2010 - Northwest

The Plan

We travel to the northwest this year. There will be stops at Glacier National Park, Calgary, Lake Louise, Jasper, Vancouver, Seattle and Portland.  Our “northwest” trip imagery falls apart after about six weeks however.  We plan to take Hwy 1 down the west coast to San Diego, stop at Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson and find an interesting way back home.

Trip Summary

We left on July 20th and returned October 13th.

This was our longest trip to-date.  We saw family, friends, states, provinces and many wonderful sights.  

• 11,527 miles driven (13.8 mpg)
• 8,573 miles towing the trailer
• 16 states
• 2 provinces
• Dick had never been in North Dakota, Montana, or Alberta.
• Carol had been in all 48 states, Alberta and British Columbia

Preparations - pretty simple

• Trailblazer - new tires
• Trailblazer - oil change and filter
• Trailer - wash and wax
• Trailer - check and lube wheel bearings
• Trailer - check tires and brakes

Things Fixed - stuff happened, but not much

• 07/30 - replaced Trailblazer ignition switch in Livingston, MT
• 08/30 - Trailblazer oil change and filter in Portland, OR
• 09/22 - replaced LED light over sink in Monterey, CA
• 10/01 - replaced trailer tires in Tucson, AZ
• 10/03 - replaced trailer hitch lift fuse in Amarillo, TX

Notes

(1) Atwood propane gas detector stopped working in OR, it isn't fixed.

(2) 4 internal rivets need to be replaced

(3) Each 7 gallon propane tank lasted about 4 weeks.

(4) Trailblazer brake issues seem to be caused by trailer weight and terrain.

(5) Canadian travel is expensive (gas $5/gal).

(6) It's hard to update the blog every day, but even worse when we get behind.

(7) Verizon's Mobile Broadband service was a great trip accessory.

(8) The original Goodyear Marathon trailer tires lasted 20,932 miles. (tread wear, not damage)