I live in Fairfield County CT with my husband and six month old yellow lab, Oscar. After raising kids and retiring, I decided to follow my dream and travel out west in a truck camper. With hubby’s support, we ordered a custom rig back in October 2019 and delivery was scheduled for the week of March 23, 2020. The plan was to drive out to Colorado with Oscar in our pick up truck and drop off at the dealer. My husband was going to fly out to Denver and meet us before heading out to southern Utah to go off grid. We would then continue west to California where he would fly back to the east coast and get back to his job. I would go on to visit some of my favourite west coast spots, including Santa Barbara and Laguna Beach. The plan was to stay out west a month or two before heading back home to CT. The trip was carefully planned, with campgrounds, Air BnB’s and flights all booked. It’s a well know fact that camping along the California coast requires reservations 4-6 months in advance!
Back in November (2019) when I retired, I reflected and got in touch with what brings me joy. This was not always an easy for me, especially while working and raising kids. The old saying about how it all goes so fast is just so very true. In no time at all I came up with a plan A and B. Plan A was to get a puppy and Plan B was to travel in a camper exploring National parks, nature and beautiful places. You see my thinking was that I did not want to take the trip alone, which explains plan A. I definitely got hooked while living in Laguna Beach a few years back in 2009. After the financial crisis, my husband took a new position in Newport Beach CA and we were lucky to live in the coastal town of Laguna Beach for a few years. It was during these years that we grew to love exploring the west and camping in various campers. We have owned several different types of campers over the years. I will talk about the different campers at length later in the blog. But the long and short of it is that after 4 different campers, including a 25 ft airstream, we ended up with a small “tiny house” pop-up Hallmark Ute truck camper. Campgrounds and crowded RV spots were not our thing. Perching our rig on a mountain top in Durango Colorado and watching the elk herds out our window in the morning while sipping coffee was more our speed. I couldn’t shake these wonderful experiences after moving back to the New York City area. Once you catch the bug there is no turning back!
1 Week Before Departure
On Saturday, March 14th, a week before I was to drive out west, there was a scary global event stirring and suddenly making news headlines. The Corona Virus had made it’s way to our area after the first case was discovered in Washington state. There was news of a quarantine in the town of New Rochelle, NY which is only 30 miles away from our home. The stock markets were choppy all week and suddenly my husband was working from home rather than commuting on the train through New Rochelle into NYC. With all this going on, I decided to get busy and start packing the truck. Fortunately I had already purchased most of the supplies needed for the excursion.
Into the back of the truck bed went camping equipment, generator, first aid kit, supplies, clother, dog food etc. The entire back seat was dedicated to Oscar so I had a limited amount of space in which to pack.
On Monday I kept up my routine and hiked in the morning at a local off leash trail with my dog walking buddies. A day or two later the local authorities in Weston, CT decided to close the trail to dogs because crowds of people with kids were suddenly showing up and overcrowding the trails and parking lots because the schools closed. With this news I was more determined than ever to take off and find open space for off leash hiking. You see I knew this morning hike with Oscar brought me tremendous joy and now it was taken away. On Friday March 20th, the day before we left town, I took a long morning walk in the neighborhood with Oscar on a leash. We were both sad with the recent turn of events.
Day 1
Saturday March 21, my husband, Oscar and I set off in the truck for Colorado. The traffic was light as we crossed the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and headed into PA without looking back. First stop outside the Poconos was easy breezy. The dunkin donuts had a sign stating that the bathrooms were open but food must be purchased at the drive thru only. There was even an open field next door for Oscar to stretch and do his business. Gloves and wipes in hand, we used the facilities and hit the road. Next stop, Emlenton PA! We took a slight detour off the highway looking for a park to get some air and a walk. The town was quiet but we found a park nearby. Rather than take the time to find a restroom, we went in the woods. No one was around, no harm done. Picnic lunch in the truck, back on the road, Mcdonalds pit stop, repeat. I never thought I would ever be so grateful to see those yellow arches. With most state rest stops closed we could always count on a Mcdonalds to be open somewhere along the way. I shy away from any gas station restrooms.
