidence from!

All the while we were playing and conversing, Tyler was finishing out his work day and grilling 3-2-1 ribs. The short of it is we didn’t do anything extravagant today, but having our family together in one spot just made things feel quite perfect. So perfect, I never even got ready today and wore the same clothes I wore to bed last night!

We played another game of Sequence before dinner and my dad and I BEAT Addi and Allan, knocking Addi off of her throne! After 6 hours, Tyler’s dinner was complete and we all feasted on the fruits of his labor.

It’s been a great day. I wish we had all of our family and friends here. I am a more the merrier type and thrive on that connection. The most challenging part of our travels has been being away from all the people we love. It’s been an incredible experience and we are holding on to every last second of our time together.

Tomorrow, Tyler and I hope to go on a long hike and the kids plan to spend the day with their grandparents. Mom and Allan frequent Lake Tahoe and will be able to show them some of their favorite spots. They also have a pool the kids are looking forward to. We still hope to hit the lake, but this place may be the busiest place we have been yet and the beaches are packed. We will tread lightly and see if we can make it work…if not, I wasn’t meant for 39 degree water anyway!

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Waking up in Tahoe is a whole new vibe. I gave myself a little grace this morning and when Tyler chose to wake up at the crack of dawn, I chose to sleep for an extra hour. For the first time since our departure, Tyler let the dogs out and he even brewed our coffee! It almost made me feel a little guilty, but the extra rest felt so nice.

When I chose to get up, Tyler had already been working and took his first call. I started tidying up the trailer from our dinner mess last night and better situated us for a longer stay. Soon after it was time for breakfast and Ashton perked right up when Tyler was cooking. I woke Addi up to join us once it was finished. In all her years of existence, we have learned she needs her sleep!

After picking up our breakfast mess, the kids and I relaxed around the campsite. I walked over to the restrooms to check out the showers and when I walked back I got myself turned around. I circled the wrong way almost twice before returning and redirecting myself. It was a strange feeling because I knew where the trailer was located, but for some reason, I kept missing the small connecting road.

The campground is GIANT. There are hundreds of spaces and many of them are filled. Some are filled with more cars, tents, and people than entire parks we have stayed in while on this adventure. The amenities on the grounds are mostly closed. Swings have their seats removed, the two tether balls are missing from the string, and the event tents are vacant. There is a basketball court and a pool that remain open, but people are mostly just enjoying the outdoors.

I know it would seem since we are here, we should be doing something, but much of what we are enjoying is the downtime. Tyler has been able to set up his remote office inside our trailer, and will occasionally move outside to the picnic table to enjoy the beautiful weather. This morning when I woke up, he was wearing sweats and a long sleeve shirt and was so happy about it.

The kids and I left briefly to TJ Maxx while Tyler had a client meeting. The kids were rowdy and weren’t able to get a pool time slot until 7 pm, so this was a good option for us. We browsed for a short time when Tyler text me that he was finished and ready to work out! We came back to the campsite and did a workout before setting out to another local brewery.

Just before we left our campsite, a bear walked through the grounds behind our trailer. We were told there were a lot of bears and remembered them from our last trip, but seeing them so close is still fascinating. Tyler recorded the bear walking through after a few photo fails and I didn’t make it outside until the bear had already made it’s way past our site. We have gone from trying to avoid bugs while being eaten alive, to trying to steer clear of bears.

We went to a local brewery on the strip called “The Hangar!” It was such a cute little outdoor tap house with games and large lawns with picnic tables. The building and marketing were very up to date and the atmosphere was fun! I could tell it would be a cool place outside of the current restrictions, but today it was a little stale.

The Hangar did not offer a pretzel, and Tyler promised the kids one so we went to another spot which again had a cool and fun vibe with outdoor seating in the back. While we were there, Tyler’s mom and her husband arrived and we enjoyed a short visit before heading to dinner.

