Plans for pickup in Sumas, WA on Memorial Day

[kavm]

We are picking up our Escape 5.0 in Sumas, WA on the Memorial Day. This being our first camper, we will be nervous early on and will be needing help from you. So, I am starting this thread to share our plans.

Travel from SLC, UT to Sumas, WA

• May 27: Salt Lake City to Missoula, MT. Long drive. We could make it more enjoyable but even longer by driving on the state highways in Idaho. Will decide on that on the way.
• May 28: Winthrop, WA. Not as long a drive - so might do some sightseeing on the way.
• May 29 and 30:Travel to Bellingham on the North Cascades Highway - may be do a bit of hiking in North Cascades. Then sightseeing and relaxing around Bellingham on Sunday.

Travel from Sumas, WA to SLC, UT:

• May 31 and June 1: Meet the Escape driver at 10 AM on May 31 (Memorial Day) in Sumas, WA. Drive to Swinomish RV Park in Anacortes. The plan is to use the day and a half to get familiar with the camper the best we can. Pull through site and full hookups. 56 miles.
• June 2 and 3: Take the Coupeville - Port Townsend ferry and drive to Kalaloch campground. Have reservations for the ferry and campground. No hookups. 176 miles.
• June 4 and 5: Hoh campground in Hoh rainforest / Olympic NP. This is dicey as we have no reservations; the campground doesn't take any. We will be in trouble if we cannot secure a spot - but are really keen on staying here and we will try to get there early to maximize our chances. No hookups. 39 miles.
• June 6 and 7: Cannon Beach RV resort. Commercial campground with full hookups in Cannon Beach. We figure we might want hookups after 4 nights without. 212 miles.
• June 8 and 9: Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in Ocean City, CA. Reservations but no hookups. 336 miles.
• June 10 and 11: Clio's Rivers Edge Campground in Clio, CA. Commercial - reservations and full hookups. 379 miles.
• June 12: THOMAS CANYON, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Headquarters. Reservations but no hookups. 372 miles.
• June 13: Home. 255 miles.

We have planned 2 night stays and have tried to mix in enough camping with and without hookups to allow us to experience both. So, happy with the plans.

All that said, we are totally new to this, and will have challenges along the way. Having the community here to help and advise us is frankly the biggest support we have. So, counting on you to help us along!

[Bobbie54]

Sounds good. Do you have your ferry reservation for Coupeville? If not, get it now. You can change them later if there is space (up until 2 hrs before, or 1 day for cancellations) but they do fill up. You'll have to arrive 30-45 minutes early for the ferry which gives you time to shut off your propane for the ferry ride (assuming you drive with it on.) If you have sensitive stuff in the freezer you will want to find a place to stop and turn it back on after the ferry.

[kavm]

Thanks a lot! We do have the reservation for the ferry. It is at 11:45 AM - so we expect to get to the ferry terminal with plenty of time. We have a compressor fridge in the camper. It does not run on propane and we will not have the propane on while driving.

[Craiger]

Good move on getting the reservation for the ferry. The first time I crossed, stupidly did not get a reservation and had to wait a couple of hours. the wife reminded me that she told me that they should have gotten reservations.

[Bobbie54]

Definitely a good move. With not going to the normal summer 2-ferry schedule capacity is half what it is supposed to be on that run. Never went to two last summer and they keep pushing the date back this summer (due to shuffling of ferries- fire put one out of commission on another run) so likely one all this summer, too.

[davidmurphy02]

Staying 2 nights at each stop is a good plan. Especially when the trailer is new to you, the whole process of packing up, hitching up, traveling, parking, unhitching and setting up will take longer so having a day to rest, relax, and recreate in between travel days will be good. We try to avoid having back to back travel days whenever we can, just makes for a more relaxed and enjoyable trip if you have the time.

[Donna D.]

I'm happy to see you're traveling a short distance that first day/night. IF you're like me, you're going to be really tired that first day. Although I had pulled a 'bumper pull' trailer for a dozen years, before I bought Ten Forward, I had never pulled/hooked up/unhooked a 5th wheel. I burned through every ounce of adrenaline I had that very first day. Best of luck!

[JStelly]

It’s a great plan. You plan like I do. [emoji4]. Two day stays and a mix of short and long drives.

Laundry comes to mind. Either pack enough for the entire trip or plan a laundry day at some point. When we do any trip longer than 10 days my wife reminds me we need to plan a laundry stop.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Small but Sweet]

I love that you’re going to visit the Redwoods. Have you seen them before?

[kavm]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

Staying 2 nights at each stop is a good plan. Especially when the trailer is new to you, the whole process of packing up, hitching up, traveling, parking, unhitching and setting up will take longer so having a day to rest, relax, and recreate in between travel days will be good. We try to avoid having back to back travel days whenever we can, just makes for a more relaxed and enjoyable trip if you have the time.

Thank you, David! You were one of the members to nudge us towards Escape 5.0. This is now coming together.

