The adventures of Eva, a teardrop trailer of the Evolve family, continued

This month, we have passed the halfway mark of our trip. We’ve been on the road since July and plan on going until Christmas. We decided to split our honeymoon road trip in two by doing two separate loops. One of the north western states, to hit the Oregon coast before it gets too cold, and one of the south western states to extend our summer and chase the sun down south.

Ending our North Western States Tour – Oregon and Washington Coast

We finished touring the north western states mid month. After Idaho (in our last blog post), we crossed the whole Oregon state from the south east corner to make it to the coast. Our goal was to hit the coast before the weather would get too cold. Mission accomplished! We had beautiful warm-ish sunshiny weather all the way through except for a few rainy days. They were a good opportunity to stay put, and do some more relaxed indoor activities like reading, writing, posting, browsing, … We found some nice campgrounds in a few State Parks that allowed us to set up camp comfortably for the night.

The Oregon coast was stunning! The sharp jagged rocks of the coastline made for a gorgeous scenic drive up Highway 101. We crossed over the Columbia River on a magnificent bridge built in the 60’s from Astoria on the Oregon side into Washington State. The Washington Coast was just as beautiful with its white sandy beaches and leafy trees painted by the fall colours. The weather was getting colder and wetter as we were driving more North, but that didn’t take away from our fun of camping in our little home on wheels. We are so glad our Evolve trailer is fully insulated and provides us with a safe shelter from the windy, rainy and frosty nights! She is our little safe cocoon. We’ve had to use our plug in heater a couple of times to make it easier to slide in bed. But once it’s toasty inside, our down duvet keeps us warm through the night. We always make sure to leave the side vents open and the roof vent turned on for air circulation. The mornings are always fresh, so we wait for the sun to coax us out of bed. We ended our North Western States tour with a drive through Olympic National Park and a ferry ride across to Whidbey island. We then headed straight to BC. We crossed the border and came home.

Thanksgiving in Canada

Our first stop was the HQ of Evolve Solar Teardrop Trailers. We took our Eva back to its birthplace for routine maintenance. Mike was so accommodating to take us in on such short notice. We left our home on wheels behind in good hands. Evolve trailers manufacturer took good care of our little Eva over the weekend. She was ready for pick up on Tuesday. All refreshed and renewed to go back on the roads again!

It was no coincidence that we came back home for our Canadian Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect break to spend time with our friends and family around delicious homemade meals. It was so good to see everyone as we were starting to miss our dear and beloved friends and family. It felt weird to be back in the city though. The biggest noticeable change was the light pollution! Our days have been punctuated by the natural rhythm of daylight and we found it easy to adjust to a sleeping pattern following the natural cycle of sunrises and sunsets. But as we entered the city of Vancouver by night, the contrast was evident. It took a little bit of internal clock adjustment and black out shades to go back to the city life rhythm during our week back home. 

Start of our South Western States Tour – Utah

Back on the road after a nice Thanksgiving break. We headed for Utah. We made a few stops on the way to split up the 14 hour drive. Our first stop was Washington State. We stayed the night on a paved parking by the side of a lake in Snoqualmie. It was wet and cold in true Pacific North West style! But we were so pleased with our new addition: a heated mattress pad from Costco. This will turn out to be the best add-on to our “keeping warm” accessories. We plugged the heated mattress pad in, turned it on high and rolled into bed for a toasty sleep.

Our next stop was Boise, Idaho. We stayed the night at some of our friends’ house. The next day we continued on towards Salt Lake City. On our way, a big thunderstorm hit us. Wind, rain, hail, sleet all descended on us. The sky was just wild and the wind was shaking our truck and trailer. We drove through it and finally left the dark, windy, rainy threatening clouds behind. Eva made it through her first storm like a champ! We stayed in Salt Lake for the weekend and toured the city on Monday. We really enjoyed it but couldn’t wait to get south where all the beauty was awaiting us.

So off we went, on the road again… Eva still following us. We took her to all the National Parks in Utah, the mighty 5 – Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion. We camped on dry BLM land, on the side of some dirt roads and at a few official campgrounds and RV parks. She loved it all! 

I’ve been searching for the right words to describe the beauty of what we’ve seen out here. I thought maybe my English vocabulary was not extensive enough. But I had a hard time finding the words in French too! So maybe I’ll just say WOW! We have been amazed and stunned by this land of contrast and pure wilderness. We’ve stood in awe so many times in so many places in front of all this beauty. We’ve marveled at this magnificent scenery and often felt like we are nothing in this huge immensity. These places are overwhelmingly grandiose! Words nor pictures will cut it. You have to experience it with your own eyes to fully understand the forces that are at play here. The great landscape architect of our dear precious planet earth keeps blowing our minds. Sometimes we don’t fully comprehend how or why this was all created. But we just appreciate it for what it is, with great respect and gratitude.

On the down side, but still as part of our great road trip adventure with our Evolve trailer, we’ve spent a few nights in the middle of the desert, with the coldest getting down to a chilly -12°C. Our down duvet and down blankets offered a protective shield against the frost too. But the best of all, la crème de la crème, was our heated mattress pad that made for a toasty bed. As you can imagine, cooking outdoors in these conditions was a bit challenging. The wind and the freezing air numbed our fingers, but dinner was always a success, and very satisfying! Eva endured it all very bravely and we are so proud of her. 

We are enjoying our adventures with our teardrop trailer very much, and living each moment to the fullest. The good times, the challenging times, and the best times. All of it!

We’ve learned that every day is what we make of it, and the attitude we bring to it. That today is always the best day. And that being happy and content in life is a choice. So we choose wisely!

Until next time for more…

Au revoir,

L&L

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