We all met at Blue Dog Pizza and continued our visit while enjoying some pizza! It was so nice to see them and we were thrilled they decided to come back to Lake Tahoe while we are here. They will be here for a few days and the kids are looking forward to getting some time with them!

On our way home we stopped at the store and then returned to the trailer to wind down for the night. The kids were able to go to the pool from 7-8 and Tyler and I took in a little peace and quiet. Addi rode her scooter after the pool and came back with a bloody knee. She said she wasn’t doing any tricks, but somehow slipped and fell to her knee. I tell you what, we have gone through more band-aids and athletic tape than we have in our whole lives…and that’s just been this past week!

Our dogs were anxious for us to get home and when the kids got back from the pool, Addi let Bentleigh out to run! She could barely walk a few short months ago, and suddenly she is happily running through our campsite and LOVING IT! Chloe is mostly happy as long as she has a comfortable bed or she is being held!

Tomorrow my dad and grandma will make it over to our campsite to spend some time with us. They are staying in Reno and getting the best of both worlds. Tyler plans to grill up a nice dinner for all of our family that are in town and we will enjoy it together at our campsite. We don’t have many other plans, but it seems no matter how we spend our time here, we are content!

Aside from the 5 am wake up call, courtesy of Tyler, our morning was a breeze. Speaking of breezes, we felt one as we exited the trailer this morning! It was a crisp, cool morning in the 60’s and we were reminded of how nice it is to not sweat from the moment we wake up. I actually put a sweater on and wore it much of the day!

We left Hawthorne shortly after 5:30 am. With a little over 140 miles to go, I was looking forward to getting it behind me. Tyler wanted to get to South Lake Tahoe in time for his morning meetings and it allowed for us to have the whole day in a city we love.

As we drove through the curves from the desert into the mountains, temperatures were as low as 57. It’s crazy to think we were in double those temperatures a few short days ago. Ashton was reminded of his sweats and immediately started planning his reunion with them. Just after 8:30 am, we were making our way through the cute little city on the South Shore. We found a grocery store we were familiar with to park for a few hours before our intended 12:00 pm check-in time and Tyler worked away.

At noon, we headed to Tahoe Valley RV Park where we will be staying through Sunday. We set up our campsite and unhooked the trailer. It’s been very few times we have actually unhooked on our trip due to the very short duration of our stays, so any time we are unhooked it feels quite liberating! When driving, however, I feel as though I am still pulling a trailer. I suppose if anything, it makes me a little extra cautious!

The kids wasted no time figuring out how they could get to the pool. Shortly after we were situated, they locked in a 1-2 reservation time and I accompanied them to the pool. Due to Covid, the park has certain guidelines to access the amenities so reservation slots can be made each morning starting at 8:30 am for 1-hour time slots.

The park is nice and what’s been nicest is knowing we will stay put for a few days. Tyler set up our weights while the kids and I were at the pool and after he finished his workday, we finally got in a workout and moved some weight! The last two days I haven’t felt my 100%, but getting in a good workout provided instant relief.

We are looking forward to exploring more parts of Lake Tahoe. We are especially excited to not be in a car for the next few days aside from little local stops. Tonight, we went to two local breweries in the area on a quest to get Tyler his local beer and the kids a pretzel. I remembered Basecamp from when we were here 5 years ago, so we returned and enjoyed the outdoor seating in the sunshine while a musician played.

We stopped at the store on our way home and grabbed a few more items for dinner and breakfast. While we were there we found breast fillets for a little over $1.00 each, but reduced by $2.00! Even though we had chicken marinating, we decided to get the fillets to grill up for sandwiches and for about -.50 each pack, it was a STEAL!

I’ve noticed in the short time we have been here that the city seems busy. There are a lot of people out and about. With so much to do, I don’t foresee us getting into any large crowd situations. We hope to hike, enjoy the beach, possibly paddleboard, and workout! We also have family coming into the area over the next day or two and we are really looking forward to seeing our people again!

