RVgapyearLife on the Road Archives

Sleeping Well on the Road: Tips and Tricks

15/11/03 at 6.40pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

We were asked recently about dealing with insomnia on the road by someone who is interested in RVing but has a history of insomnia while traveling, which impacts the energy available to actually enjoy the places they go. The reader asked if we’ve ever had this issue.

I love this question for many reasons: Jason and I both love good sleep; I can definitely relate to having insomnia; and professionally as an occupational therapist, I love the topic of sleep hygiene, as sleep is so essential to all of our other daily activities and to our general livelihood and enjoyment of life.

The importance of sleep for Jason and me cannot be overstated. Our moods and energy levels depend on consistently good sleep more than the average person. We’re both somewhat high-maintenance sleepers, meaning that we need certain things to be just-so in order to sleep well, no matter where we are. So, here’s what we’ve learned about sleeping on the road:

Insomnia Does Happen and It’s Okay

Over the past several years, I’ve struggled intermittently from insomnia, whether or not we’re traveling. The frequency and severity of my insomnia episodes have actually decreased exponentially this year. I think this is due to several factors: I have less daily stress, especially since we aren’t working this year; we spend more time outdoors in natural light and fresh air; we generally have busy, active days with a good bit of exercise built in; and I put less pressure on myself to sleep well because I know our days are mostly flexible (e.g., I don’t have to wake up at a certain time and perform at work all day). When I have suffered from insomnia this year, it’s usually been after long travel days when we’ve spent a lot of time sitting. Occasionally, it’s happened when we’re staying some place strange or noisy (more on dealing with this later), and sometimes, there’s just no explaining insomnia – isn’t that one of the wonderful things about this affliction?

But, no matter the reason or severity of my bouts of insomnia, I feel much less stressed about it now. The beauty of flexible travel and generally not having plans that we HAVE to stick to is that I can usually sleep late or take an afternoon nap (or both) if I sleep poorly one night.

As an aside, we’re fans of post-lunch family naptime. A short afternoon power nap can do wonders for me, regardless of how I slept the night before. We generally don’t let our daily plans or activities stand in the way of naptime if we really feel like we need it. Naps have happened in many places: on our picnic blanket, on a trailside rock outcropping, in the front seats of the truck (parked in a safe location, of course), or in the RV when we have it in tow – it’s one of the many advantages of a home on wheels.

A Familiar and Controlled Indoor Environment Helps

Home: Another huge advantage of a home on wheels (aka an RV) is that we have a consistent and comfortable indoor environment. We aren’t tent-camping or staying in different hotel rooms, rental houses, or guest rooms every few nights. We spend every night in our RV, which now feels like (and is) home. Compared to some full-time RVers, we haven’t done any major decorating or renovation projects, but we have made the space inside our RV ours and have turned it into a homey environment where we feel comfortable and relaxed. Simple things like sofa throw pillows can go a long way toward creating a homey atmosphere.

Comfort: A comfortable bed is essential to good sleep. We know RVers who have upgraded their mattresses, a worthwhile investment, especially if you plan to travel for long chunks of time. We decided to buy a memory-foam mattress topper (we bought the same kind we used previously at home, as our old one was worn out and needed to be tossed), which has worked great and allowed us to avoid investing in a whole new mattress.

We also use our good (read: favorite) sheets, pillows, and blankets, which are familiar and well-liked. It seemed silly to leave them in storage, and even on shorter weekend trips last fall, we made the effort of using these items in addition to our memory-foam topper from our bed at home (before we bought a duplicate). Yes, I told you we’re high-maintenance sleepers, and it was definitely worth the effort of moving the heavy topper into and out of the RV even for weekends.

Sleeping Temperature: We have a variety of blankets and comforters for different nighttime temperatures – everything from a lightweight queen-sized throw to a heavy down comforter. Having the house/RV at a comfortable temperature is essential to good sleep. This is often challenging in the RV, as we’re usually boondocking without hook-ups. When we have hook-ups, we can run the AC, a tabletop fan, and/or our oil space heater. When we’re boondocking, we do the best we can to regulate the temperature by using our roof vent fan or propane heater, which we run only enough to prevent frigid temperatures, as it uses a ton of propane. So, we mostly compensate and create comfortable temperatures by adjusting the amount and types of blankets and clothing that we use at night. We also compensate by adjusting our sleep schedule when needed; for instance, when the RV stayed hot until late at night this summer, we simply went to bed later and slept through part of the cool of the morning and napped in the heat of the afternoon.