Indeed - we are trying to combine rest, recreation and time to learn with the new camper in our plans. Hoping it will work well for us.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I'm happy to see you're traveling a short distance that first day/night. IF you're like me, you're going to be really tired that first day. Although I had pulled a 'bumper pull' trailer for a dozen years, before I bought Ten Forward, I had never pulled/hooked up/unhooked a 5th wheel. I burned through every ounce of adrenaline I had that very first day. Best of luck!

Thank you, Donna! The first day will definitely be most stressful.

We put some thought into selecting the campground. We wanted to drive some distance to get the jitters under control. The campground we picked is close enough, gives us the option to use or skip I-5, and position us close to where we are headed afterward.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by JStelly

It’s a great plan. You plan like I do. [emoji4]. Two day stays and a mix of short and long drives.

Laundry comes to mind. Either pack enough for the entire trip or plan a laundry day at some point. When we do any trip longer than 10 days my wife reminds me we need to plan a laundry stop.

Good luck and enjoy!

Thank you! That was one of the motivations of having a few commercial campgrounds in the plan. With 2 day stops - we ought to be fine with laundry.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by Small but Sweet

I love that you’re going to visit the Redwoods. Have you seen them before?

Thank you!

We have seen small groves of redwood trees - such as one in the Washington Park, Portland. We love trees - and miss them a bit in Utah. So, really look forward to seeing some in Washington, Oregon and California!

[Small but Sweet]

Originally Posted by kavm

Thank you!

We have seen small groves of redwood trees - such as one in the Washington Park, Portland. We love trees - and miss them a bit in Utah. So, really look forward to seeing some in Washington, Oregon and California!

Oh, you are in for such a treat in Northern CA with the redwoods. I’m in the Portland area, and... any “redwoods” Portland might claim are not the real deal. I was so blown away by the CA ones, it’s almost a spiritual feeling to be among them. So happy for you!

[Bill and Earline]

On your first stay, which is with hookups, fill the fresh water tank, and let the batteries charge for a while from the electric connection, then unhook the water and electric and try everything out as though you were boon docking.

You are still close enough to go back if there is a problem, and you will still have time to ask for advice on how everything works before you take the ferry and would feel stranded and unable to return.

On the weekend at the Hoh campground with no reservations, have a backup plan for those two nights. That's a Friday and Saturday at a NP and you'll be amazed at how many people are out scrambling for limited sites. You might not get one.

Where you are going, you may have limited cell and internet signal. Take phone numbers of knowledgeable Escape friends with whom you can text. Texts sometimes get through when nothing else will.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by Bill and Earline

On your first stay, which is with hookups, fill the fresh water tank, and let the batteries charge for a while from the electric connection, then unhook the water and electric and try everything out as though you were boon docking.

You are still close enough to go back if there is a problem, and you will still have time to ask for advice on how everything works before you take the ferry and would feel stranded and unable to return.

On the weekend at the Hoh campground with no reservations, have a backup plan for those two nights. That's a Friday and Saturday at a NP and you'll be amazed at how many people are out scrambling for limited sites. You might not get one.

Where you are going, you may have limited cell and internet signal. Take phone numbers of knowledgeable Escape friends with whom you can text. Texts sometimes get through when nothing else will.

Thank you so much for this! I was thinking about simulating boondocking in the first campground but did not know how. This is particularly the case as the next two campgrounds will have very limited cell phone, let alone internet coverage. So, your suggestions are very helpful.

I am aware of the scramble for campsites on Friday at Hoh. My plan was to take a printout of the campgrounds that we could proceed to if we cannot secure a campsite, and have no internet coverage. Beyond that, I am not entirely sure how to plan a secure backup as that’d involve a reservation. Is there an alternative?

Thank you for the advice on text messages. That had not occurred to me!

Thanks again for your very helpful suggestions.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by Small but Sweet

Oh, you are in for such a treat in Northern CA with the redwoods. I’m in the Portland area, and... any “redwoods” Portland might claim are not the real deal. I was so blown away by the CA ones, it’s almost a spiritual feeling to be among them. So happy for you!

Thank you! This is good to know. One question I have is whether to spend the day exploring the redwoods near Jedediah Smith State Park (North of Redwood NP), for instance, Boy Scouts Tree Trail. They are supposed to be old growth. Or, to go down to the NP and maybe make a reservation to hike something like that Tall Trees trail?

[Craiger]

Since I lived up there for five years. more than likely you're going to come south from your pickup point and go down to guide Meridian. Using that street to go on to the five freeway. A word of caution. The sign will direct you to go under the freeway in the right lane and make a right turn. You'll go up about 150 yards and then make a right turn begin to parallel the freeway and then enter the freeway. Be very cautious on making your right turn I probably seen three rolled vehicles on that on-ramp. You have a fairly short distance to merge with the traffic and the number two lane. Please remember this freeway was built in about 1960.

[Bobbie54]

Or just stay on 9 to 20. It's a nice drive through the country. Though 5 from Bellingham to 20 is really nice too.

[kavm]

Thank you very much! The plan is to stay on 9 down to 20 West.

Coincidentally, We are on 20 west right now, turning right to go North heading to Bellingham! That’s how our GPS is routing us!

Will relax there till Monday morning.