Weekly recap: Seattle/Portland (WA/OR)

This week was very focused on work. Bryn visited Boston and New York City for several site surveys. Shawn stayed in Washington, but drove the camper to Kanaskat Palmer State Park so it was about an hour south of Seattle instead of an hour north. Then he took the opportunity to visit his main customer's headquarters in Kent and work in the office for 3 days. 

The Bundra has had a slow leak in one of the tires since Rapid City. Topping off the pressure held up for a couple of days at a time, but Shawn took this opportunity of staying at the same location for a bit to get it addressed more permanently. Discount Tire turns out to do free tire repair! It only took about an hour and 15 minutes from the start of the appointment to get the tire fixed for free. They found a nail in the tire. We definitely recommend them if you have a slow leak.

Getting our nails done, uh, removed

Bryn arrived back in Seattle late Thursday night. Friday we worked in the morning and then packed up to start heading south towards Portland. We were originally going to try to get a hike in at Olympia National Park, but the weather wasn't cooperating. Instead we drove a while south and then stopped for an early dinner at a sports bar so that Bryn could watch Villanova play one of their first basketball games of the season. After dinner we headed further south and boondocked at a Walmart in the vicinity of Mount St Helens. Shawn started to feel a little under the weather this day.

Saturday we planned to see Mt. St Helens and do a short hike, but Shawn was feeling pretty weak, so he mostly just slept in the car. We did still drive up the mountain and get some nice views in. After that, and a quick, much needed shower at Planet Fitness, we hitched back up to the camper and moved it further south again to La Uva Fortuna Farms, which is a winery in southern Washington state that is a Harvest Host (i.e. you can boondock there for free for one night with a Harvest Host membership, under the assumption that you'll visit their business). This was our first Harvest Host stay, so we didn't quite know what to expect. Once the camper was set up, Shawn just slept through the afternoon. Bryn went and had a great time in their bar/restaurant. We highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area. Everyone is so sweet and the food and wine selection is excellent!

We slowly pulled ourselves together Sunday morning and got moving. We never unhitched so it was a pretty simple pack up, made difficult only because Shawn was sick and Bryn had FAR too much wine the night before. We drove south again, to Troutdale, OR, in hopes of getting a free spot at a Love's that allows overnight parking. Unfortunately, we gave up the one free spot to a truck driver in desperate need of sleep and ended up paying for a campsite with full hookups a short drive away. 

While we weren't happy to be paying, it wasn't terrible to have power and water, get a hot shower, and organize a bit. We headed into Portland for the afternoon and stopped at MeKha Grill for pho before continuing on to Powell's City of Books. We were incredibly excited to visit and buy some used books. We both purchased some books that are the next in different series we are reading. Bryn found a 2023 planner she really likes and Shawn also picked up a Christmas gift. An efficient and fun trip!
After Powell's, we headed to Deschutes for some beer and then onto Bamboo Sushi for dinner. Shawn was still sick, so he dropped Bryn off and headed home. Bryn had a delicious dinner followed by some creamy, flavorful ice cream at Salt and Straw. Thank you to La Uva for these recommendations!

Monday, Shawn was still quite sick. We did laundry and showered again, then packed up camp to move. Winds were high so the first bit of our drive was very stressful, but it died eventually and we had an uneventful trip all the way to Nampa, ID. We boondocked once again in a Walmart parking lot and worked a bit the next morning before finishing the drive to our campground by check-in time. 

We are settled in for a long stay (2.5 weeks) in Southern Idaho for the start of winter, which means heat tape for our water hose, anti-freeze in our grey and black tanks, and layering up to save on propane heat. We are excited to explore the area!