Light: Another way we’ve always controlled our sleeping environment is by eliminating any obnoxious lights from electronics or appliances. We’ve continued this practice in the RV by covering lights on appliances (e.g., the fridge and carbon monoxide detector) with a small piece of electrical tape.

More Tips and Tricks to Compensate for Outdoor Environments Out of Your Control

While we have almost complete control over our indoor environment, we obviously can’t control our outdoor environment, which changes constantly. Everything from noise, light (natural and artificial), and overall “feel” is unpredictable and variable. Sometimes we’re stuck in loud campgrounds, noisy truck stops or Wal-Mart parking lots. Sometimes the moon or sun comes in the windows at odd angles. And sometimes a place just feels weird or literally stinks. For all of these possible circumstances, we control everything we can in order to compensate.

White Noise and Noise Blockers: Due to tinnitus, Jason has always been a big fan of white noise via a small wind machine. Historically, we’ve taken our wind machine everywhere we go overnight. When we’re plugged into shore power, we use said wind machine; when we’re not, Jason uses a white noise audio track that plays on repeat on his iPod or iPhone. I generally do fine without white noise, and I’m a pretty deep sleeper most of the time. However, when we’re at noisy truck stops or the like, I use foam ear plugs gifted to me last Christmas by my thoughtful and wise sister-in-law.

Keep it Dark: Again, a dark sleeping environment is something we’ve always practiced, and it’s become essential on the road, especially when we’re parked overnight in public places or in campgrounds with bright bathhouse lights. My mom sewed room-darkening curtains for us for the windows beside our bed (we ran out of time to get them installed as planned before we left, but clothespins work quite well when we need the curtains), which have been invaluable. In really bright places, we go to even greater lengths: we cover up the windows above the sofa with our throw pillows and blanket (we call this “building our fort”), we hang a piece of dark clothing over the door, and we sometimes put the sink cover/cutting board in front of the kitchen window. We always keep the bathroom door closed at night to keep out light that comes in from the skylight and roof vent.

Create Ambience: Sometimes places just feel weird; I can’t explain it. Or, actually, I can explain it when we’re parked at a truck stop or weird Wal-Mart, but sometimes even nice campgrounds have a strange sort of feeling. I’m definitely more sensitive to this than is Jason. In these places, I do what I can to create a nice indoor ambience. I close the blinds, play music, and sometimes simmer a little water and cinnamon on the stove – this trick also works well when camped in a rural area that smells like chicken manure.

General Sleep Hygiene and Other Considerations

Sleep Hygiene Practices: Keep your bedroom space clutter-free. In our RV, this generally means the entire RV since there is no real defined bedroom; no problem – it doesn’t take long to pick-up a 168 sq. ft. house. Remember that the bed is for sleeping. It’s tempting in a small space to sit on the bed to check e-mail, read during the day, talk on the phone, write, etc., but it can interfere with sleep at night. It’s important for your brain to associate the bed with sleeping and not much else. Avoid caffeine and exercise late in the day. Enough said. Avoid electronics or anything too emotional right before bed (e.g., the news). I make an exception for my Kindle app since we didn’t bring paper books with us, but I do keep the backlight as low as possible. Avoid sleeping in too late or napping too long during the day. A 20-30 minute power nap is usually the perfect amount.

Showering/Bathing: We usually shower at night because we’re sweaty and dirty from the day, but showering can also help trigger sleep. The warmth of the water temporarily raises body temperature, which results in the body working to lower its core temperature, which promotes a feeling of sleepiness.

Unwind Before Bed: I prefer reading and/or journaling before bed. Journaling isn’t something I practiced regularly before this year but now I understand its benefits. For me, journaling helps me process the day and let go of it. Even just a quick 10-minute session can help tremendously. I don’t write anything profound; it’s usually just a record of our day’s events and our basic reactions.

Don’t Risk Hunger: I have naturally low blood sugar, and Jason has a naturally high metabolism. He always has a small bowl of cereal before bed. I often eat some sort of small snack (preferably something with a good amount of protein) before bed depending on our activity level that day, so that I don’t wake up hungry in the middle of the night or super hangry the next morning.

