For years, Kelly and I have discussed trying another city besides DC. Last summer, we decided that 2019 was going to be the year of the move. We started out with a list of probably 8-10 cities that we thought we would like, most of which at least one of us hadn’t spent much time in. In the end, to break the analysis paralysis, we settled on Seattle as our destination. Since neither of us could imagine George (our dog) either in the cargo-hold of an airplane, or maintaining his chill for 6 hours on a full airplane, we decided that a road trip was the best option. So, at the end of May, we packed our apartment into a moving pod, and all our things that we’d need for the next 2+ months into the car and headed west.
We ended up leaving on a Monday, knowing that we needed to get from DC to Sedona, AZ by Friday for our friends’ wedding. We stopped in Nashville, TN and Oklahoma City on the way.
We made it to Santa Fe by Wednesday evening, glad to have a place to stay for two nights, and a full day to explore the town. Kelly found us a great boutique hotel. Our room had it’s own private patio and a wood-burning fireplace. We ate some great food and took George on a mid-day hike into the hills outside Santa Fe. Unfortunately the hike ended up being too rough on his paws, so he was out-of-commission for hikes the rest of the trip.
Friday morning, after a breakfast burrito of course, we left Santa Fe to drive to Sedona, AZ for Carrie and Aaron’s wedding. We made a quick stop in Petrified Forest National Park, as it was right off the Interstate. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to drive through the whole park, but were able to make a few stops at lookouts to see the Painted Hills section of the park.
We had a fantastic weekend exploring Sedona with friends, staying in an AirBnB with five other friends. On Saturday morning before the wedding, a group of us took a Jeep tour up into the hills outside Sedona. This was a great way to see the area and to learn about the history of the town from our drivers.
Sunday after the wedding, we grabbed lunch with some friends and then headed up to see the Grand Canyon on our way into Utah.
In Utah, we found stellar camp site on BLM land in Valley of the Gods. It was essentially a dirt road off the highway with many turn outs where one can setup a tent. Since it was a Sunday night, we were some of the only people out there. It ended up being some of the darkest night skies we’d ever seen!
The following morning, we woke up, made breakfast, and then continued down the rest of the road through Valley of the Gods. From there we slowly made our way to Moab, stopping at Natural Bridges National Forest and Bears Ears on the way. Once in Moab, we checked into our AirBnB, dropped of the dog, and then headed into Canyonlands National Park for the evening. The next morning we took a driving tour of Arches National Park on our way out of Moab. Both of these parks are ones that I want to spend a lot more time in!
From Arches NP, we drove up through Salt Lake City, stopping in the city for a late lunch, and then into the Sawtooth National Forest in southeastern Idaho for more free camping. We ended up finding a decent camp spot away from other people. Not quite as picturesque as two nights before, but still a great place to camp.
The next morning, after a nice, peaceful, night sleeping in the woods, we packed up and drove to Bend, OR, where we had booked an AirBnB for three nights. Our good friend Mike Foster also happened to be in the area, driving through NorCal and Oregon with his girlfriend Kat, friend Sam, and two dogs. They ended up camping in our AirBnb driveway in Bend and taking us sport climbing in nearby Smith Rock State Park. Unfortunately (or not, depending on your perspective) the back to my film camera popped open when we were hiking out of Smith Rock, so I ended up with some pretty psychedelic photos.
Saturday morning we went to an outdoor store to buy a Washington State Atlas, and left Bend to make the final push into our new home state of Washington! Since we didn’t have a booked place to stay on Saturday night, we decided to avoid the interstate and use our new map to take the small highways up into Washington. We found a nice place to camp near Mount Saint Hellens in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest along a forest service road, right next to a bubbling brook.
Finally, on Sunday morning, we made the last little push into Seattle, stopping to drive through Mount Rainier National Park along the way. Our short-term rental didn’t start until Tuesday, so we stayed in a hotel room for two nights, and were fortunate to have our friends Sean and Joanna willing to cook not one, but two nights of welcome dinners for us! I think we’re really going to like it here!
