Oregon North to South

NEW TIRES! With a little bodywork done in Calgary to trim back the wheel wells and fenders our new 35” Mud Terrains look and work great! Little did we know we would also find “Carl” in Vancouver, WA to do a great alignment job, replace some bushings on the front end, and just next door John finally got something he has been hankering for. A new exhaust system! Known as “the pipe” this is the largest, shiniest exhaust pipe I have ever seen. But now Tonto runs and sounds great! Just over the hum of the new tire tread you can really hear the turbo wind up, and then with increased air flow from “the pipe” we can keep the engine temperature down and really get up those pesky mountain passes on the freeway! Can’t wait to see what it will climb off-road. Thanks to Pat and Michelle for putting up with us, Lobo and some serious car-talk for two days!

After a too-quick stopover in Portland to see friend Sadie Carney, and cousin Meredith Theis, we headed to the outdoor sportsmen-uh, persons mecca- Hood River. After finding a beautiful spot at Bitteroot Farm with John and Marcie Helleburg, we went for a sunset hike up ‘Sincline Trail’. This is a special memory for the people we were with, but also because it really felt like the first time we had seen anything but rain since a few hours up on the Olympic peninsula! After some world-class mountain biking, and arts fair, some shopping, and food we headed south again. We soon discovered that traveling north to south in Oregon can be entirely done on National Forest land. Our favorite for views (See the video of Tonto spinning-up the new 35’s in the snow at Mt Hood!!) and boondocking!

As always, we look at the map and pick a place. Anything that says hot springs is worth a look. Unfortunately last night’s boondock required a swim across a river…it didn’t happen. Lucky for us, John and Marcie tipped us onto biking the Mackenzie River Trail, and it “ends” at a great hot springs resort! We’ve enjoyed a FULL 6hr day of shredding up and down a smooth running trail along the river, through lava fields and shrouded with the super green northwest rainforest and rewarded ourselves with a night here to plug in the van, eat ice cream, and soak in the hot pools!

Northwest Passage

As we worked our way towards Salmon Arm we were still in awe of the green, lush, woods that touched the wide and deep glacial lakes all around. Tonto found its way to Paul and Jill Dixon’s driveway and after only two nights, a bike ride, a hike in the rainy woods, a stroll down main street, and a game called “Battle of the Sexes” (the girls won both games!) we felt right at home in Salmon Arm.

Then we followed Paul and Rachael through the dry hills of Kamloops and on south to the famous Allison Lake. The family history on this lake is incredible from both sides. The Dixons and the Stouts have looked under hoods, built roofs over their heads and dreamed by wood-burning stoves here for over 40 years. Susan’s grandparents ran a dude ranch at the end of the lake and though the original ranch is gone, many family members have a piece of the land with cottages fashioned after the original buildings. Their cottage has been in Mark’s family for over 40 years, and here with the whole Dixon clan we got to live close to the land; picking vegetables from the garden, cutting firewood from high in the forest, shaping wooden kayak paddles with our hands in the workshop, fixing stuff on the truck by committee. I was so looking forward to seeing the place where Claire had grown up and Kees had so recently enjoyed and it didn’t disappoint. Paul had been telling me he would take me barefooting and within minutes of arriving, and the sky clearing of rain, I donned the dry suit and went at it. At times I felt like I had an ice cream headache (due to the 45F temp and constant spray in the face), at times I thought my eyelids were going to rip off in a crash, but it was a pure rush. After another biking adventure and a sad farewell Tonto hit the road toward Vancouver.

On the way we spent one night boondock-camped high on a remote mountain dirt road. In Vancouver we caught up with my cousins Thomas, Francesca and Nick. It was a very different kind of campsite than we have had before – a back alley in a very hip part of a big city. We spent a couple days catching up with friends and family and stretching our legs for runs, and more board games!

One of the best things about traveling in Tonto, is that at the start of a day we may have only a general idea of direction but really no idea of where we are going until something on the map catches our interest. We knew we had to head south to escape the cold weather that was coming down the west coast, to find our new tires (more later) and to meet up with more friends! But first with a few days to kill we decided to head out to the Olympic peninsula and it didn’t disappoint. After a short stop in a surf shop we headed for the coast. In fact it was Cape Flattery – the most northwest point in the lower 48!! So now we can say that Tonto has really been east, south, north and west!

The main goal we have these days is to get new tires for Tonto, and since we won a set of free tires in the sportsmobile rally in July actually getting the tires has been some sort of goose chase. John has been really tough about getting on the phone with people and hunting down the supply chain so that FINALLY we will be getting our tires in Portland, Oregon. We have opted for the 35” BF Goodrich Mud Terrains – hopefully to keep the dust down when we are traveling through the desert climates and since they run with lower tire pressure we might be able to make it across beaches easier and have a smoother ride. And they look great.