The skill of using the restroom with disposable gloves and chlorox wipes got easier with each try. After a few stops we got it down to a one glove exercise, using instead an elbow to open doors and hit the hand dryers. Oscar, just like a little kid, was happy to be with the two of us. He was content in the back seat with plenty of space, toys and treats to keep him occupied until the bewitching hour rolled around. Labs have a thing about their food. Oscar simply demand barks when it’s time and he is usually 10 minutes give or take from his feeding schedule. The bark is a signal for us to find an exit or feed on the go! I was thinking how great life would be if I could just bark and get a meal!450
Our truck takes diesel fuel, so finding open gas stations for trucks is never a problem. In addition to all of the many trucks on the road, I started noticing cars pulling U-haul trailers one after another. I became obsessed with these trailers and started noticing the state plates in order to figure out a trend. The plates were from all over the country (NY, PA, IL, NC, UT, CO, FL, MO, OH). I kept thinking perhaps the college students heading home? But from the look of some of the drivers, I don’t think this was the case. The number of moving trucks spotted was out of the ordinary, that’s for sure.
Finding a hotel for the night in Ohio past Columbus was not a problem with the sky rocketing vacancy rates. The hotel we called in Springfield, OH said they had a room and would wave the pet fee because they were so eager for business! We pulled into the town of Springfield and it was a ghost town. We checked in and the friendly clerk explained that there would be no breakfast or coffee except for the coffee maker in the room due to the corona virus. As we walked toward the elevator I noticed a small group of people gathered in the bar area, ignoring the social distancing rules. The pool was open with kids and families enjoying themselves. Since the restaurant was closed and we were down to PB & J sandwiches, we decided to order a pizza. The delivery was swift to the front desk and the delivery boy had the whole thing down to a science. “Mam” he said, “please stay 6 ft away. I’m going to place this pizza down. Note that the bag I’m about to take off has been only used once and will be destroyed.” My jaw dropped at the sight of this presentation. At least someone was taking this food delivery thing seriously. It felt as if we were now in the twilight zone.
Day 2
Hit the road early and Oscar got his first taste of an egg mcmuffin. Driving toward the St Louis area we hit some light snow as we continued through to Kansas. Sometime later, we stumbled upon a park to take an afternoon walk. We noticed a casino next to the park on a river. I observed a shuttle bus making the rounds, but there were no customers. The casino was obviously closed but apparently no one let the poor shuttle driver know. The town was quiet, with some people out and about. As we turned back toward the highway we saw a drive in sign “A&W all american food”. This was too interesting and nostalgic, so we ordered a couple of hot dogs and shakes, only the poor kid behind the speaker was at a loss when I asked for sauerkraut on my hot dog and a black and white shake. No sauerkraut and I had to explain the shake in much detail. All in all, the shakes and dogs were one of the highlights of our day. It was another 10 hour day of driving, we made it to Topeka, Kansas. Again, finding a room took zero effort. This time, the hotel’s manager had informed us that he had a skeleton crew on board because he had just fired all of the other employees. Oh, and since the restaurant was closed, we could pick up a boxed breakfast to go on our way out in the morning! On my way to the ice machine I bumped into 2 other women with their ice buckets. We all politely stayed our distance away from each other as we filled our ice buckets with humorous exchanges about the crazy times. My only regret that night was watching too much CNN. The reported increase in cases and updates made me more anxious and as a result had trouble sleeping. Oscar on the other hand, was enjoying his second night in a hotel with all the doggy comforts of home!
Day 3
Kansas is a long long state, especially with all the barbecue joints closed. There was dense fog on the road that morning and my husband had no problem going 75mph with limited visibility. After pleading a few times to pull over, I came up with this elaborate plan to start a blog and I wanted to get it set up in order to start typing along the way. So much to my amazement, we pulled over somewhere in the middle of Kansas and sat in the parking lot at a Pizza/breakfast/gas station joint while I researched how to set up a blog. The fog lifted and we hit the road! At the next Mcdonalds stop, the young high school girl behind the counter spoke about how sad it was that she may not graduate HS. Many of her friends were in the same situation. Their future was unknown. The rest of the drive into CO was a breeze. Denver airport was our first stop to pick up a rental car. The Hertz clerk informed us that she was one of the lucky ones still employed after they just laid off 90% of the employees. There was a sign outside the airport that read “We’ll Get Through This Together”.
Day 4
With the 2 hour time difference, I was up at 5am and decided to head over to the Whole Foods store at 7am to join all the older folks that were able to shop an hour early. To my surprise, there were many more shoppers with masks and gloves than back in the CT Whole Foods store. I ended up buying some weird salad dressings and odd drinks because they were out of so many items. But I was able to fill the cart with food to last at least a couple of weeks.
