Record breaking heat waves hit the Pacific Northwest with out-of-control wildfires, and of course there’s the Delta variant of COVID. Was this an ideal time to travel through the Pacific Northwest?! Nope, but I waited over a year and half to travel because of the pandemic. I thought by August 2021, surely the pandemic will be over! The idea of escaping the Texas heat for cooler weather in the pacific seemed pure genius.
Despite the obstacles, for my RV road trip, it’s been a great experience. Life’s never going to calm down!
There’s no perfect time to make your travel dreams a reality!
Week two of my RV road trip from California to Portland, Seattle, and Boise is in the books! I’ll share my RV road trip journey last week through the Pacific Northwest. Spoiler alert: I did see wildfires and had RV problems.
If you missed my first week on the road, check out my journey from Austin to Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Pismo Beach.
RV Road Trip: Foggy Journey from California to Crater Lake in Oregon
After experiencing sand dunes in Pismo beach, I drove up the coast line to view Big Sur, Carmel by the Sea, and Monterey Bay. Highway 1 is a classic epic road trip route. Unfortunately, instead of viewing the beautiful oceanside, all I could see was thick fog (not smoke)!
I missed beach views, but I pressed onward to the Oregon and made it to my second National Park of the trip, Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S. I hiked the Garfield Peak Trail and chatted with other travelers who also experienced extreme fog when they’d visited the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and couldn’t even see the bridge!
RV Reroute! Oregon Wildfires and Waterfalls
After Crater Lake, I hit the road to visit Silver Falls State Park, known for a seven-mile hike full of waterfalls. In route, I hit very thick wildfire smoke! I pulled over to a gas station and found out an active large wildfire was ahead and decided to skip the park. Instead, I rerouted and drove away from the fire to a quaint town called Bend, Oregon.
After boondocking in the forest for a night, I hit the road to the Columbia River Gorge, a must-see attraction outside of Portland for a view of Fall Creek Falls.
The waterfall was beautiful!
Next RV Road Trip Stop: Portland
After spending most of my trip in nature hiking and outdoors, I was ready to check out city life in the Pacific Northwest. I had 24-hours in Portland and was able to see a lot in a little amount of time.
My first stop in Portland was to Salt and Straw, one of Portland’s iconic ice cream shops! For me part of travel is experiencing local food (even though I’m an advocate for grocery shopping and meal planning)! The homemade ice cream didn’t disappoint! Then I walked downtown through Mississippi Ave, self-described as, “a quirky northeast Portland neighborhood,” with hipster restaurants and bars. I enjoyed a lemon drop martini on an outdoor patio bar.
Afterwards, I visited Washington Park and stopped to smell the roses in Portland’s Rose Garden. It was the most roses in one place I’d ever seen.
Not too far away was the Pittock Mansion, a 1914 home of one of Portland’s earliest and most influential families, the Pittock’s. This was a top tourist destination and had views overlooking the entire city.
I ended my Portland experience by getting take-out from a popular Thai restaurant, Hat Yai. This was my first time to experience genuine Thai sticky rice, since traveling to Thailand years ago.
An Afternoon in Seattle (with RV Problems!)
After a jammed pack day in Portland, I hit the road for quick stop in Seattle. I had two simple goals for Seattle: visit the original Starbucks and check out the Space Needle.
And then I had RV problems: my brake lights and turns signals on my travel trailer went out!
Somehow, I was able to quickly and safely find a shop to repair the cable. However, this delay meant I only had enough time to drive by both sites on my to-do list!
On the Road Again to Boise, Idaho
Boise’s one of the fastest growing cities and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about! I enjoyed dinner along the Boise River and tried their infamous finger steaks (like chicken fingers, but with steak!) and fries. It didn’t disappoint.
After dinner, I walked along the river to view the green belt then headed to Table Rock, a hike overlooking the city.
It was an eventful week from Crater Lake to waterfalls and experiencing city-life in three fun cities!
And to think, I was almost going to opt-out of my RV road trip! Yes, this was not the perfect time for a Pacific Northwest trip, and I did run into issues. But in the end, there’s never a perfect time!
My RV Road Trip to Portland, Seattle, and Boise was Worth It!
I’d love to hear from you! Have you experienced the Pacific Northwest? How was your trip!?
If you’re like me, you’re a dreamer. You want to travel, see the world, experience new things, and live life to the fullest.
But… there’s a million things in the way.
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