3 States, 31 Nights, and 2131 Miles

July 2019 Trailer Trip

On July 11th, 2019 our family of three hitched up our trailer and took off on our “July” adventure. We traveled to 3 states, camped for 31 nights, and put 2131 miles of road behind us. My wife, our 13-year-old son, and I thought it was great.

We began our trip with the idea of reaching the Washington coast and traveling down through Washington and Oregon before returning home to Utah. However, while traveling, we changed our plans, traveled less each day, and enjoyed a few things closer to home.

We traveled through Idaho, Montana, and Utah. We learned a few things along the way:

  1. Southwest Idaho is much like Utah in terms of weather. In July it is hot and intolerable without air conditioning. Before heading north to a cooler climate, we broke out both generators to run the AC unit and cool the trailer.
  2. Campgrounds in Idaho and Montana were, in general, far better than those in Utah. In Idaho and Montana, the campgrounds were generally less expensive. In a few cases where they were the same price as those in Utah, the facilities were far superior. Where Utah campgrounds lack water but ask you to put out your fire, Idaho and Montana campgrounds not only had water but provided a bucket at the faucet to borrow.
  3. On this journey we traveled back and forth between Idaho and Montana several times. Each time we entered Idaho we were required to have our kayaks inspected for plants, animals, and water. We were asked where we last put them in the water and where we were headed. This became a sort of a joke. At one stop an older man, certainly not a gentleman, approached me on the passenger side of the vehicle. He barked through the window, “we are in Idaho where men drive.” Really, what year is it in Idaho?
  4. This spring we upgraded our solar capacity from a single 150 Watt panel to three 200 Watt panels and a new solar charge controller. On this trip, we routinely generated a kilowatt of power per day, eliminating the need to use a generator unless we needed the AC.

Our adventure was amazing and most importantly relaxing. We participated in fun activities, beautiful scenery, interesting history, and just plain old fun. The next several posts will describe each of the places we camped at and summarize the things we saw and did. While this adventure had to end, it just means the next one is a few days closer.

One thought on “3 States, 31 Nights, and 2131 Miles”

  1. Sounds like you had the best kind of summer adventure! Looking forward to the next posts describing more of what you experienced,

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