Know Your Limits: Even when traveling full-time without jobs or other commitments, staying too busy and overscheduled, especially for too long, can lead to feeling stressed, burned out, and overly tired. For me, this almost always leads to insomnia. Know when to slow down the pace, take travel breaks (e.g., stay in one place for a few days without any expectations for sight-seeing, etc. and have some mandatory R&R and veg time).

Are you dreaming of deep sleep now? What tips or tricks do you use to promote better sleep either at home or while traveling? We’d love to hear!

Real Life on the Road: What We Eat (a.k.a. Meals)

15/10/23 at 11.02am / by Jason / 0 Comment

In our previous post in this series, we wrote about our RV kitchen set-up and factors surrounding meal prep. Here, we provide specific insight into what we actually eat on the road.

Overall, our meal selection is slightly limited, but mostly, it hasn’t changed much since we’ve been on the road. We eat a lot of fresh food, and we cook nearly all of the same meals. However, we definitely eat fewer baked items and goodies due to our oven situation (click on the link above for more information on this) and limited storage space for all the from-scratch ingredients Jessie requires for baking (she is well known for her homemade baked goods). This has been the only significant adjustment, as Jessie misses baking and I miss eating what she bakes! Otherwise, our meals have remained pretty similar. Here’s a quick run-down of a typical week’s worth of meals on the road:

Breakfast:

Cereal
Fresh Fruit
Oatmeal (we like the quick-cook steel cut oats) with walnuts, crasins, local honey, cinnamon, and a dash of almond milk
Greek Yogurt with granola
Biscuits
Scrambled eggs
Blueberry pancakes
French toast
Whole wheat pita with peanut butter

Lunch:

Peanut butter and jelly or honey or banana (we eat a lot of these, as they pack well for hiking and we’re almost always on the go at lunch time)
Turkey sandwiches
Chips
Apples and/or pears
Carrots and/or raw broccoli
Almonds
Hummus with pita and veggies
Trader Joes Snickerdoodle Cookies (me)

Dinner:

Grilled turkey burgers, hamburgers (rarely), chicken, veggie kabobs
Grilled fish (mahi or salmon)
Soup, sometimes with grilled cheese
Grilled sweet potato and/or zucchini
Salad
Spaghetti/penne with Italian bread dipped in olive oil mixture
Fresh, frozen, or canned beans (green, baked, etc.)
Other fresh, frozen or canned veggies
Fresh or canned peaches/pears
Black beans and rice with pineapple and avocado with chips and salsa
Breakfast for dinner
Salmon, tuna, or chicken salad
Fried egg and avocado on grilled bread or toast

Snacks:

Clif, Hammer, Lara, and/or Luna bars
Homemade trail mix
Fruit (fresh, dried, or canned)
Nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts)
Hummus and carrots
Cheese and crackers
The occasional Snickers bar (me) or scoop of ice cream or fro yo (Jessie)

Final and important notes:

We tend to make bigger meals at dinner and eat leftovers for a day or two. One very important consideration is water usage when cleaning up dishes. Early in our trip we were very surprised to find out just how many gallons of water we were using to clean up after a meal. Since we have limited capacity to collect our grey water (aka: sink water) and must find an appropriate place to dispose of it, this has become a daily consideration for us. Another consideration is propane usage. Generally propane is cheap so we don’t worry about this too much but it is sometimes difficult to find a good location to get our propane bottles filled. Simply put, bigger meals and eating leftovers mean less grey water and less propane use.

Time:

We are rarely in a hurry these days. Without a work schedule or camping reservations, it just isn’t a big deal if we take an hour or more to prepare and eat a meal. This is a luxury we’ve taken full advantage of this year. And we’ve taken the opportunity to eat 50%+ of our meals outdoors. A picnic or three a day is a lovely way to enjoy a meal.

Dining Out:

Well, we’d like to do it more often. But it is expensive (for us) so we generally don’t eat out more than a few times a month. Since we rarely stay anywhere long enough to find the best local spots, we have been frequently disappointed by $20-$30 meals out that aren’t as good as we could make in our RV kitchen for $5. As I like to remind Jessie, Panda Express and Five Guys will never let you down.

We admit to getting stuck in a food rut every once in a while. What are you cooking up these days? We’d love to hear!

As always, thanks for reading! What else would you like to know about our real life on the road?

