Boise Or Bust!

Chapter Thirteen

It was cold, our batteries were dead and our minds were in panic mode as we mentally tried to calculate the plan if the Pilot wouldn’t start.

What would we do?

It was one of those situations that could easily go either way and we were somewhat reluctant to know the answer, fearing the worst as we stood there in the freezing temperatures.

The key fob worked and the doors unlocked so that had to be a good sign right?

Our movements were slow as we wobbled around like oversized marshmallows beneath the many layers of clothing as we struggled to maintain body heat. Looking somewhat like Rudolf with our frozen red noses, our breath formed tiny clouds in front of us as we loaded the boys into the Pilot and out of the frost bitten air.

Necessity urged us onward and we sat in the front seats, pausing long enough to take a deep breath, sending up a silent prayer.

Please start.

Seconds later, with a simple press of a button, to our absolute relief the Pilot fired right up with no issue.

Thank you!

We blasted the heater in a desperate attempt to thaw out our frigid digits as we turned our thoughts to the day ahead, forming a new plan.

By now we were getting rather good as the whole thinking on the fly and taking whatever life threw at us in stride. Of course that’s not to say we weren’t stressed as we dodged curveball after curveball. I liked to think that all the chaos added character and in some ways, it made us appreciate the calm that followed that much more.

If nothing else, our adventure had taught us that plans don’t always work out and sometimes that was a good thing. Despite being extremely overwhelmed at times, we were learning that everything happened for a reason and if we were being honest, some of our best memories came from failed plans.

Our plan for the day was making the short drive to Boise to check out the next State Capitol Building but with dead batteries in Little Geo we would have to modify that plan just a little and find a place to hook up in the hopes of replenishing the dead batteries.

Still, the Pilot starting was a huge victory and that one little hiccup didn’t mess with our plan too much so we left the boys and Crixus in the Pilot to continue defrosting while we got Little Geo ready to get underway.

First things first, get that tongue jack up so we could drive out of the shadow of the Walmart building where we hoped the solar panels on the trailer roof would soak up some sunshine and help the dead battery situation out a little.

We realized very quickly that there was a flaw in that plan when we remembered that the tongue jack was electric and tied directly into the battery bank on Little Geo. Yes, you know, the DEAD battery bank.

Great. Just great.

It took awhile but we eventually we discovered that there was a manual override and we happened to have a tire jack that fit the bolt size perfectly!

Finally! Things were starting to look up.

I set about manually cranking the tongue jack up and it was oddly satisfying watching it retract higher and higher, the effort warming me from the inside out.

With the tongue jack finally retracted we moved our little home on wheels to the sunny side of the building to soak up some energy while we plotted the route to the States Capitol.

It was Boise or bust!

We headed out onto the I84 West and drove the very brief and uneventful drive to Boise in record time and a little over an hour later we pulled into the Boise Riverside RV Park and parked off to the side of the entrance to get checked in.

As Nick walked up to the front office, the door suddenly flew open and he was immediately met with the most unexpected unwelcome wagon ever as the office clerk yelled angrily at him to stay back and to not come any closer.

It was another reminder that the pandemic continued to rage on as even as we kept to our isolated traveling bubble but the manor in which we were reminded came as a bit of a shock. We were somewhat sheltered in our little home on wheels and rarely saw any other people unless we were at a store for a resupply so it was a little unsettling being greeted in such a way.

Nick followed the directions that were forcefully barked through the closed door as they checked on our reservation in a bizarre in person, through the door, yelled conversation over the phone.

If the tone of the whole ordeal wasn’t threaded with so much fear we might have laughed out loud at the way the situation was being played out. It was absurd, but at the end of the day who were we to judge the fear and precaution of a person who was just trying to get by in an uncertain world riddled with rumor and speculation.

When we checked in on the news periodically, the information surrounding the virus was still very vague and fear based. Nobody knew what was going on, even weeks later and the world continued its downward spiral in panic as whispers and rumors continued to rule popular opinion.

So if the RV office decided it was best to approach the situation with a hostile and fearful attitude on the phone through a closed door, we would respect that and keep our distance, hopefully alleviating some of their stress. All we wanted was a safe place to drop Little Geo so the batteries could recharge and so we gladly jumped through the hoops to accomplish that task.

Once we had been given directions to our site for the night we carefully made our way around the very crowded RV park before parking in our pull through site.

The short one hour drive hadn’t been long enough to recharge Little Geo’s batteries, so once again we had to use the tire jack to manually crank the lifeless electric jack down to be able to unhook the trailer. Once the tire chocks were in place we connected the surge protector and plugged Little Geo into power and prayed to the electricity gods that with time it would be enough to bring the double 6v batteries back to life.

