Some may claim insanity at the notition of piling a family of four into a Jeep Wrangler with the family dog for a full two weeks and driving 7,500 km through the western United States while sleeping in a cramped rooftop tent. I, on the other hand, viewed it as an opportunity for a grand adventure!
As a family, we decided that we weren't preplanning our trip or prebooking hotels, camp sites, air bnbs or other stops as we wanted this adventure to have some spontenaiety while maintaining some sense of adventure and unknown. It seems everything these days has to be planned months in advance with detail and structure to keep your place at the table per se. Some of my favorite trips have been the ones that we just let happen organically! We didn't plan a specific route; however, there were several places we had targeted to visit; the Grand Canyon and Sequoia National Park. My daughter has wanted for years to visit the Grand Canyon and my son has taken an interest in the "big" trees in Sequoia National Park. In fact the largest tree by volume in the world stands in this park and goes by the name of "General Sherman". These two locations formed the framework for our trip and the ensuing 7,500 km journey stemmed from there.
Our journey took us across nine US states, through 10 national parks, 4 state parks and two Canadian provinces. We travelled from St. Albert, Alberta to Yellowstone National Park, through Montana, Idaho and Wyoming into Grand Teton National Park before entering Utah and witnessing Bryce Canyon, Coral Pink Sand Dunes and Zion National Park.
We continued south to the Grand Canyon and swept west through Las Vegas toward California, where we explored Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks before heading north to Yosemite National Park. From California we passed through Oregon and into Washington to the Mount St. Helen's National Monument before crossing back into Canada near Abbottsford, British Columbia. As we headed back toward St. Albert, Alberta we made stops in Mount Robson Provincial Park and in Jasper National Park before finally making our way home.
Our adventures took us to many incredible natural wonders including magestic canyons, towering mountain ranges, amazing waterfalls, lakes and rivers, trees that appeared to be out of a fairytale and breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. It allowed us to realize just how amazingly beautiful this planet really is and how fortunate we are to be able to get out there and see it.
Reason No. 1 - Messy situation resulting from dipping your hot dog in salt brine! We pulled into Antelope Island State Park near Salt Lake City, Utah late one afternoon with the temperature hovering around 37 degrees Celcius. We were impressed with the dramatic views from our campsite; however, with the extreme heat and the desert-like conditions, it seemed inhospitable for camping and recreational enjoyment. At least there was a shade structure present as part of the park infrastructure which could save us from certain death or spontaneious combustion if we decided to stay. It was "hot"! We contemplated whether we should stay the night here in such hostile conditions, but we concluded it was part of the adventure and unpacked our gear.
We decided to hike down to the lake to cool down in the water. The water appeared cool and dense as it was basically a highly concentrated salt brine. We all waded into the water and of course our dog joined us. She is very much a water dog and did not hesitate to jump right in. She swam around (or should I say floated) in the water with her stubby little tail wagging vigorously behind her like a motorboat propellor. As we headed back to camp, the dog started acting strangely. She was foaming at the mouth, arching her back and making strange, unpleasant sounds. I figured this can't be a good sign! Dogs foaming at the mouth have never been associated with anything good...She then proceeded to release bagage from both ends in a furious manner. We didn't really understand what was wrong with her but figured maybe it would help if we cleaned her up in some freshwater. We rushed her to one of the campground showers to get as much salt off of her as we could and gave her freshwater to drink.
Once we cleaned her up, we went back to camp and monitored her condition. We were worried she maybe ingested too much salt. She moped around for the rest of the day and by evening, she was back to her old self. We were relieved she was ok. It's times like that you realize just how much your trusty companion means to you! Reason No. 2 - Sleep deprevation from attempting to sleep in a tent during strange wind events. Reason #1 was closely followed by Reason #2! As we set up the rooftop tent after our visit to the salt lake, we realized that the topography and rocky ground would not allow us to stake down the annex portion of our tent effectively. I was concerned about storms and wind as we were situated in a very open area without trees; however, the entire day had been completely calm, so I blew it off - no pun intended!