Real Life on the Road: Culinary Arts

15/10/20 at 6.54pm / by Jason / 0 Comment

Welcome back to our series about real life on the road! Several people have asked recently about meals on the road: how we make them, what our kitchen set-up is like, what our limitations are with meal prep while living in an RV, and simply what we eat. We’ll tackle the first few questions here and write a separate post about our typical meals on the road. Enjoy and stay tuned!

The other day I was talking to a friend and colleague about some “real-world-reentry-ideas” (yes, we are starting to consider what happens when we get back to NC in December) and she mentioned that she really likes our blog posts about our everyday life on the road.

So with this in mind let’s talk cooking. If it were up to me we’d subsist on a steady diet of Panda Express, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and Five Guys Burgers & Fries. But it isn’t up to me, we are on a tight budget, and I would like to live to see my 42^nd birthday so we tend to make the vast majority of our own meals.

The Refrigerator:

Our refrigerator/freezer is about 1/3 the size of a normal household refrigerator which means we can’t go too crazy grocery shopping. But if we are efficient in our packing of said refrigerator we can fit a lot in there. Think of all the empty space in your home refer, subtract that out and you’ve got something about the size of ours. It runs off electricity when we are plugged into shore power at a “fancy” campground (a rarity for us) and propane when we are not plugged in. Don’t ask me how it works; it has something to do with boiling ammonia.

The Stove:

It’s a simple three burner stove that runs off our propane supply. It basically has three settings (1) the sun, (2) slightly less hot than the sun, and (3) off. It works well if you want things hot in a hurry. Not as well if you want to simmer something. There is no simmer; just various states of boil. That said, we’ve learned our stove and have become pretty good at cooking on it.

The Oven:

It’s about the size of an easy bake oven but doesn’t work quite as well. It too is powered by propane. It doesn’t heat evenly and its temperature control is very much a game of culinary roulette. We did add a pizza stone above the heating element that has helped a great deal. We don’t really bake with it but we do use it from time-to-time to “prepare” frozen or cold items such as a take-and-bake-cookies or frozen biscuits. It is also a bit of a propane hog so it just isn’t very efficient to make small portions. As an aside, on cold mornings it is nice to leave the oven door open and let the pizza stone radiate heat for 30 minutes or so as you enjoy a hot biscuit (once the propane is turned off, obviously). For the most part our oven gets used for bakeware and dishware storage.

The Microwave:

We have one! But unless we are plugged into shore power (again, rarely) we can’t use it. So, it typically serves as a very nice extra cabinet. When we are plugged in, it works quite well.

The Sink:

We really like our sink. It’s a double-basin model with big, deep bowls. It also has a tall, pull-down faucet. This combination makes preparing meals and washing dishes quick and easy.

The Grill:

Perhaps the best purchase we made before leaving home was our Char-Broil Grill2Go Tru Infrared grill. We generally use the grill several times a week. It fits neatly into our “basement” (the storage space under our RV) and runs off small, 16oz propane bottles (think small green cylinders you can pick up at any big box store). I’ve owned my fair share of grills and this is by far my favorite. It’s easy to cook on, clean, and works extraordinarily well. Best of all, it’s small enough to go just about anywhere. Simply put, we love this thing!

Plug-in Appliances:

We use our individual-size blender for smoothies somewhat frequently. We can use the inverter (i.e. battery power) to run this just about anytime we want. Our toaster requires shore power, as does the crock pot we still haven’t used and should have left at home. Jessie’s tiny coffee maker that also requires shore power has all but been replaced by her Melitta pour-over, meaning that the coffee maker should have been left at home as well. You can imagine that when we pay for shore power we go a little bit crazy using the toaster and microwave. It’s a bit like Christmas and we feel like kings as we eat toast (TOAST!) and reheat leftover food in the microwave (after we empty its contents).

Cabinet and Counter Space:

For an RV/Travel Trailer of our size (roughly 25 feet), we have a ton of cabinet and counter space. Most RVs our size are designed for weekenders and vacationers, and the kitchens reflect this reality in a lack of storage space. Our unit and its spacious storage can easily store 1-3 weeks of “dry” food and 1-2 weeks of fresh food and allows ample counter prep space. This was a priority for us when we were RV shopping as we knew that due to our limited budget we wouldn’t be eating out very often.

