The Beginning

I don’t know where the days are going but suddenly I’ve been living on the road for a week. And what a week it has been.

My trip got postponed a day when I first started out. I was packing my final things in the van and filling up my water tanks and realized I had a problem with the hose. I had to make the tough call to stay an extra day and get that taken care of before beginning my adventure. Then I left on Friday morning after taking Dakota for a run and hoping to wear her out so she wouldn’t be scared in the van. It didn’t make a difference. I had to drag her in the van and she trembled for hours. We stopped at a few rest stops along the way and each time it was a fight to get her back into the van. We had our sights set on Hap Hawkins Campground, near Dillon, Montana for our first night. I found it and pulled the van onto this beach near a beautiful reservoir. We were the only ones there AND it was free!

When we got out and started exploring the beach, I realized there were tons of little bugs flying around. When we got back to the van there were literally hundreds of thousands of these bugs swarming in clouds around the van. I pushed Dakota in the van and closed the door behind her quickly to try and not let any bugs in. There was a campground just down the road a bit where there were a few RVs parked so I figured there might not be as many bugs there. We drove to that campground and pulled into a spot to find that there were still plenty of bugs at that campground too. I preferred the solitude of the other campground, so we headed back, and I prepared to use the bug screens I had just installed a few days before.

The bug screens seemed to do a nice job, but I could hear the bugs swarming outside the door while I cooked dinner, which was a bit unsettling. Finally, I decided it was time to close the doors for the night to keep the van as warm as possible and make sure the bugs stayed out. I climbed out through the front seat since there were less bugs there for some reason and I walked around to close the side door from the outside, so I wouldn’t have to open the screen. I slammed it shut and got back in the van through the front seat only to find thousands of bugs now trapped between the screen and the sliding door inside the van! I jumped back out, this time armed with a towel, opened the sliding door and waved all the bugs away repeatedly as I slowly closed the door. This worked better but there were still probably 20+ bugs stuck inside the screen now. By the time I went to bed I probably killed over 50 bugs inside the van, making it very hard to enjoy my dinner. It sure seemed like we were off to a rough start! The walls, ceiling, and my sheets all had bug guts on them now. We had a beautiful reservoir outside the door, but we couldn’t enjoy it. And that day I found out I would not be moving along in the interview process with a company I had really hoped to work for.

The next morning, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the reservoir AND NO BUGS. I enjoyed a quiet morning making coffee and breakfast with the door open. Dakota loves to spend her mornings outside basking in the sun, so that’s exactly what she did. Shortly after breakfast though they all seemed to wake up and came right back. We luckily had moved everything inside and closed up before then, so we were ready to drive away and head to Glacier National Park.

One challenge with vanlife has been that every evening it comes time to find a place to park and sometimes the place works out and sometimes it doesn’t. There are several apps and websites that I use to help me find a free place to park for the night. I had some coordinates picked out for a spot that was supposed to be right on the water. As we were driving up to this spot I saw a sign that said “no camping” but it was at the very beginning of the road. I figured it must not be for the whole area, so I kept driving. I didn’t have a great feeling about risking an illegal spot for the night since I feared waking up to “the knock” from law enforcement, so after a quick visit to the river in the pouring rain, we decided to find a new spot.

When this happens, I start to get really anxious. It was starting to get dark, I was getting hungry, and I was worried about not finding a place to sleep. Luckily, the next spot was perfect. It was right along Hungry Horse Reservoir and as soon as I pulled in, I looked up and saw the most amazing sunset I’ve ever seen. It was like the universe was telling me was right where I was supposed to be.

Glacier National Park

The next morning, we took in some great views along the reservoir before heading to Glacier National Park.