Emptied and cleaned the truck, cooked a delicious shrimp scampi dinner and enjoyed walks in the park with the magical snow covered mountain backdrop. Happy, feeling safe and sound.
Day 5
As planned, we dropped the truck off the next morning on schedule and were a bit alarmed to see the camper sitting in the shop with much more work needed before we could possibly take delivery. All we could do is trust the process, go home and wait. The next day turned out to be the day the state of Colorado issued a shelter in place! The Hallmark people sent us an email saying they would do their best, fingers crossed! OMG, there was a strong chance we drove all the way out to Colorado and may not take delivery of our camper that we ordered back in October. The reality set in and there was not much we could do but wait and wait some more.
Day 6
We got word the next day (one day later than scheduled) that the Hallmark team was on it and we could take delivery Friday afternoon! Yay!! We were over the top excited. A day of rest and more walks in the park with Oscar. This morning during our walk I noticed a camper parked out on the street adjacent to the park. It was gone in the late morning. The state of Colorado just ordered a “shelter in place” so the area is going to get even quieter over the next few days.
We are going to bring the camper home tomorrow to our air bnb house, load up the supplies, check the systems and head out to Southern California through southern Utah and Nevada. The drive requires one or two overnights, but with the camper, we can simply pull over and be self sufficient (Boondock). If the sun is shining, our solar will provide more than enough power. My 79 year old mother in law lives alone in CA, so we want to be able to support/help her. Even though we are both healthy, we think it is wise to self quarantine 14 days before visiting with her, so we will stay put in an air bnb close by before risking her health. At the very least we will be able to give her some comfort, shop and cook during our stay. My husband can work remotely from the air bnb house, just as he can from anywhere with wifi. Oscar will adjust to a new neighborhood walk and we will all be OK.
Our trip west and camping plans are not at all what we had envisioned, but we are taking it one day at a time during these unprecedented times. Who knows when we will be able to travel by plane out to CA to visit with my mother-in-law. She was so very sad when we told her a few weeks ago that we most likely couldn’t travel for a long time. She will be thrilled when she hears the news that we are on our way!
Day 7
The Hallmark team delivered and after spending most of the day going over the systems and checklist, we drove away in a mini Colorado snow storm! Oscar was happy too hanging out with the Hallmark folks, getting much needed attention. It was a long day. We were thrilled to have the camper after a long journey and much angst.
Day 8
A beautiful warm sunny day! Perfect for packing up the camper and getting familiar with the systems. I basically have to figure out where to put stuff. Oscar takes over the entire back seat area of the cab, so that’s out. Just as in a tiny house, there is not a lot of storage room. I decided to pack all the clothes( except for 2 days overnight bag) on the roof rack to save space. The interior upper cabinets are roomy enough for the kitchen glasses, dishes and dry food. But other than the under bed storage, there is not room for supplies. We added two storage boxes at the rear. One holds the generator, leveling blocks and cords. I’m not allowed to store anything in the other box. My husband is getting territorial and wants to keep that space for himself.
The plan is for each of us to keep a small duffle bag with clothes on the dinette bench while we are underway and then move them to the bed while we are camped and the roof is up. At night, the bags get moved back to the dinette. It’s sounds like a lot of work, but nothing except the blankets and pillows can be left on the bed when the roof is in the down position. This tiny house is going to get some getting used to!
As we get familiar with our new set up, of course mistakes were made. Our roof has 4 panels of solar, an AC unit and a Thule basket rack. The Hallmark guys told us the roof was strong enough to stand on, which we did while tying down the duffels on the rack. We finished with the roof and packed the upper kitchen cabinets with tons of food and canned goods. Before dark I wanted to poke around in the camper and add a few things before take off in the morning. Only thing was, the roof would not go up! Too much weight, especially in the cabinets. I vaguely heard the Hallmark guy’s mention the max weight aprox 40lbs. Could I have bought that much food? Well my panic buying at whole foods didn’t help. What if we decide to stay off the grid in Utah for a longer time? At least we figured this out ahead of time. We were able to easily reduce the weight both on the rack and inside and then lift off! Phew. Good to iron out all the quirks before hitting the road.
