Three Days before Departure

This July we are planning a 16-day camping trip that will take our family through some of the most beautiful spots in the American Northwest.

There is a link to our itinerary here. We used the TripIt app to help organize and plan. Dora did all the reserving a little over a week ago. We only have one night where we are staying in a first-come-first-serve site.

We are getting ready to head out on Wednesday morning.

We will head up to Chico where we pick up the trailer we're renting.

Dora and I had to do some negotiating on the trailer. We might have called it fighting during said negotiations, but that was all strategic.

Negotiations were successful.

My position - based on my history as a tent-camping person - was that we should try to keep the level of trailer amenities to a minimum. Dora was thinking more about camping during a viral outbreak - avoiding public bathrooms and in-person interactions as much as possible.

I think the R-Pod we found strikes the balance between our two positions pretty well.

Last week we had a trailer hitch installed on our Outback and had the car serviced. Friends with a similar trailer have told us that the Outback has the towing capacity for this kind of trailer, but we should plan to drain the water tanks before any long hauls. It's gonna be a lot of learning on the road, but I'm trying to do some YouTube schooling as well.

We did some basic meal planning this weekend, and I started packing the cooking and kitchen supplies.

We are starting to get excited about the trip.

We were surprised and yet not-so-surprised to learn that many of our friends are planning similar RV/trailer trips. It seems like a safe(ish) way to break up the summer routine.

I'm hoping this will become the inaugural family trip that kicks off a tradition.

We live close to so many natural wonders. Dora and I look forward to seeing what the boys think of them, not to mention seeing them again for the first time in so many years.

Our first night is in Lassen Volcanic National Park. All four of us stayed in a cabin near the park a few years ago. It's something of a hidden gem in the National Park system.