I’m beyond thankful to my mom and stepdad for buying me a National Park’s pass so I can visit as many parks as I’d like on a vanlife budget! I’m finding that traveling to National Parks with a dog is tricky though. They aren’t very dog-friendly, so most trails don’t allow dogs. In Glacier there is one trail that dogs are allowed on and I use the word “trail” loosely. It’s a paved bike path. It does go through the woods though so although there was 0ft elevation gain, I was happy to explore with my sidekick. As soon as we stepped into the woods there was a sign warning of grizzly bears and that bear spray is advised. It also said, “never hike alone” but I had Dakota with me, so I wasn’t alone, right? Honestly, I was really terrified. The sign had also suggested making noise but since I had nobody to talk to I decided to play music from my phone. Dakota could tell I was scared because normally she walks great, tail wagging, nose sniffing. But today she was on high-alert. Her fur was up, and she’d stop suddenly and snort. I think we were both freaking each other out. Luckily, the only wildlife we saw were a few deer!

I was exhausted from all the driving the last two days, so I decided I needed some downtime. We went and found a different spot on Hungry Horse Reservoir, this one even more beautiful than the one the night before. We hiked around and explored this incredible spot before settling in for a quiet afternoon of writing. The weather was phenomenal, the sun was out but it was just barely raining. I could keep the side door open and enjoy the rain from inside the van. And there is nothing better than the sound of rain on the roof!

I had been feeling discouraged about hiking in bear country solo. I knew I was too scared (and it’s a horrible idea) to hike alone but I didn’t want to miss out on Glacier because I was solo. So I decided to join a ranger-led hike to Avalanche Lake for the next morning so I could go in a group. This turned out to be a fantastic experience that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting a National Park. You can find a schedule posted at a Welcome Center in the park. I learned a lot about the wildlife, the park, and the plants, and I realized I might just have to be a Park Ranger once this is all said and done (but really, I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up).

Avalanche Lake was stunning, but I was a little preoccupied worrying about whether Dakota was OK in the van since it was her first extended amount of time alone there. The hike ended at the lake and we were on our own for hiking the trail back down. I decided to wait for a group to leave the lake and I’d just follow them down so I wouldn’t be alone. There was a couple leaving so I nonchalantly followed behind them but then they immediately stopped at the bathroom and I realized it would be creepy for me to wait there for them. So I started hiking alone again but it wasn’t long before I heard footsteps behind me. There was a teenage boy coming down the trail behind me and he eventually caught up and passed me, so I made it my mission to keep up with him.

I’ve never seen anyone hike so fast.

I literally couldn’t keep up with him without running, which would be super creepy and not so subtle. I had to let him get ahead of me and ended up hiking the rest of the way alone but again, no bear sightings (phew).

When I got back to Forrest, I found Dakota curled up completely content on the bed! She was alone almost 4 hours and did just fine!
Next we drove Going-to-the-Sun Road, which had been closed earlier that morning due to snow on the road. This road isn’t open all year and I was really hoping I’d get to Glacier before it closed for the winter. It was even more amazing than I had heard. The views were breathtaking and the snow-capped mountains against the fall colors were unlike anything I had ever seen.

I stopped at many points along the road to take pictures and to let the scenery sink in. At one of my stops I met someone else who was traveling solo, so we caravanned together for a bit and hiked St. Mary’s Falls together too, which was my favorite hike in the park.

We met up with his friend that evening and I fed them both because I was dying to get rid of my leftovers (I could only eat the same thing for so many meals in a row). By this time it was already dark and I hadn’t figured out where I was going to sleep for the night. I ended up parking along the side of a dirt road, up a little ways from a couple other vans, and hoping that I wouldn’t get “the knock”.

When I woke up and peeled the window covers off my frozen windows, I saw the most incredible view. While I hate pulling into a spot at night, there is just nothing quite as amazing as being surprised by your view in the morning.