Day 9
Oscar knows something is up with all the packing this morning. He now has less room in the back of the cab too. We had to store a bucket of tools/misc that were heavy for the roof. But he seems content in his new nest as we head west outside of Denver passing through the stunning Rocky Mountains. Traffic does not seem as light it would be with the state shelter in place. For lunch, we pulled into a small park at Beaver Creek with a view of an empty ski chair lift through our camper window. March in Beaver Creek with an abundance of snow, but no skiers in sight. The resort parking lots had only shuttle buses parked in rows one after another. Our first roadside stop in the camper. So great to get some air without having to touch anything. Yummy Caesar salad with chicken, bathroom breaks and a walk in the park.
My turn to drive. My husband drove a couple of hours to Beaver Creek and so I took over to give him a break. Driving up, down and through the mountain pass on I70 was delightful, not stressful at all! In the past, driving some of the other campers, especially the airstream, I often experienced sweaty palms as I held on tight to the wheel. The truck drives almost as if nothing is on it all all. Steady as a rock. So far so good. Loving the drive with the Hallmark Ute.
Stayed overnight in a KOA in Green River Utah. Basically a parking lot for overnighters. KOA’s are great when you are simply passing through and want a safe place to spend the night! The first night’s sleep was as cozy as expected. We learned to dance around each other before turning in, learning how to maneuver around each other and of course Oscar, on the floor. I bought a fluffy mat to put down and he seemed perfectly content, knowing we were sleeping only a few feet away.
Day 10
The most beautiful, blue sky perfect day of all. Nothing but incredible red rock views ahead. We headed off the main route to Capital Reef National Park, one of the most incredible parks to witness. For lunch, we found a trail head and sat inside the camper with with the top up, enjoying our sandwiches while sitting at the dinette enjoying the spectacular canyon views. One wonderful spot after another all day. Oscar even got a romp in the snow as the elevation changed as we got closer to the AZ border.
Finally, just before sunset, we made it to our destination just over the state line in Nevada. We made arrangements to stay on a donkey farm a few miles off the highway an hour north of Las Vegas. Of course we didn’t know what to expect after signing up on the “Boondockers welcome” site. What a nice surprise! The host and his wife could not have been nicer and showed us around the farm, donkeys, horses, dogs and a rooster! Wow, what an amazing experience. Turns out the host used to live in Laguna Beach Ca, so we had lots in common minus the donkeys! Tomorrow we head to Laguna Beach, where we will pull into our happy place, Laguna Beach CA and hunker down for a month or so. The air bnb house we rented is a few blocks away from where we once lived, so it will be almost like going home after all. One day at a time, that’s how we are rolling.
Day 11
I woke to the sounds of the rooster out back and sprang out of bed early, excited to reach our destination in California today. An hour later we pulled into Las Vegas and were amazed to see the deserted sin city strip. Thinking back to the woman at the KOA in Utah who asked if CT was near NY? Even scarier, about the host at the donkey farm that reached out his hand to shake as we stepped back several feet. (He said that he didn’t believe in all that nonsense about the Corona virus.) Thinking about all of the precautions we took at every gas station across the country, using gloves and wipes. The public rest stops outside Las Vegas heading west were open, unlike the public rest stops we passed 11 days ago back east. We were so very grateful to have our very own facilities and only stopped to walk Oscar and take breaks in our “tiny house”. The girl behind the counter at the In n Out Burger drive thru said “be safe” as we pulled away outside of Los Angeles. NPR live keeps us posted as we listen to the worsening conditions across the states and the world. The spread of the Corona Virus is a pandemic and one that will change our lives forever. Never will we forget our road trip in March 2020.
As we turned off the freeway and headed down Laguna Canyon Road, we thought the town appeared bustling with lots of people walking around. The only difference was the yellow tape blocking entrance to the beaches. The weather was as perfect as could be. It felt surreal to be in paradise with the Corona virus spreading all over the country.
The little cottage we rented for a month (or longer) is adorable. After emptying the camper and settling in, I left the french door open to the front courtyard. Oscar kept standing in the house, looking toward the yard, looking at the opening, then looking back at me as if to say “can I go outside”. He was so confused to see the door constantly opened to the outside. Yes, this is callled paradise Oscar! I took him for a walk around the neighborhood and around the corner, we stopped dead in our tracks. With cheerful music playing, a dozen or so adults were in the street having a “happy hour” standing a distance apart from one another with plastic wine glasses in hand. Attitude is everything.