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Author :Steps to Wander in Steps to Wander

Once everything was worked out with the insurance company after being involved in the collision, our dream was getting back on track. But, life was definitely not slowing down anytime soon for us. We had less than a month to pack up our lives in Portland, Oregon and drive to Idaho to finish remodeling our van before heading out on this epic adventure.

Packing was difficult. ALL of our belongings we decided to keep had to fit in our van and in the back of my dad’s truck bed. We had to simultaneously pack up our lives knowing we would be back in an apartment or house by the end of the year, while also trying to decide what exactly we were going to take with us in the van for the next seven months. We ended up donating bags and bags of stuff we no longer needed, and recycled and trashed whatever junk we could.

Related Read: Don’t Leave Home without It- RV Necessities

On April 30, 2016 we finally had everything packed up. I’m not sure how Corbin did it, but the van was literally packed to the top with all of the things we were either taking with us or storing in Idaho. The only things left was our dresser and our bed that we hoped would fit in the back of my dad’s truck bed, who was driving over to help us out (thanks, Dad!).

With a little strategizing and expert packing skills, the dresser and bed did fit in my dad’s truck- whew! We spent our last evening in Portland celebrating and saying goodbye (for now) to this amazing city by stuffing our bellies full of too much food from our favorite food cart pod.

The next morning we were off! This was going to be a huge test for the Wander Wagon. It was 430 miles to Boise, ID and we had never driven the van farther than 150 miles in one trip. Not to mention there were the dreaded Blues we had to pass through, a dangerous mountain range requiring the van to climb over 4,000 feet! But, we crossed our fingers and just hoped all would be well.

Related Read: RV Driving Tips

It did go well. The van drove great the whole way! She climbed hills like a champ, even while being loaded up to the top. We had no issues and we had goofy smiles on our face the whole way. We made it into Boise late afternoon and moved ourselves into my mother’s living room for the month.

We made a plan for the rest of the month. The list of to-do’s to make our van liveable and ready for this upcoming trip was overwhelming. Could we really get everything done in time for our send off on June 4th? Well, we certainly were going to give it our best shot.