I spent the rest of the day driving Going-to-the-Sun road back in the opposite direction so that I could see everything from the other side. Forrest was making some horrible squeaking noises though so I knew it was probably time to get him to a mechanic. I had taken him to the Mercedes dealership before I left Salt Lake City and they inspected him for me. They quoted me one million dollars to fix a few things (just kidding, almost) so I decided to wait on getting them fixed. But Forrest was definitely letting me know that it was time to get them fixed! So after our drive back through the park, we headed to Whitefish. I wasn’t planning to spend the night there, I just wanted to drive through and look around, but while driving to the ski resort I saw signs for RV and overnight parking in one of their parking lots. Turns out you can park for free there! So I decided to settle in for the night and I’d leave in the morning.

Whitefish

Well, 4 days later I would still be in Whitefish. Since I’ve been here I’ve been to the Farmer’s Market, gone mountain biking (twice), visited an amazing dog park, met some awesome people, been to two mechanics, hiked, and spent way too many hours in a Safeway parking lot. Whitefish is an amazing little town and if you have the opportunity to check it out, I’d recommend it! Just beware, you might get sucked in!

Now Forrest has new inner tie rods and new shocks, but he still has a loud squeak that we’ll need to take care of in the next few weeks (they’d have to order a part and I’d be “stuck” here for a couple more days). Tonight the low is 27 degrees though, so as much as I’d love to be stuck here longer, it’s about time we headed south! Being settled in one place for a few days has been nice. I haven’t had to worry about where to sleep at night, I’m starting to know my way around, and driving less has been great for the gas tank! I had another swing/miss for a job today too (it sounded like a remote position, but actually wasn’t) so I’m back to searching for something that will allow me to continue on this amazing journey!

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned a lot during this week on the road and I know I still have a lot more to figure out. One thing I’m trying to adjust to is finding my “happy pace”. I’m not the kind of person who likes to sit and “relax” much, but busy days on the road will wear a person right out. I’ve been trying to settle into a pace that’s going to be enjoyable for both of us, without too many hours behind the wheel and without spending months in one spot. Before starting on this journey, I decided to set some guidelines for what I wanted to accomplish, a “bucket list” of sorts. I wanted to figure out how I would feel like I’ve “seen” a state and how I’d know I’d be ready to keep moving. I’ve driven through many states before, yet I don’t feel like I’ve “been” there. So I decided that at a minimum I’d have to do two hikes and a bike ride in each state, plus visit any of its National Parks, to be able to scratch it off on my map (I have a US map in the van where you can scratch off each state you’ve been to). There will definitely be states where I will do even more than that and I’ll want to stay longer (so far in Montana, I’ve done 4 hikes and 2 bike rides), but for the less exciting states that will give me a benchmark for checking it out.

My body is also trying to adjust to this new level of activity. After my half ironman this year, I took a LONG break from working out. I worked hard on the van (my hands and forearms got really strong) but it wasn’t quite the same as training every day. Now that I’m on this journey, I’m doing way more physical activity than I’ve done in a while, and my body isn’t sure what to make of it. I’m starving all the time, exhausted, and yet dying to keep getting out there. I’m sure Dakota is feeling the same way! So we’re trying to find a good balance of exploring and rest!

I’m also trying to find a good pace for the blog. I feel like I could write a book on all I’ve seen and done so far in a week! I’m trying to find a way to keep it concise without cutting out all of the tidbits that make it worth reading!

Dakota

I know everyone following along has been stressed about how Dakota would do once we were in the van full-time, trust me I was too! I’m SO happy to report back that she is officially a #vandog. It took us about 3 days until she really started to settle in. The first day at Glacier we hit a low point when we got back from our bike trail hike and she put the brakes on from across the parking lot as soon as she saw the van. The only way I can get her to move when she does this is to straddle her and ease her along by her armpits. So there I am, waddling across the entire parking lot with my scared dog between my legs. Not our finest moment. But now she jumps in and out with no problem at all. While we were at the mechanic today there was a similar sprinter RV that drove up and Dakota jumped up and her tail started wagging when she saw it. <3 The van has really become home for both of us.

“Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the most wonderful things that will ever happen to us.” -Nicole Reed