The evening progressed into night where the earlier state of calmness was elevated into periodic stronger wind gusts that came in waves. It was strange as these winds would come in strong and then a few minutes later, they would completely subside only to repeat every 10 minutes or so. I decided I would take another try in the pitch dark to stake down the tent so we could get some sleep, but was unsuccessful in my attempts. After three to four hours of heavier and heavier waves and gusts of wind, I gave up trying to mitigate the situation. I passed out exhausted in my underwear with arms and legs stretched out extending to the corners of the tent annex to hold the tent corners in place with the terrified dog curled up beside me. I was abruptly awaken on a regular basis from my sleep with each passing violent wind event. I was so sleep deprived, each time I woke up, I thought that wild animals had encircled the tent to claim me for their next meal. I was so tired, it didn't even matter! As the sun came over the horizon, I woke up with a sharp rock sticking into my back with the dog licking my ear and realized I had used one of my son's smelly sandles (see Reason #3) for a pillow. I was then happy to realize that I survived the night and was delighted to get back on the road to find a friendlier camping location for the next night! Reason No. 3 - Noxious fumes emited by individuals in a confined space over extended periods. I know it sounds like an occupational health and safety violation...and it kind of is! I am referring to my 9 year old son who suffers from regular gasous emmisions and feet that smell like a rotting corpse. These conditions become very obvious when you spend two weeks in a vehicle with him! Of course I love the kid to death, but the odours that eminated from that little guy over the course of our trip could be particularly hard to endure for those with a weak stomach.
We had numerous discussions about controling or managing these releases and some unpleasantries that resulted from time to time over the course of our lengthy road trip adventure; however, no effective solutions were identified to mitigate the issues outside of regular washing of the sandals which proved mostly ineffective. Of course, when you're 9 years old, passing gas in the car is super funny to you and not so funny to your teenage sister sitting directly beside you. This of course would cause havac resulting in hitting, slapping and yelling in the back seat with the poor dog caught in the middle! Poor pup! Reason No. 4 - Physical injuries resulting from trying to sleep next to someone who transforms into Bruce Lee and acts out fight sequences from the video game Mortal Combat.
Our rooftop tent was designed to sleep four people, which it does; however, it does so if you sleep in close quarters to your tent mates. If you happen to sleep close to someone like my daughter who has a habit of using her elbows to deliver bone breaking blows to your face while sleeping, it definitely has a negative impact on your ability to get a restful sleep during the night. There were several nights where she was more active than others where I did not get much sleep. I learned to either face away from her or protect my face with my arms if I needed to face her. This defensive strategy definitely aided in my survival over the course of this adventure. Reason No. 5 - "Ridiculous" state laws that only the locals are aware of that get you in trouble with state Police! While blasting through Oregon on our way to Mount St. Helen's National Monument, we made a stop at a truck stop on the Oregon side of the Oregon-California border. We had already been on the road for nearly seven hours and needed to stop and refuel and grab some snacks and refreshments. As I pulled in, a service station attendant in a reflective vest, jumped infront of me and said, "I will be right with you!". I said, "all good, I got it, I need to go inside and pay". He ran over to another vehicle and began pumping their fuel. I prepaid the attendant inside and proceeded to leave when he said, "Please find the guy outside and he will fill you up". I turned and said, "yeah I got this, I will do it myself". The attendant responded aggressively with, "no, the attendant has to pump your fuel". I stopped and turned around and said, "Excuse me?", surprised at his aggressive tone. The attendant then proceeded to read me the riot act on how it was illegal to pump your own fuel in the state of Oregon and the implications and infractions of breaking this law in Oregon. At this point, I thought someone was playing a joke on me, but complied with the demand, as fines and/or jail time for doing a task that I consider routine, was not a thrilling option this late in the day. Thus, I let the attendant pump my fuel and we moved on.
And those are "five" reasons you should avoid an adventure such as this. One must be prepared to deal with obstacles or issues that arise when on adventures. What makes all the difference is how you choose to tackle these obstacles during the trip. And now you ask, WHY would I do this again?
Spending time and bonding with the most important people in my life over these two weeks is not something easily achieved in our busy day to day lives. Life gets so busy, it's adventures like this that allow you to remove the noise and recognize what is truly important - family! After everything we went through, the memories and good times had will be cherished for as long as we live. We will look back on these times with fond memories and laugh, "remember when..." We bonded as a family, worked as a team and gained efficiencies that allowed us to find even more adventure and fun. It took everyone's support and effort to make this trip successful. I was very proud of my children on this trip as I witnessed a level of maturity and purpose that we don't always see day to day at home. They really stepped up to the responsibilities and efforts required to make this trip a success. We all had our responsibilities, like the crew on a ship. If one person didn't complete their tasks, it affected the rest of the team and our ability to explore and have fun that day. These interdependences allowed the kids to see there was benefit in not only owning your tasks but helping out others with their tasks to ensure the work was completed and we could move on to enjoy our time at whatever place we where at. Hopefully, sometime in your life you will choose to make an irrational decision to take the ones you love the most on a truly amazing adventure. If you try it once, there is a strong chance you will do it again! Sometimes the risks you take end up being the most cherished memories through the years. I expect this adventure will be one of many that my family reflects upon fondly over the years! Safe and happy travels... Aaron "Live Your Story" Crew😉
Awesome trip! Something to be said about spontaneity.