Trip #3 was located the furthest from home 7 hours South near Crater Lake Oregon. Some things that are different about this trip:
1. A mix of Hotels/Airbnb and Camp Ground. Hotel 1x, Camp ground 3x, Airbnb 1x
2. Only 1 camp ground- First National Forest Camp Ground.
3. Furthest camping trip from home
And with that the lessons
1. Next summer I will be bringing with me some sort of portable toilet option. It’ll probably be pretty low tech, but it will make me feel better about some of the traveling, and the long stretches of road without rest stops.
2.my ideal length of driving for a day caps at 250 miles the maximum I ever want to do on a day is 300 miles.
3. The tri-fold mattress is great for lounging in the car at the beach, but not great for my joints as a side sleeper. I will be researching better options- including rooftop tents
4. Wide Toe Box hiking boots/shoes. In the last year I have started to wear shoes with a much wider toe box that allows my toes to spread out more and my current hiking boots do no have that. So for next year I will be looking for options that give my piggies room to move.
5. I felt really safe at the campground I was at and it made a huge difference in my sleep even with the less than ideal mattress situation.
6. Bring more layers than you think you're going to need. Yes it did get into the 90s on my trip it was also in the 40s most mornings.
7. I am really glad I brought NO COOK meal options. It was really helpful on the nights that I didn't want to cook because it was raining.
8. Don't forget to reapply bug spray. I am really good about reapplying sunscreen, but forgot to reapply bug spray, and my ankles paid the price.
9. You don't have to have every minute planned. Sometimes its nice to not have any plans, to just sit by the water and relax.
10. I have an addictive personality type and need to make sure I have an audiobook for every day I'm gone downloaded and ready to go because I will likely need a book a day.
I have 3 different road trips as summer options for the next few years. Each one checks off 5-8 national parks each with the majority of my time focused in either California, Colorado or Utah. For those I will ideally spend a few nights at/near each park and no more than 4 nights camping before a glamp/hotel night to shower and shop in between.
I accomplished this summer what I set out to. I learned I can do hard things. I can camp solo. I can trust my gut. I can cook for myself. I can keep moving forward even when things go wrong.
Signing off for now
Claire
Love this!
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