With nothing left to do but wait, we set out to explore our home for the night. The RV park had been very clear that all amenities like the bathrooms, showers and laundry were off limits but the small wooden play structure hadn’t been on the forbidden list so we made our way over to let the boys burn off some of their energy.

The RV park was located right next the Boise River and the Greenbelt bike path and the sight of the paved trail suddenly made us wish we had been able to bring our bikes with us.

The smell of the river was crisp and refreshing and the sweet smell of when water meets land brought back childhood memories of summers spent down by the river with my family growing up.

Crixus was eager to sniff each tree and every blade of grass as he frantically searched for the perfect place to do his business. His black nose was nearly touching the ground as he tried to take in all the smells around him. So many trees, so little time.

Atlas and Fenix were delighted by the little playground and ran around exploring, climbing, swinging and sliding over and over. It felt good to finally see them stretch their legs. So many of the places we had been were not the most child friendly and being on guard all the time could be mentally exhausting not to mention frustrating to them.

The boys were polar opposites in their approach to life, Atlas was more careful and cautious, taking in new situations with wide and calculating eyes. He asked questions first and then would slowly ease into the experience, gaining more confidence as he went. Fenix was more of a “hold my beer” kind of kid and always jumped first and asked questions later. Even at just a year old he was very hard to keep safe.

After everyone was played out we left Little Geo to continue charging and loaded back into the disconnected Pilot and headed for the Boise State Capitol Building.

It wasn’t as grand as the Capitol Building in Salt Lake City had been, but it was still an impressive sight to behold.

We found a shaded place to park and left Crixus to hold down the car while we took a few minutes to take a closer look at the massive building.

Approaching from the east we crossed the street and Atlas excitedly ran towards the towering structure and its multiple irresistible set of stairs.

I’m not sure if it’s just kids in general or if it’s ours specifically but the boys particularly love going up and down stairs, the higher the better. The sight of those steps were too much for Fenix who I had been carrying and he very impatiently squirmed to get down so he would have a chance to make the climb himself.

Up and down and back again, over and over. Eventually we convinced them to move towards the front of the building where they found a new diversion in the form of an enormous bell and even more steps to climb.

Like before, because of Covid we kept our exploration strictly outside and away from the doors of the building and any people coming and going.

When we got back to the Pilot we found Crixus sitting in the seat of anxiety in the second row between the boys car seats. And just like the last time, his expression of guilt was hilarious and we gave him extra snuggles to help calm his apparent distress of being left behind again.

The plight of the German ShepHERD.

Without Little Geo in tow, we took advantage and explored the Capitol City further before ending our exploration at a Dutch Bros drive thru.

Fueled up on caffeine, we headed back to the RV park so we could rest and Fenix could, hopefully, take a nap.

Getting Fenix to sleep even in the best of circumstances which included a pitch black room, sleep sounds and a rocking chair had always been a challenge and keeping him asleep was even harder.

Now we were in the middle of a crowded RV park inside a tiny trailer with four humans and a big red dog with no rocking chair around for miles. It was certainly not the most ideal nap situation but we made it work like we always did and Fenix eventually fell asleep as I bounced him rhythmically in my arms.

The rest of the day was uneventful and we spent much of it inside the trailer watching the battery level slowly rise in between visits to the wooden playground.

We took a short walk on the Boise Greenbelt bike path to stretch Crixus’s legs a bit after being cooped up most of the day and he gratefully ran around, tongue lolling, marking every tree within reach.

After the freezing cold night spent in the Walmart parking lot with the propane heater blasting we decided to take both tanks to the refilling station conveniently located within the RV park and had them refilled in case we had more cold nights ahead of us.

It was the first time we’d ever had to disconnect the tanks and the thought of filling them ourselves seemed like a daunting task but luckily there was an attendant on hand to do the job for us. We kept our distance as they quickly refilled the tanks for a very modest fee.

In the morning we would cross into Oregon which was both exciting and kind of heartbreaking at the same time. On the one hand we longed for the comforts and familiarity of home, but on the other hand, we had been having so much fun on our little unexpected adventure north and we weren’t quite ready to give it all up.

It didn’t help knowing we had no real “home” to go home to and with the rumors still swirling of all the public land closures we didn’t know how much longer we could realistically stay out there living on the road amidst the growing pandemic.

The feeling of heartbreak came from going back to our home state tail tucked between our legs, our Grand Adventure canceled and it all felt so horribly pointless.

