First Travel Day...
Our first major stop after Spokane was McMinnville, OR—home of the Spruce Goose and just 20 minutes from family (Titi Candra and Unc at Jachter Family Wines). Papa Steven even joined us to co-drive the BMW with Paxton and tow the RZR.
The drive was supposed to take 8-9 hours, but we quickly learned our rig requires a fuel stop every two hours or 250 miles. To make matters worse, the bridge to our planned truck stop on I-84 was closed for repairs. We hopped back on the interstate with Nicky frantically Googling gas stations with adequate height clearance and Ken calculating our remaining fuel drops. We luckily made it to Arlington, OR, to fuel up, but that’s where we hit our first REAL road bump.
The best part about towing your house is avoiding sketchy gas station bathrooms. Allison and Nicky took full advantage of this in Arlington. But when Ken went to turn on the water pump for his turn, the 5th-wheel cargo keys were completely MIA. We tore the truck apart, and Nicky even patted Ken down twice. After 30 minutes of frantic searching, we had to accept defeat and get back on the road.
Cruising down I-84, Nicky researched replacement keys while Ken called every Portland-area trailer dealer he could find. (Thank goodness most travel trailers are "key alike," meaning universal keys often work!) Ken finally reached Camping World in Troutdale, OR, who said their service department could help. We swung in, and while they didn't have keys for us to buy, their amazing staff managed to pick the locks on our cargo doors so we could at least access our gear.
An hour later, we were rolling again. Ken maneuvered our massive setup through Portland traffic like an absolute pro, and we finally arrived at our home for the next two weeks: Old Stone RV Resort in McMinnville. After an incredibly long and stressful travel day, nothing felt better than unhitching the rig and heading out to dinner with family!
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