Montana —> Oregon
Hi, hello, yes it’s Wednesday.
I made the incredible mistake of starting a viral book from BookTok midday yesterday, and it took over all plans until the 632 pages were read. So I’m now starting this Substack letter at 4:56pm on Wednesday instead of the planned 2:00pm on Tuesday.
(If your curious: the book is called Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros — best I can describe it, it’s the adult-fantasy version of Divergent but with dragons. Not everyone’s cup of tea, yet it is the kind of book that will involuntarily take over my life until finished.)
But let’s move on to the content you’re here for:
Heading back to Oregon
This two week recap has been a trek back to Oregon from Montana. We were heading to Overland Expo PNW and had a week and a half to make our way from Glacier National Park to Bend, Oregon (approximately 700 miles if it’s a straight shot). Which means most of our campsites were for a night or two, and not always ideal.
First spot: an Army Corps of Engineers (free) campsite in western Montana. Very pretty, but also very loud 🙃 Regardless of the trains and jake breaks, lots of work got done at this spot including finishing a design I’ve had to rework several times! It’s been tinkered with since January and has been worked on in every state we’ve traveled so far.
📍Montana
We were at this spot for two days before moving on into Idaho —
Hello, views!
My partner decided to surprise me with this campsite, and he did not disappoint. We set up camp at the top of a mountain at a fire lookout!
360 views of the Selkirk Mountains and Priest Lake. The views were incredible, and the storm watching was really cool — until one was about to pass over us. The original plan was to stay at this site through the end of the work week, but on the second night a thunderstorm with ground strikes showed up. It wasn’t on radar all day, but formed quickly and the forecast showed it going directly over us — on a mountain top. So at 10pm we decided to boogie down the steep dirt road out of the potential danger zone.
We found a pull out along one of the surrounding forest roads for the night and were annoyed to see in the morning that the last minute evacuation from our mountaintop oasis was unnecessary. The storm ended up dissipating, but better safe than sorry — right? 🤷🏼♀️
The trip up that mountain was not an easy one (and quite the diesel-guzzler), so we opted for moving along on our trip back to Oregon.
Mosquitoes galore
A silver lining of our quick trip back to the Pacific Northwest was that the timing aligned perfectly to visit one of my best friends who moved to Spokane, Washington *the* weekend we passed through. But with our unplanned exit from the mountain top, we had to find a place outside of Spokane to finish out the work week.
The spot we found was perfect…except for the mosquitoes 🦟
These little buggers were EVERYWHERE and they HURT — stinging pain after they bite so you can’t smack ‘em - hurt. To top it off it was also 90 degrees the three days we were camped there. The only reasonable way I could work was early in the morning in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to keep the skeeters somewhat at bay.
The bugs successfully kept me indoors most of our time there, which meant converting the camper into a studio space. I’ve been finishing up the last of a collection for a gallery and it was necessary I worked these days to keep everything on track for drop off. So indoor studio it was!
Once Sunday rolled around, we headed to Spokane to help my friend move into her new place. We spent the day putting together bed frames, unpacking clothing, and scouring the Goodwill’s in the area for furniture. It was amazing to see some good friends, even if for just a day!
We found camp that night behind a random building next to a dam. We *probably* would have been asked to move if anyone official came by, but we parked late and left early. These one-night last-minute campsites happen every so often, and they’re just a reality of what living on the road can look like sometimes! We didn’t have any issues at this place, but we’re always sure to do a gut check while camping in spots like this and leave if the vibes are off or shift at any point.
A popsicle a day keeps the heat stroke away
Since our mosquito campsite outside of Spokane, the heat had been relentless. We’re moderate temperature people, so the 90 degree weather was not welcome. Bend didn’t bring any relief in this department 🙃
The main reason for heading to Bend was for the Overland Expo, but we were entering the city a little early for some work to be done to the truck. Which meant we had a day to kill! So we hit the sidewalks to some of our favorite places in the Bend area —
We got our steps in that day (and learned that tevas are not all day walking shoe), got some work done via hotspot at local parks, and were back in the truck within a few hours. That night we did another classic one-night camp for full-time travelers: street camping.
Overland Expo
Overland Expo was much larger than I expected. Think car + camping + capability of making a good meal and you’ve got “overlanding” defined. This expo? Put that on steroids.
We ended up being last minute additions to the DIY rig exhibition of the expo (yay for free tickets! 🎉) so we were surrounded by some pretty cool rigs and people to hang out with.
The weekend spark notes:
Popsicles were still consumed daily out of necessity
My partner and I were part of a panel discussion about making money on the road (part of the free ticket deal)
I took a riding course! I learned how to ride our TW 200 motorbike from a certified teacher
Fresh mini donuts were available and they accidentally gave me 12 extra for free
I got my torn jackets repaired for free (my clumsy ass likes to run into things)
My hair part got burned (and it still hurts)
We met some pretty cool people we’ll for sure connect with again on the road!
My partner talked with a lot of folks about Bruce (our truck camper), bought a few parts from vendors, and met some people who will help us build Bruce 2.0 (wayyyy in the future).
Overall it was a blast (despite the blazing hot temps), but by the end we were ready to find water and let our introverted selves recover from 3 days of full-time socializing.
Next Letter:
We find water and head towards the coast!
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As always, thanks for reading 💕
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