We had given it all up to make this trip happen and still somehow found ourselves returning homeless without the accomplishment of our big plans.

Still, it had not been for nothing and those last six days driving from state to state had been an adventure of its own, albeit on a much smaller scale. Sure, we didn’t do what we set out to do, but I liked to think that in the end we hadn’t failed, we had made the best out of a bad situation and had a fun time doing it.

Once again we were swept up in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, fear and worry mixed with excitement and contentment and we didn’t really know what to think or how to feel about the coming days.

Before checkout the next morning we took advantage of being disconnected to Little Geo and drove to a nearby carwash and paid to get the Pilot cleaned up. After days of driving through desert terrain it was in desperate need of a good scrub down.

To our delight, the car wash also came with free vacuum tokens and we took turns juggling Atlas, Fenix and Crixus as one of us tried to suck every crumb and dog hair out of all the little cracks and crevices within reach.

Seriously though, it is baffling to me the way in which child car seats are designed. Why on earth are there so many places for crumbs to collect?

The Pilot itself wasn’t much better as we tried in vain to suck up what seemed like pounds of hair, crumbs and desert dust. Why vehicles have carpet interiors I’ll never understand.

But at long last we got the job done, just in time for the vacuum machines to auto shut off and we loaded Crixus back up, buckled the boys and drove to find some breakfast and coffee before heading back to hook up Little Geo.

Now it was time to see if being plugged into shore power overnight would be enough to restore life to the frozen batteries. Collectively holding our breath we disconnected the 30amp cord from the electrical box and pressed the button on the electric tongue jack on Little Geo and to our absolute relief it worked!

Poking my head inside, I quickly checked the charge level of the battery bank and happily discovered that it read fully charged at 100%.

Crisis averted!

And now, we were officially Oregon bound!

Merging onto the I84W once again we began the four hour drive that would take us to our next location for the night, the Grant County Fairgrounds RV Park in John Day.

A little over an hour later we found ourselves driving over the Devo Bridge as we crossed the Snake River officially marking our return into Oregon.

Once again, mixed feelings seemed to be the theme for our unexpected adventure and we juggled the conflicting emotions, silently wondering what we would do once we had officially finished the return trip “home”.

It wasn’t over yet but what a ride it had been so far!

Feeling a little like time travelers, as soon as we crossed the state line we left mountain time behind, gaining an hour as we made the bizarre transition back to pacific time.

Merging into Highway 26 West we drove for another couple hours before stopping in Prairie City for a much needed break to stretch our legs a little and refuel the Pilot.

But more importantly, Fenix was in desperate need of a diaper change and Crixus announced in his own unique way from the third row that he really needed to POOOOOOOOOP!

If he could talk that’s how I imagined he would say it anyway. They say actions speak louder and words and Crixus certainly didn’t mince doggy words as he communicated his needs quite effectively for someone who couldn’t actually speak.

Parking near the Prairie City Ranger Station, once again we split up and I took diaper duty while Nick handled the dancing dog as he frantically searched for the perfect place to take care of business.

With everyone feeling fresh as a daisy including the Pilot who had been refueled, we continued onward for the last short fourteen mile drive that would take us to our destination for the night.

With the extra hour we had gained by crossing the last invisible state line we ended up pulling into the fairgrounds just before four.

The Grant Country RV Park was an on an unmanned honor system, a first for us, and we paid the small $35 dollar fee at the provided payment box on the far side of the camp ground.

With the entire place to ourselves, we chose our own pull through parking space and released Atlas and Fenix from their seats for the final time that day so we could explore our new surroundings.

It was a quiet corner of the world and the sweet smell the the John Day river blew in, softly rustling the leaves of the many trees that surrounded us.

The boys immediately discovered a huge sand pile nearby, no doubt leftover from the last winter season, and to their delight some other kid had left behind a bright yellow shovel for their digging pleasure.

They spent much of the next hour alternating between digging holes and attempting to summit the unstable shifting sand mountain before we had to put a stop to their excavating.

Night was falling and as the temperatures plummeted, the suddenly artic wind swirled around their little bodies, freezing their fingers and toes. But deep in the land of imagination, they were immune to the cold and protested loudly when we said it was time to head back to Little Geo for the night.

Today marked the last day of the unknown and tomorrow we would officially return to familiar territory, back to the places we knew and had seen many times throughout our lives.

But our adventure was far from over and while it might have still been March, winter was coming, bringing the promise of snow which would undoubtably transform the known into a familiar unknown and we here headed straight for it.