Stocking the Kitchen:

For the most part we simply brought a limited supply of pots, pans, and utensils we’d been using daily since we got married five years ago, supplemented by the occasional $.75 item from a thrift store. Certainly there are times when we’ve thought “we should have brought the _________” but those are infrequent. In fact, we find ourselves saying “we should have left that at home” more frequently. For the most part we did a fantastic job bringing just enough of everything to make life in the kitchen quite functional.

It took us a few weeks on the road to really learn to use our kitchen, pay attention to water and propane use, and figure out a good storage plan. We are now quite comfortable with our kitchen. In fact, all three components of the infamous “kitchen triangle” (cooktop, sink, refrigerator) are all accessible within one step. It is the most efficient kitchen we’ve ever used. I guess that’s what you get when you live in 168 sqft. We’ve just got to be sure there aren’t too many cooks in the kitchen.

PS – Read our previous post in this series here; for a tour of our RV check this out; for other lessons learned visit us here; and for our story of finally figuring out our energy vampire in the fridge, click here.

Catching Up

15/10/09 at 1.39pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

Greetings from the Eastern Sierras in California!

Seeing as how we’re woefully behind in our blogging, I think it’s time for another Glee-like update. Since we visited North Cascades National Park in Washington and misadventured our way south toward Mount Rainier National Park in mid-August, here’s a quick run-down of what we’ve been up to:

-My parents flew in from North Carolina and joined us for 10 wonderful days in which we were thoroughly impressed by their ability to hike some tough, long trails at high altitudes while we explored Mount Rainier National Park (one of our favorite parks this year), Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument, Olympic National Park and the greater peninsula area. It was a full, fun, great visit with nearly perfect weather (Mount Rainier was out for us all week!).

-Thanks to my parents, we learned a new game called Quirkle, which we’re enjoying mastering. It’s sort of like a less sophisticated version of Scrabble with colors and shapes (you know, like for 4 year-olds).

-We’ve been reading some great books, including The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier (Bruce Barcott), All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr), and The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (Daniel James Brown). It’s been especially fun to read books set in places we’ve recently visited (e.g., Mount Rainier and Seattle/the Olympic Peninsula in Boys in the Boat).

-We got chased off the Washington coast by hurricane-like winds and rain. Literally, we got evacuated from our campground and then from a picnic area where we were trying to wait out the storm in an open area away from super tall, old trees. It wasn’t our best travel day.

-We thoroughly enjoyed a few weeks in Oregon. We visited and explored the beautiful northern OR coast, Mount Hood (who refused to show herself after many, many attempts) and the historic Timberline Lodge, the Columbia River Gorge, Portland where I got to see an old college friend, the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum where we celebrated Jason’s birthday, the cool town of Bend and surrounding outdoor recreational areas where we did some tough mountain biking and enjoyed the beauty, and Crater Lake National Park. Oregon was good to us.

-We spent a weekend in the Lake Tahoe area where we had fun watching hot air balloons from our campsite, eating overpriced Mexican food, and cheering on athletes at Ironman and 70.3 Lake Tahoe.

-We popped into Nevada from rural eastern CA to get the truck and trailer serviced. When the trailer had to spend the night in the shop, we were grateful to be in casino country where it’s possible to find a nice hotel room for $40/night.

-My sister and brother-in-law flew out from North Carolina and joined us for a week in Yosemite National Park and a quick trip to San Francisco to visit dear cousins. It was fabulous to spend time together, as we’ve missed them like crazy, and to hike up a storm with them in such a special place.

-We took a quick drive down part of Hwy. 1 in California and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty despite cool, rainy weather.

-We cruised back through Yosemite on our way east and got snowed on up on the high mountain passes. Gorgeous!

-We visited Death Valley National Park where we experienced flash flooding, lots of rain (a year’s worth in about 24 hours), and virtually unheard of cool temperatures and humidity. Despite many road closures due to the floods, we made the most of our time there and enjoyed feeling very small in the expansive desert surrounded by big skies, high mountains and canyons. We also met up with dear family friends whose travel path crossed ours.

-And now, we’re back in the eastern Sierra region finishing up our explorations of unexpected treasures like the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Devils Postpile National Monument, Manzanar National Historic Site, the Alabama Hills, and Mount Whitney (the highest mountain peak in the lower 48) before heading to Joshua Tree National Park.

