Road Trip ... Day 1 - Day 3

Day 1...Sept 15

It was kind of weird leaving our house for two months with a house sitter we only met once. Chloe came highly recommended.

As we headed out of town, we made one last stop at Costco to top off our tank. Today we were going to start with a short hop over to Crater Lake, 1 1/2 hours from our house. On the way up there we stopped at Becky's Restaurant for a light breakfast and a hot coffee.

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Our initial plan was to camp up at Crater Lake, but we found out that the temp was going to drop that night and we didn't want to get snowed in. After exploring the lake we drove down to the town of Hines Oregon. We were in a camp site by 6pm and in bed by 7pm. Ahh, the good life. 

Day 2...Sept 16

We were up by 6:30am and on the road by 7am. We stopped at a nearby McDonalds for a hash brown and two coffees. By the time we were running low on gas we had reached the 502 mile point from home. Not bad for a van. We found a Costco by using the GPS and refilled before reaching our destination for the day, Eden Idaho. By 4pm we were pulling in to the Anderson Camp Ground and by pm Kerry, Rosie and me were in the lounge watching the 1st Republican debate...we enjoyed the bantering.

After some dinner we decided to call it a day. As the sun set we snuggled in, happy as clams. The entire park was dark and quiet...that is until Kerry decided to open the vans side door. The alarm was tripped, lights all around us started coming on. We fumbled for the key, eventually finding it. Once we regained silence, the only sound you could hear was Kerry and me laughing like crazy.

Day 3..Sept 17

As soon as we're were up we stowed what needed to be stowed and headed on down the road. Next stop...McDonalds for coffees, a hash brown and a couple of sausage biscuits and an oatmeal for Kerry. We also topped off our water cups. 

As I was waiting for Kerry to join me at the car, a small white car pulled up right beside me, parked and as four young guys jumped out I noticed that there was smoke coming out of their car from everywhere. Why would these guys, with a car on fire, pull right up next to me? My first thought was to get in the van and pull away before their car exploded and that is just what I did. Kerry quickly joined me, also noticing the smoke and these somewhat confused guys. We realized that their car wasn't on fire, but instead they blew their engine. I am sure they will figure it out...call a friend, get a tow...get on with life.

By now we logged in over 772 miles. Even though we still had a half tank, as we passed another Costco we decided to top off the tank...and get a Latte Mocha Freeze at the same time. For the first time since we left we encountered some heavy rain with a little hail...reducing our visibility for about 15 minutes...then it cleared up for the rest of the day. 

When we arrived in Idaho Falls we did a search in the old Rose Hill cemetery for the grave marker of Kerry's great or great great grandfather. We did find a name in the register Campbell A. J., although we were looking for a J. A. Campbell. Even though the name was in the book, the marker couldn't be found. We did find a grave of a William H. Campbell married to Eva Campbell. And in the book we also found a name that sounded familiar...Caleb Campbell, who died around 1900. 

We finally reached our destination for today, Yellowstone Park. After finding a camp spot in the Madison Campground inside the parks West Gate, we headed over to watch Old Faithful, and a few other Geysers along the way. We were back at our camp site by 5:

30pm and just as we started to eat our dinner a storm brewed above us. Lightening, thunder, hail, snow and now rain. It's going to be a chilly night.

Across from our camp site was a car that was parked with his headlights on. He was also parked too far towards the road, causing a hazard for larger RV's trying to get by. One RV'r knocked on the cars window to no avail. The rain was coming down hard and we decided to get involved...I decided to get involved. I didn't want anyone hitting our van due to a tight squeeze. As I approached, out popped an elderly Japanese tourist. His wife was trying to sleep in the back of their rental SUV. He didn't understand a single word I was trying to say to him so I ended up relying on the one or two words I know in Japanese along with the international language of hand signals and facial gestures. Eventually his car was over where it needed to be. Now it was time to try and get him to turn off his headlights. After a few minutes or so of zero success, I just reached into his cab from the open window and shut off his lights myself. He finally understood. Funny thing about this guy...as we were pulling out this morning, while he was making his breakfast, he looked up at me, with a huge smile and in perfect English he yelled "Good Morning!"