Lovey and the Cowgirl Go West

Shortly after we purchased the Alpha Uno my mom came up with the idea of going on her own RV road trip with her good friend Lyse. I suppose we were a bit of an inspiration. If you can’t tell, that is my mom on the left and Lyse on the right.

My mom and Lyse have been friends since 4th grade. They lived in the same neighborhood and used to love riding horses together. After all these years they are still friends and are once again neighbors. When they were in their twenties they went on a number of road trips together, primarily in the Western United States. When my brother and I were little they took us on road trips all over the United States. We drove all over the West, to Tennesse, and to Key West. It should not have been a surprise that I wanted to go on yet another big road trip. It seems to be a bit of a tradition in my family.

Mom and Lyse’s current road trip was going to be a recreation of a trip they took in during their twenties, when they were also living in Oregon. They planned to start in Portland and make their way down to the Redwood forests in California.

Although our RV inspired the trip, mom and Lyse did not plan to borrow it. They planned to rent a C Class RV, much like the Alpha Uno, but a bit shorter and much newer. They were probably the first people to actually take the rig out on a trip. Everything was still breaking in. Before they left for their trip we took them to see our new RV and go for a ride. Neither had seen the first RV so their was their first time seeing what our big adventure will be like.

Needless to say, they absolutly loved the Alpha 1. They thought it was surprisingly homey and very comfortable to ride in. They were already making plans to meet us somewhere down the road!

The first stop on their road trip was Silver Falls State Park. We went to Silver Falls a few months ago, but were not able to hike to any of the waterfalls because we had Rudy with us and dogs are not allowed on the trails. This time we left Rudy at home. We were planning to go for a hike with mom and Lyse, help them set up camp the first time, and head home before dark.

As you can tell from the photo below, the rental rig had a slide out. It was only 23 feet long but the slide made it much more spacious inside.

This here is why everyone goes to Silver Falls. We were hiking a section of the Trail of Ten Falls. The entire hike is 8 miles long, winding up and down the canyon. I imagine the entire hike would be pretty strenuous. We only went on a much shorter two mile section but were still able to see three different waterfalls.

The photo below was taken many years ago at the end of a very long hike through Natural Bridges National Park. My mom is on the left and Lyse is on the right, holding her young chimpanze Lily. Photo credit goes to their good friend Jerry Walsh.

They are both in their twenties in this picture, probably around the same age as me and Brandon, and were on a road trip through the west with some friends. At the time, Lyse was very involved in chimpanzee research and Lily went everywhere with them. She was a huge part of their lives and I’ve been hearing stories about her my whole life. She was a pretty exceptional chimp.

Near the end of another long hike, many years later, still traveling together and enjoying all that life has to offer.

We were only around for the day. After that, they were on their own for the rest of the week. These are two very capable women, so we had no doubt that they would figure things out on their own. They called us a few times the first night and next day, mostly with small questions about operating the RV systems. My parents have spent lots of time on boats and own a sailboat on Lake Travis in Texas, so we kept telling mom to think of it just like a boat. In many ways RVs are just like boats. All of the systems are meant to be self-contained and mobile. You have to be conscious of your tank levels and where your power is coming from at the time. They got the hang of things pretty quickly. And we were left totally jealous of all the fun they were going to have at the Redwoods.