Unfortunately, my mom, sister, and nieces won’t be making the trek, but my dad and grandma are coming and we may even get to see Tyler’s mom and her husband. Lake Tahoe is one of the many places they frequent and we are a good excuse for them to make the trip again!

It’s crazy how much peace comes in knowing we are in such a beautiful place, with perfect weather, wonderful accommodations, and good people. This adventure has taken us to so many wonderful places we would never have thought to go, but Lake Tahoe has to be one of our favorites!

There’s just something about Vegas that always makes me feel like we have to stay out super late and do all the things, but this time it was different. I will say, I felt a lot better waking up in Vegas than I have in the past. We were in Vegas for less than 24 hours. We were up early! With Tyler back in his time zone, I’m noticing him up early which is only slightly annoying because I set an alarm and he wanted to be up a full hour and a half before it went off.

We let the kids choose what they wanted to do for breakfast. There was either a small cafe in Circus Circus or Denny’s on the strip. They chose Denny’s so we made it back to the bus stop to wait for the Deuce. We waited longer for the bus on the way there and to return than it took for us to be seated, order, and eat our breakfast. It seemed to be how much of our morning went.

When we made it back to the trailer, Addison and I began our search for where we would stay tonight. Knowing South Lake Tahoe was about 8 hours away, we aimed to make the longer part of our trek today. We decided on an RV Park in Hawthorne, NV, just about 2.5 hours South of the site we will be staying at tomorrow.

The water park at Circus Circus tempted us, but knowing we had a long day of travels, we decided to pack up and get on the road. The kids and I nearly packed everything away and prepped the trailer ourselves while Tyler worked inside! Navigating the strip, or the roads just behind the strip was easy. Then we tried to find a gas station to fill up which ended up being a several hour debacle.

Let me explain. We were trying to find a travel center or something outside of the city. Tyler pulled up something he thought may work on his phone, but then I saw Sam’s Club from the freeway. We made our way back to Sam’s Club and I decided to go in to get water while Tyler worked in the car. By the time I was done with that and fueled up, it had been nearly an hour from when we originally left and we were closing in on Tyler’s next meeting. We decided to park and stay put until he was finished.

Once we got on the road, it was LONG. It felt like one of the longer days, even though it wasn’t all that long. I was super tired and the scenery was very dry and desolate. There was nothing for miles and miles. The roadway was a single lane divided highway with lots of trucks. As we got closer to Hawthorne, it was very smokey. Tyler looked it up and found there was a fire in the area bad enough to force evacuation earlier this past week.

Fortunately, the fires did not cause any delay or make it so we couldn’t stay. We made it to our campsite at Whiskey Flats RV Park in Hawthorne, NV. The park is nice and has beautiful views. There is a strong odor of smoke which has caused Tyler’s allergies to act up, but otherwise, the smoke has just made for a beautiful sunset on the mountains.

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We went to the store and purchased dinner supplies, then returned to the trailer for Tyler to Traeger some burgers. Tyler and I went on a walk and the kids stayed back with the dogs. When we returned we went through our typical evening routine, showering and prepping for tomorrow.

Our plan is to leave early tomorrow morning and get to Lake Tahoe early enough for Tyler to scope out the best office space for the next few days. We can check in to our campsite at noon tomorrow but will check out the area to plan out what we want to do over the next several days while we are there.

Tonight we have just enjoyed ourselves. The temperatures are cooler, there is a breeze, and we can finally shower without immediately becoming sweaty. We also turned off the AC for the first time while being inside in weeks because of how cold it got. Ashton and I actually both thought about how nice it will be to get a little chill and have to add a layer or two of clothing and Tyler is looking forward to wearing his new long sleeve shirt!

I think we will come home with a new appreciation for the PNW and the seasons we experience. Turns out we just aren’t cut out for extreme temperatures and maybe rain isn’t all that bad!