Whew! There’s your whirlwind update. We really do hope to return to more regular posting (and to posts that aren’t written in bullet-point format). In the meantime, don’t forget that you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more regular updates and lots more photos (links on the right). We also regularly update our Travel Log (Oh, the Places We’ve Been – link under “Pages” on the right) so that you can follow along in relative real-time.

As always, thanks so much for reading, following, and supporting our adventures!

Lessons Learned on the Road: Chapter Six

15/09/23 at 5.00pm / by Jessie / 0 Comment

Welcome back to our series “Lessons Learned on the Road”! If you’re new to this series or just need a refresher, here are the basics: Each post corresponds to roughly a month of travel (or two months, as the case may be). Posts are random-ordered lists covering a range of categories and topics, some specific to RV life, some related to travel, and others simple observations and knowledge obtained along the way. We hope you enjoy our musings!

You can read earlier posts in this series here, here, here, here, and here.

-We’ve written before about our preference for traveling without campground reservations or an itinerary (sometimes we wake up and really don’t know where we’ll go that day or where we’ll spend the night) and the many benefits of first-come, first-served camping. Traveling without reservations or firm plans has proven to be ever-helpful while traveling in the Pacific Northwest, as we’ve had to pack up and move on a dime several times due to wildfires and smoke. Flexibility has been our friend.

-If you’re going to be hauling around full or semi-full tanks with any regularity, it’s a really good idea to reinforce your tank supports under your RV. We learned this the hard way when our fresh water tank support worked its way loose while driving down a rural highway. Handyman Jason reattached it with a new bolt and then added a second piece of bent-angle steel under the fresh water tank. It seems to be doing the trick.

-For several months now, we’ve been using concentrated all-purpose camp soap (‘Camp Suds’ or a similar brand) for dish detergent. It works really well and suds much less than traditional dish detergent, so we can use less water when doing dishes (I found myself using a ton of water to rinse dishes before we made the switch). However, I will note that I still use Dawn when washing our metal grilling spatula/flipper because Dawn cuts the grease faster than camp soap. I also use Dawn occasionally when we’re in a developed campground with hook-ups and a dump station because we think it helps cleanse and cut grease in our grey tank.

-Weather forecasts in the Pacific Northwest are rarely accurate. It’ll be beautiful and sunny when rain was forecasted for the day and vice versa. But most of the time, you should err on the side of planning for a grey, rainy day.

-Another water-saving strategy we’ve been using for a while: We often collect sink and shower water in plastic tubs/bins and repurpose the water for flushing the toilet. On occasion, if I do a fairly clean load of dishes, like washing our water bottles, I’ll even repurpose that water for mopping the floor or cleaning the shower. When we can’t repurpose all the water we collect, we’re often able to dispose of it in designated areas within campgrounds or dispersed camping areas (e.g., utility sinks, grey water drains, pit toilets). Collecting some grey water makes a huge difference when boondocking/drycamping and/or staying in a campground without a dump station; we can usually stay put without dumping our tanks for 5-7 days when we’re able to collect and repurpose or dispose of some grey water (our grey tank is 30 gallons).

-Always turn off the water pump before traveling. Jason usually asks me at least three times, “Is the pump off?” before we pull out of a campground. I usually roll my eyes and say, “Yeeess, worry wart.” But no more. I’ll never roll my eyes again, as we know some full-time RVers through social media who had a bad experience recently when their pump accidently got left on during travel.

-Unless you’re buying diesel, it’s illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon. It’s like New Jersey. We’re not fans of this law.

-Cell phone service anywhere around Mount Rainier, including towns outside the park, is close to nonexistent, and it’s even worse with an old iPhone.

-You may be more likely to see a black bear in Mount Rainier while walking on a paved path near an inn than while hiking in the backcountry. The bears know where the dumpsters are.

-It’s not uncommon for price ranges on Allstays to be grossly incorrect in either direction (sometimes camping areas are free or less than advertised, and sometimes they’re more than advertised). Despite this, we still love this app and it’s our go-to for most everything related to our travels. We’ve found that it’s helpful to call campgrounds or look at specific websites to verify prices.

-Salt and Straw ice cream in Portland is delicious! They have the most unique ice cream flavors, and the employees are super nice and fun even when you’re being painfully indecisive. When I told our server I’d never been before, she let me sample probably 10 different flavors. The best part? The samples are served on cold metal spoons. Bliss.

