As with Mordor, one does not simply walk in to the RV mechanics'

 I came into this entire situation knowing that there was a great deal that I didn't know.  I knew that I didn't have a functional knowledge of how to work every system in the operation of an RV-style vehicle.  I've made progress on a lot of it, and for the most part it is all under control.  I also knew that I was operating from behind on mechanical issues, which was fine to me.  That's why you have van doctors, right?  So you might think. If you were to think that, you would be, like myself, sadly mistaken.  Apparently my contractual obligation window sticker was a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy.  With regards to the van doctor, one does not simply walk in.

Mortal Peril: Driving The Titsworth Through Stevens Pass

I took The Titsworth to the van doctor this morning.  "Well that's strange, didn't the van just get a doctor's visit recently?" you may ask yourself.  You would be correct if you have made this connection, but today's visit is equal parts prep for a trip for my birthday next week and reaction to the trip we took just after the repair trip that I last wrote about.  What did the van do in between you might ask?  Sitting.  Lots of sitting.  We are part time RV types ya know.

(it makes sense to jump here to keep the main story all together. Do it. You know you want to.)

Catching Up: What has The Titsworth been up to?

 The Ballad of Left Elk and Right Elk was so epic that it needed to breathe. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Looking at the activity for that post, I can tell that both of you enjoyed it mightily.  Related to The Ballad, in spite of what I might have insinuated, Sir David Attenborough's new joint has nothing to do with my story.  Sadly.  It was surely going to be my ticket out of obscurity into the harsh lights of fame and fortune.  Or something.  

Realistically, on top of sheer laziness (which is going to continue to be a challenge for something I'm just doing for the fun of it), Laurie and I had a bout of concern as COVID touched as close as hit has done up to this point.  We've been careful enough that "as close as it has come" equates to essentially a tertiary level of possible exposure to me and a secondary level for Laurie.  It's all good and everyone is clear, but one worries.  So, let us catch up on what has been happening with The Titsworth.

Titsworth Tales: Stories From The Road (Episode 1 - The Ballad of Left Elk and RIght Elk)

 Joining Sir David Attenborough (RIP Boaty McBoatface) already in progress:  The cows are attended on this plain by the dominant bull elk.  For clarity as the story unfolds, we will call him Right Elk.  Right Elk is happy.  We can count at least 8 cows in his group.  A young elk enters the picture.  He is hopeful that at the very least Right Elk will share.  The young elk (whom we shall call Left Elk for clarity) is bugling his heart out.  Combined with the visual, it is a lonely, sad song.  Right Elk is not at all concerned with the new arrival, the pretender to the throne.  His concern levels are such that he is stood over to the right of our plain chewing on grass.

As well, the cows have taken no notice of Left Elk.  Life on the right side of the plain is the same as it ever has been.  Safe.  Secure.  Under the complete control of Right Elk.  Left Elk continues raising a ruckus... hopeful that he will woo some of the cows to his side of the plain.  He tries at the top of a hill.  He tries in a little valley at the foot of the hill.  He tries close to the bank of the stream that runs through the plain.  He decides that maybe he didn't say the right things from the crest of the hill, so he tries again.  Still no cows have taken notice.  Neither has Right Elk.  

A COVID Home Companion: The Maiden Voyage of The Titsworth (Part II , Day VII Arrival and Docking)

 When last we spoke, The Titsworth was moored at Wolf Lodge Campground outside of Couer d"Alene, Idaho.  Couer d'Alene essentially sits on the Idaho/Washington border so the final leg of the trip was essentially the width of Washington and around Lake Washington to home.  As we were leaving the campground and getting in to the swing of another travel day, we passed a swimming area on a river that was clearly visible from I-90.  This kind of sparked a desire to swim (which we had not even done once during the trip despite plans to have done so).  This would prove to be the largest challenge of the day.  

