They say most of us will live within 18 miles of the place we were born. I would say this is true looking at most of our close family. On my wife side, most of her aunts, uncles and cousins live in proximity from each other. The same goes for my family. When asked recently about the reasons we stay near each other the main answer is always being close to family, the second is because we like the safety and comfort of familiar surroundings.
This may hold true for most of our families. My branch of the family tree does not appear to stay in place for very long. My family’s ancestor migrated from the north of France in the 1700s to earn a living fishing and sailing on the St-Lawrence. Part of our family helped settle and open the Saguenay area in northern Quebec. The other migrated to Massachusetts during the industrial revolution and now live mostly in the Lowell area.
Isolated for the better part of the last eighteen months within the confines of our home during the last pandemic, we could not wait to hit the road and escape given the opportunity. The freedom of being on the road, seeing vast new vistas and getting some fresh air was calling. This opportunity came after our daughter graduated college in the spring and landed a job in Spokane, Washington.
We were soon faced with a challenge: how do we get our daughter, two kittens, a small subcompact car, and half a small studio worth of furniture, books, and tchotchkes from Gilbert, Arizona, to Spokane, Washington, safely and within a reasonable budget. Our audacious child announced immediately that she would drive the small subcompact the nearly 1400 miles to her new life with the kittens, house plants, and boxes in tow.
Raised as latchkey kids, we have tried to let our children find their own way without us getting involved in their decision - a sort of “free-range parenting” if you would - if it did not involve limiting or self-destructive behavior, we were fine with it. This, we felt, would definitely fall in the second category.
After comparing different typical scenarios - flying out, renting a truck, shipping, we came up with a different option. Why not rent a recreational vehicle for the trip? A good compromise, we thought. It is the same size as a rental truck would carry all our boxes and house plants, the kittens could roam and stretch if necessary, and our adventurous daughter would drive her car while still being able to take a break occasionally.
Having absolutely no experience driving or operating a RV, we relied on a company well known for their wrapped vehicle – Cruise America. The staff immediately put us at ease and helped us figure out the best options for our trip. The online portal provided the basic operation instructions for the vehicle and some practical advice on how to prepare for the trip.
The standard size RV we picked was perfect. We had plenty of room in the cargo area for all the boxes, luggage, and furniture. The built-in fridge, microwave, and stove saved us time and money since we did not need to stop for food and snacks along the way. With ample room to move about, places to sit, stretch, and sleep, everyone had a chance to rest and this cut down our lodging cost by half.
This is not to say that there are some challenges. Having to plan and figure out the logistic of parking a 25-foot-long vehicle requires a few tries. While most of the vehicle’s operation is simple, driving a what is essentially a small moving van can be daunting for someone who is not used to it. Better do a practice drive to make sure you are comfortable maneuvering it. Oh…and did we mention waste management? Dumping, as it is known, is something you will need to familiarize yourself with. Not for the faint of heart but something that gets easier with practice.
Overall, the trip was quite an adventure. Using the RV as a base camp made our daughter’s transition very trouble-free. Having a network of service centers through Cruise America certainly takes a lot of the stress out of adventuring with a RV. Need roadside assistance or have questions about the RV, help is just one phone call away.
Driving through Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Washington, I could not help but think of the original settlers travelling through the same plains and valleys in a chuckwagon. How they did what they did is just mindboggling. Some of the sights are breathtaking but having to travel for months over uneven ground over dirt trails with your family carrying your belongings, food, and livestock.
We will need to go back to spend more time visiting some of the areas we drove passed on our way. Bryce and Zion are just incredible places to hike, the Great Salt Lake basin was surrounded by peak after peak covered in snow, spending the night camping on the Oregon Trail near Pocatello without dying from the Dysentery just made me smile.
Our biggest regrets were not to have enough time to visit larger national parks like Yellowstone or the Glacier National Park, those are on our bucket list now. It is ok though; we have family up there now. We can always find some reasons to visit…