-A trip to Mount St. Helens is worth it.

-There are LOTS of visitor centers on the western side of Mount St. Helens: one operated by a town, another by the county, and then another that’s a Science and Learning Center. While these may be worth a quick stop, keep driving and save your time and energy for the Johnston Ridge Observatory, located closest to the mountain and at the very end of the road. It’s operated by the US Forest Service and is first-class. They offer a multitude of ranger talks frequently throughout the day, Junior Ranger programs, lots of exhibits and trails, and two movies. Don’t miss the movie on the geology and eruption of the mountain. It’s one of the best park/monument films we’ve seen all year.

-When you drive down lots of lumpy, bumpy roads with your RV, it’s a good idea to periodically check the screws on your water pump. The vibration of the pump itself, plus lots of miles on the road, can cause the screws to loosen and the pump may stop working until they’re tightened up again.

-Don’t skip Sunrise at Mount Rainier. Paradise is THE thing to do, and with good reason, but Sunrise is equally as good, if not better.

-We should have installed a roof vent cover a long time ago. As in, before we left home. The covers cost about $20 at Walmart and take about 20 minutes to install.

-Seattle sprawls for hours north to south. Seriously, hours. Expect lots of traffic, especially on a Friday and/or a Seahawks game day.

-Related: Seattle Seahawks fans take their football seriously. And it seems like most people in Seattle are Seahawks fans.

-It’s almost always worth it to drop the travel trailer before looking for dispersed camping on unfamiliar roads (and let’s be honest, they’re all unfamiliar roads), even if we end up paying for one night of camping in a developed campground. Scout it out first or you might end up doing some of these ridiculous things.

-You might draw the attention of casino security if you stand on the tailgate of your truck to inspect the roof of your RV (see same ridiculous post).

-Many Washington state rest areas have very nice multi-lane dump stations with potable water. Some also allow overnight parking for up to 8 hours.

-There are a lot of Panda Expresses in the Pacific Northwest. This makes Jason happy.

-When there are wind gusts up to 60 mph in your campground and trees are falling, it’s time to go.

-Related: Trees in the PNW are so tall that you can’t tell they’re swaying in strong winds simply by looking out the window of your RV. But if you go outside and look waaay up and see only the whites of leaves and branches falling, you get a good idea pretty darn fast.

-When a big storm is expected in a rural area, it’s always a good idea to fill up anything that can hold water (fresh water tank, water bottles, bathtub in a traditional house) before the storm hits. Well water pumps generally require electricity, so no power = no water.

-Forks, WA is well-known for being the setting of the popular Twilight series. So well-known, in fact, that when you call Coachmen Roadside Support for a problem with your RV, the Coachmen employee may say, “Oh, you’re in Forks! Like the Twilight Forks! So cool!” Yeah, it might be cool if our RV wasn’t broken on the SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY.

-We did like Forks because various local groups set up food tents/trucks in the Ace Hardware parking lot. $0.50 hotdogs while we try to repair our RV on a Friday night? Yes, please! (And we got to support the local high school track team.)

-The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon is pricey but totally worth it. Stay until the last hour of the day, and once the families have left, go play in the kid’s area.

-Don’t try to pronounce anything in the WA peninsula. You will get it wrong.

-Sunsets over the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the WA peninsula are some of the very best we’ve seen this year.

-Don’t skip the northern Oregon coast while in the PNW.

-If you end up eating at the highly recommended Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City, OR, don’t skip dessert. Order the Caramel Carrot Cake; it comes with a root beer caramel sauce, a caramel cream cheese frosting, and is topped with coconut English toffee. Also, order one of their craft beers.

-With enough peer pressure, swimming in Crater Lake is totally worth it despite the frigid water – it’s an unforgettable, exhilarating experience.

-We’ve noticed a trend of legal marijuana stores located right next to fast food places. Coincidence? We think not.

-Horses cause a ton of trail erosion, making for unpleasantly challenging mountain bike conditions.

-Volcanos have shaped much of the PNW landscape. In central Oregon alone, volcanos have formed mountains, lakes (including Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the US), deserts, and lava beds, fields, caves, etc, which juxtapose old-growth forests and lush vegetation.

-There is no sales tax in Oregon. This is a beautiful thing when your spouse insists on buying a new bike for his birthday.