As faithful dog parents our trip to Washington began months before we actually hit the road. We follow the rule of "if our dogs aren't welcome, we ain't going!" We weren't going to fly or board them for one entire month. We did the next best thing. We planned a camping trip around the drive up to see my husband's gramma.
We packed up the trailer and the truck full of everything a dog parent would need for one month. All was perfect. We drove up the 5 freeway and rested in a quaint town called Los Banos, CA.
Back on the road, no stopping until we reached |
| Senior dog. |
Redding CA, except of course pee brakes. One of us, had the runs. Little old man. How do you say no to this face. I never could. Rest in peace my love.
Here is where it gets sticky. You don't realize how ill equipped you are until it's too late. Driving the 5 fwy from Redding to Oregon is very mountainy. Many different elevations and our F150 was struggling.
We had to pull over passing Whiskeytown Lake to let the truck cool off before we got to our Campground at Lewiston Valley. Which by the way I highly recommend a stay here, very laid back and chill. 40 gallons times eight pounds each gallon equals hundreds of pounds of extra weight for an up hill drive with a small engine ecoboost or not.
It was a very wonderful two weeks at our next campground on Trinity Lake. No troubles with the truck anymore, but we did have a choice to make. Go back the way we came or continue straight up through the mountain road, Hwy 3 and hope for the best.
Neither of us had been that way before, we asked a few people and they were no help. We did the most logical thing and went back how we came, at least this time, we emptied the fresh water tank and were at more of a descent until we passed Redding.
From here on out, both of us clutching our seats but staying quiet as to not scare one another. 102° outside, we can't us the A/C, windows down and hot air blowing at us. The transmission oil temperature kept creeping up. There is nowhere to pull over at times. We prayed for a safe place to pull over. We found one, and again we pulled over in Weed, California because well, it's a fun little place.
We managed to slowly drive into Oregon. We decided to find a campground in Ashland, Or. We knew we couldn't go on like this. Either we had to cut the trip or buy a new truck. We didn't want to disappoint gramma, so we went to went to Crater Lake Ford in Medford, trailer in tow.
The transmission was shot. There wasn't too many options with the truck shortage going on around the country but we found a 2019 F250 Superduty Diesel truck. Wow this thing roared. It was clean, it was beautiful and it was ours! Meant to haul a house. It was a scorching day, 102°, thanks to the very sweet salesmen who helped us move all our stuff from our old truck to the new one.
Ah what a relief, air conditioning! And, per my husband, it was as if we weren't towing anything behind us. He could not feel the trailer behind us in this truck. What a difference. Smooth sailing from here to Grammas in Washinton. But not before stopping at the Rogue River for a few days to catch our breath and just relax for a moment. Also, one of us had to work.
Happy Camper! Dog enjoying air conditioning.
Let this be a cautionary tale, it's one thing to tow around the city. But really think twice before you buy a camper and make sure your truck can handle it. We encountered more than one 8% grade out there. I really cringe when I see an SUV towing a full-size camper trailer. And don't get me started on the Ford Lightning... Not gonna cut it folks. Better to have it and not need it in this case.
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