New Kind of Adventure

 Day 1

This roadtrip was born out of a simple, if somewhat silly, question. “It’s called a bed, can we sleep in it?” This is the question I asked Bryan of his new vehicle. It’s a Santa Cruise. Marketed as a Sport Adventure Vehicle, this rig is not a car, and not really a truck. In Australia they would call it a “Ute.” We call it the “cruck.” 

While the bed of the cruck is a diminutive 4.5 feet, and not a very comfortable sleeping option for us, my question sparked Bryan to begin a series of Google searches and research on rooftop tents. 

This year is not a year we had planned to go abroad, as we are working towards paying off money borrowed for my grad school. We have always talked about going on a road trip at some point when Desmond was old enough to enjoy it. Sometime this winter, we took a day trip into the gorge and Desmond was an enthusiastic and enjoyable travel companion. As we saw him really getting into it and being impressed by the views, and asking questions, we felt like it was time to tackle a road trip and visit some National Parks. 

One Black Friday deal on a roof top tent later, we were dreaming up our route for this summer. Oh, and watching YouTube videos about the wonders of the Ooni. But more on that, later. 

It seemed like the kind of trip that would be fun to do with another family.  Friends of ours had wanted to do a similar trip - so we joined forces for this adventure. 

We planned, and packed, and met up in Vancouver to begin the drive eastward. The kids were great, or so I hear. They rode in the other vehicle all day. Bryan and I enjoyed singing along to the playlist he had put together, talking, and taking in the changing scenery as we drove out the gorge and into eastern Oregon. 

We had tentatively planned to stop at an Oregon Trail interpretive center to break up the driving, but everyone was doing well and we ended up driving the 7 hours to our AirBnB in Mountain Home, Idaho with only four stops total for restroom breaks, refueling the rigs, and eating lunch. 

When we entered the AirBnB Desmond loudly proclaimed that he rated the place 1.5 stars. Not sure what the criteria was, we encouraged him to take a look at the rest of the house before passing judgement. He and his friend, Easton, thereby proceeded to investigate the place giving it a series of emphatic and widely varying ratings. To be fair, if this was what we had driven the whole way for, it would have been underwhelming. It was just a house, after all. But since all we really needed was a place to sleep for the night, it fit the bill. 

We unpacked our coolers and served Costco kit dinners of tacos and Hawaiian chicken. Then I pulled up a map on my phone and we took a walk toward one of the green spots. But first, a little ice cream. 

It was quite warm, so walking through town to get to “Sprinkles,” an ice cream place that still showed up on our phones as being a TCBY, was a popular choice. I enjoyed some chocolate soft serve, Bryan got a waffle cone, and Desmond chose strawberry ice cream with chocolate rocks as a topping. 

Then we walked back to Carl Miller Park to finish our ice cream and let the kids play on the playground. As I was trying to get a photo of him with a jet, Desmond spotted a large bird flying to a nearby tree. The trees themselves were unique, with deep furrows in the bark. It turned out there were well more than ten turkey vultures in the trees. Good eye, Desmond!

When we had walked back to the house, we began to wind down for the night. Desmond again told me he didn’t think the place was all that great (it didn’t have many toys, after all) and I said, “Really? I like it.” “What’s good about it?” “My attitude.” I laughed and he rolled his eyes. I pointed out that I look for things to like. Such as the comfy couch, the extremely effective AC, and so forth. 

Our trip is off to a great start! We made it safely and in good spirits to our first lodgings and hope to get an early start tomorrow to head to our first National Monument, Craters of the Moon, before it gets too hot. With a one hour time change working against us (it is one hour later here than home) we shall see how early we can muster. 

Good night!