Ari and Eric got married in July (Congratulations!!!) and it inspired us to do a four week road trip centered on the event. Initially, our planning began to be a logistical nightmare with flights and car rentals and hotels because we kept adding people and places to see. The convenience of camping and driving everywhere became possible because Mom and Bill’s car would be sitting idle in LA while they were on Maui during that time. When they offered for us to use it we said Yes! Thank You! ROAD TRIP!!!

Planning involved not only charting a route and making reservations but also amassing camping equipment. With contributions from Mom and Pamela, orders from Amazon, and a few stops the morning we arrived, we were set.

We arrived early Tuesday morning July 1 at LAX and Chris, my brother-in-law, was kind enough to pick us up. After a breakfast visit with Pamela and Chris, we unpacked (car and bags), inventoried, shopped for provisions, repacked the car and we were on the road out of LA by 1. Even then there was traffic but I guess nowadays the question is when is there not traffic in LA? Soon we were driving through the open desert on Hwy 14 and 395. This is very familiar territory for us so we didn’t stop anywhere for pictures. (Therefore some photos of the first two driving days are taken from the internet—photo credits below.) Mt. Whitney and the Alabama Hills looked much like this photo. We were drinking in the beauty all around us as we zoomed through the Owens Valley.

We made it to Benton Hot Springs (past Bishop, California) in seven hours and were sitting in the outdoor natural hot springs tub in time for a beautiful colorful sunset! We had reserved a room for the first night on the road thinking we could get a good night’s sleep since we took a redeye the night before but that was not to happen for Neil. The B&B room was full of fragrance with scented sticks and laundry detergent. Neil slept on the ground outside the room in his sleeping bag. Cold and uncomfortable through the night he was up and soaking in the lovely water before sunrise. That was so delightful it made up for the rest of the night. I got into the water a little later and we did enjoy more time to soak in the hot springs tubs before sitting down to a good breakfast and setting off on the road again.

Wednesday, July 2, was our long drive day. We drove from Benton, California, through Nevada and into Idaho north of Boise. In Nevada we drove along the western shore of Walker Lake. The water level was low due to the prolonged drought but still it was beautiful.

We were setting up our tent just as it was getting dark. While planning our route before leaving Maui, Neil had found the spot on Google Earth! As he zoomed in on the maps, he saw tents along the Payette River just off and below the road. When we arrived, we sure enough saw the tents but there was a gate across the little access road. Oops! We decided to set up in the open area beside the gate because if we searched any longer for a new spot, it would be dark. I was adamant that the first time we set up the tent on the road, I wanted daylight. As we were setting up, cars started arriving at the gate and campground. Turned out it is the river rafting guides summer camp. They lease that little stretch of the riverbank for the summer and after their long days of rafting they come to this spot with their friends and party then crash. They invited us in but we were already half set up and our spot was fine.

When I looked at the phone as I climbed in my sleeping bag, it was an hour later than I expected. I knew we didn’t take that long to set up; Neil said welcome to Mountain Time. We both slept really well that night! We stopped for breakfast at the next town and visited with the waitress and some of the locals as we ate a hearty meal. It was gorgeous driving through the mountain roads of Idaho and over the pass into Montana. We made it to Lolo Hot Springs early afternoon where we had booked an economy cabin. We settled in and then enjoyed an afternoon soak in the natural hot springs water before heading to Missoula for the first wedding activity.

Coming next: The wedding festivities

Photo gallery below:
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Photo credits:
All photos by Neil Rhoads except the following—
Alabama Hills/Mount Whitney photo credit
Walker Lake photo credit
Google map Zimmer Creek
Payette River photo credit
Lochsa River at Split Creek Bridge photo credit
Lolo Hot Pool photo credit
Lolo Outdoor Pool photo credit