It finally happened: Launch Day. It’s a day I’ve been both looking forward too and fearing for what feels like years at this point.
We’ve recently named the bus Tad Cooper, after a character in a TV show the family all enjoys. There is a reoccurring line in the show, “I super believe in you Tad Cooper”, which we liked to mutter as our bus struggled through the mountains to get to our first stop. We also had a joke about calling The Bus “Dragon” and The Toad “Dragged”. Since the character Tad Cooper is a “not quite” dragon, it fits to call The Bus by that name .
Read more: At last! Launch Day!That said, leaving the area I’ve lived my whole life was bittersweet but more bitter on the day. I found myself tearing up a bit passing familiar sights, knowing that I won’t see them again for a while.
First stop, Pleasant Memories!
Mom planned the first leg of this adventure so that we only had to drive 4-5 hours on a travel day. Our first hop, then, was to Leavenworth, a place we’ve been before. We originally visited Leavenworth shortly before COVID hit as part of a unit study with our homeschooling goals. The children were studying the countries of Europe, and Leavenworth bills itself as a “little Germany”. This time it was less about learning about culture and foods, and more about having a good stepping off point!
We had a lovely meal at the Andreas Keller Restaurant, a place we’ve been to before and where we first learned the delights of Kasespatzle! The kids delighted in spending their money in two different sweet shops (because one is clearly not enough). We all enjoyed looking at all the pretties – fun statuettes of dragons, fairies, pretty rocks, that sort of thing – in the various gift shops, and the dog LOVED all the smells. The kids made instant friends rolling down a hill with other kids.
Moving East
After a single night, we were on the road to our first true boondocking site. Fish trap lake recreation area is a 9000-acre nature preserve managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Being in the “scab land” and a bit of a desert it was hot, dry, and most days were over 100F. We were able to stay nice and comfortable running just one of our mini split A/C’s and still keep our house batteries comfortably charged.
Mom and the dog have been enjoying long walks early in the morning. Finding cows, deer, and other wildlife in the region. The kids have discovered crickets and spent most of the stop catching them, observing them, and creating a little Lego town for them.
Our plan has always been to head into town once a week for laundry. This week we all went, dropping mom off at a laundromat (her choice) while the kids and I found a park! Franklin Park in Spokane, in the kids’ opinion, is the best place in the whole world. Mostly due to the splash pad. I had to be the bad guy after an hour of water play to make them play in the regular playground long enough to dry off so we could pick up Mom, then go out to dinner at Tomato Street!
I had a dear aunt who introduced me to this amazing local restaurant years ago. I’m happy to report that they are still as amazing as I remembered. Huge portions, even with kid’s meals, and super family friendly. Not only did the waiting room have a huge chalkboard wall, a “creativity zone”, to draw on while we waited, but the “tablecloth” was plain paper. The hostess brought play dough for the kids to play with, and our server wrote their name on the “tablecloth” before taking our order.
Oops!
We did have one minor catastrophe while we were out. The dog managed to bust out of the bus! While we’re not 100% sure how she did it, we think she managed to paw at the inner door and push the handle down.
The outer door doesn’t secure very well, so it would be a piece of cake for her to push through that. Lucky for us, she hung out with our neighbor. Unlucky for us, she didn’t close any doors behind her. We were running both AC’s for them while we were gone, and by the time we got back the batteries were at about 50%! Unfortunately, the next day was both hot and overcast so it took us two days to recover… Afterward, we developed what we like to call “Desert Protocol” where we keep the master suit closed, and windows open, and only run the front A/C. It keeps the living area of the bus comfortable for the rabbit, and the master suite doesn’t get too hot with the cross breeze.
Also on the To-do list: add a dead bolt to the inner door.
A bit more to explore.
Close to our campsite was the Folsom Farm site, which we took some time to explore.
Primarily a day-use site, it’s got some nice history about the region as well as some excellent wildlife viewing areas.
Our next stop is in Montana, leaving Washington behind. I’ll save that for another post.