Having passed up the opportunity to stop and swim (looking back memory suggests that the "swimmin hole" was on Banks Lake, but I didn't specifically note it down, so it could be anything), we were well on our way with the co-pilot scanning ahead for potential destinations to access water at least a little bit.  Beyond that – to which we will return in a moment – it bears noting as this is a blog concerning the driving and use of an RV van that we should speak about the actual driving of the van instead of the quest for swimming. 

 For the first time in several days, there was an amount of challenge in the actual driving of the van during the morning time as we passed through several wind farm areas.  It turns out that they put those things in places for a reason.  Being an old hand at the breezes by now, I managed to minimize the substantial cross breezes for the most part with the combination of wind from semis and cross breeze in combination providing the biggest challenge.  

A COVID Home Companion: The Maiden Voyage of The Titsworth (Part II, Day VI - The Long Voyage Home)

 Hello, I know it has been a couple days since this really should have happened, but you see, it's been smoky here and I just couldn't see my ass doing it.  Literally.  At least that makes a good story.  The sad reality is that ultimately the reality of these last two days of the trip is much less interesting.  By design, we were splitting the drive into two days, but in all other ways driving it straight through.

When last you saw us, we were staying the night at Bakers Hole Campground following a last minute change due to overbooking.  Our story resumes here.  748 miles and two days from home.  The adventure started in the middle of the night on this particular leg.  As we were trying to stretch mileage, we were using less a/c and had rolled the windows down.  File this away.  As it was, we gassed up leaving West Yellowstone in preparation for the next morning [ed. note, previously I said that you could have seen us on a live stream through West Yellowstone, but in actuality the stream is from Jackson Hole.  Speaking of Jackson Hole, there is a stretch of land heading out of town that is supposed to be Elk Central.  We have been there 4 times and never seen elk one.  Not even this time when we watched the compelling Ballad of Left Elk and Right Elk.].  Seeing as how we were heading to our next campground in Couer d'Alene, ID (6 hours, 42 minutes and 4 gas stops), we were going to head out fairly early in the morning.  But first.

For the most part, we both had a restful night of sleep.  Perhaps this was in part due to the cryosleep situation that we managed to achieve in the van through the genius lack of rolling up the windows.  When I say cryosleep, I am only marginally exaggerating.  I even hiked around the campground looking for sun in order to thaw out a little.  This, being self inflicted, isn't even the most noteworthy part of our Bakers Hole experience.

A COVID Home Companion: The Maiden Voyage of The Titsworth (Part II, Day V - The Long Journey Home)

 While the entire trip was essentially "for" us, we had built in a day specifically for us to do things specifically for us.  This day was that day.  Leaving our Harvest Host, we headed up to the Grand Tetons for a short amount of time to be followed up by a visit through the west side of Yellowstone.  The total amount of driving was our shortest day in terms of distance between one campsite and another although the time invested was going to be significantly longer.  It had been years since I had been through the Tetons (did I mention at any point yet that the Tetons are my favorite?) so I was quite excited.  It's sort of funny, I think... I prefer the Tetons but appreciate Yellowstone while I think Laurie would tell you that she prefers Yellowstone but appreciates the Tetons, so the day was a win-win.

The Plan for the day was a 185-mile drive (short!) from Freedom, ID to Rainbow Point Campground.  Essentially.  In a somewhat amusing twist, I guess, it wasn't to be that easy, but we'll get to that soon enough.  Probably the most notable part of the drive itself is this: had you, not on the drive at all, known exactly when we would have been passing through West Yellowstone, you could have seen us on The Internet... YouTube specifically.  My isolation experience has introduced me to the wonderful world of live cameras on YouTube.  I have spent a great deal of time watching Great Lakes cargo ships, the Washington State Ferry Terminal at Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, and a camera that inexplicably points in the general direction of the town square in West Yellowstone.  If you've been there before, the camera points roughly in the direction of the antler arch.  It also shows the left turn out of town towards the National Parks, which is where you could have seen us.  You know, if you knew when to look for us.