Post - The Hopeful Life

We decided to start the road trip from Redding, California up to Alaska by first stopping in McCloud. My partner, Wes, and his family have a cabin there and since I have never visited any of the Pacific North West area, it seemed like a great idea. And it was. The cabin was really cute, as was the town, and we were lucky to be able to spend a couple extra days with his family there. Neat little place. I even was privileged enough to hang out with “Randy Legend”, aka Wes’ Uncle. Check out Siskiyou Brew Works for more on that subject.

Thursday rolled around and it was time to head up to Bend, Oregon to really start our adventure. We were excited, but also a little nervous since it was borderline blizzard conditions at the pass from McCloud to I-5. There were truckers pulled over chaining up, but the roads weren’t that bad and we made it through easily.

Thank goodness for Bill Hall’s Mobile RV Service!

The drive through Oregon to Bend was beautiful. We arrived at the campground around 5pm and successfully set up the fifth wheel fairly quickly. However, there was a small mishap where I managed to hook the heel loop of my Keen hiking boot onto the front hook of the opposite shoe, giving the impression that I was casually crossing my legs at the ankle. Unfortunately, this happened as I was stepping out of the F-250 and I fell hard with my hands in my pocket on the pavement. Laughing hysterically with me, Wes came over and asked what I was doing since he didn’t see the whole thing, and heroically unhooked my boots from one another. The bruise was huge. Clearly, things were going well, but I will admit, I was getting a bit hangry after driving all day and not eating.

I went into the trailer to turn on the heater while Wes was finishing hooking up the water and such. All of the sudden, the heater started making a loud high-pitched squeal intermittently. We also noticed that it was not heating up at all, only blowing cold air from the vents. We turned it on and off a few times to see if it would work properly, but it didn’t.

Okay. Let’s try to light the small propane heater…nope. Wes goes out to check the propane and it is clearly leaking. We have to shut it off. Well, at least the electric is working. Yes, but I cannot make dinner without propane and apparently the refrigerator is not working either. It’s okay because we have a small space heater under the bed. Turns out, it’s from 1901. I think it is going to catch the trailer on fire.

So, we have electric (but no fridge). Check. We have water (cold). Check. We have sewer (I think). Check. It is going to be 24 degrees tonight so let’s go into Bend, which is only 20 minutes away, and grab a couple space heaters and some dinner. We can deal with the rest tomorrow. Perfect. It is already 8pm when we head into Bend and not even a quarter mile down the road there was an accident of some sort and we get rerouted, which adds another 25 minutes onto our trip. “Babe, it is okay, it could be worse, could be raining right?” Well it started to rain.

We arrive at Target at 9pm and to our astonishment they do not have any space heaters. Home Depot is right across the street, they will have some. Nope. To set the scene, at this point in time, Hurricane Hope, (without booze surprisingly), is in no mood to be told that space heaters are now not available in two locations where space heaters were expected to be found. Her lips curled into an even meaner look than the normal resting bitch face. Let’s just eat. Wes, being the incredibly patient and tolerant man that he is, looks up Walmart and notices they are open 24 hours. There is a McDonalds nearby, I’m over it. I tell Wes to order me a 10-piece chicken nugget with a coke and honey mustard while I use the bathroom. Apparently, I did not specifically say, “fries” or “meal”, so I ended up with neither. That was a mistake on both of our parts. Did I mention that I was hangry? While at the Mickey D’s, I decided I should call Walmart to make sure they had space heaters beforehand and after 20 minutes of elevator music, the sweet lady told me that they did not have any in stock. Who knew that in Oregon you couldn’t find a space heater in March?

Hurricane Hope was on the brink of losing it. We got into the truck and she said, “I am about to lose it”, with the conviction of a psycho killer. Wes said very sweetly, “Okay we can go back to camp, but we need to get fuel first.” Okay, fine. We pull into the Chevron and the pump says “Closed”. She starts laughing manically. We pass a second gas station…clearly closed at 11pm. Find a third one that is thankfully open, but the spot we saw to turn in says boldly “DO NOT ENTER”. In an effort to obey the law, we pass it, make the next left, and pull into a DEAD-END parking lot to turn around. “WHERE IN THE F*** ARE WE?!”, Hurricane Hope exclaims. She slams it into reverse rather aggressively, heads back to the light and around the block to enter the gas station cursing all the way there. Wes calmly gets out to give the attendant his card and chit chats with her as she fuels for us. I try to relax on the 45-minute ride back to the park in silence. When we arrive back I apologize for my (Hurricane Hope’s) freak out. Wes says that it is understandable and no big deal because he was upset too. Clearly. I don’t deserve him.

We pile 8 blankets on the bed and turn the barely functioning space heater on. That helped. We somehow manage to still love each other and put on our beanies before falling asleep. The high was 24 degrees, so obviously it was fine.

Well rewarded at Crux Fermentation Project.

Sasquatch Golden Ale in Sasquatch country.

The next morning proved to be better. I dressed under the covers and we asked the receptionist at Bend/Sisters Garden RV Park for a suggestion and she pointed us to Bill. He showed up in 20 minutes and over the next two hours replaced our motor for the furnace, fixed numerous things in the refrigerator, and replaced the regulator valve and hoses for the propane. Yes! Now we are set. Breweries here we come!