I was asked, "What is one of the biggest difficulty that I have experienced while living on the road in our motorhome?" We've had a few, but I really wanted to elaborate on a couple of the most difficult times I've had on the road. While not "difficult" in most senses of the word, there were a couple times that just left our jaws dropping, mostly in awe of what both, Maria and I, were looking at...
Travel can come with some doozies, for sure. I look fondly back on our trip to the southwest in winter of 2022 (pictured below click pic to bring up gallery) and to the northwest in spring of 2023 (pictures below click pic to bring up gallery). Two specific road journey's with the Mothership that came with white knuckles and a wealth of beauty stored in the travel memory bank.
With this lifestyle there's always something. There's low clearance tunnels, low clearance bridges, and mountainous passes. There's one way to avoid the "low" items, and that's by using some form of trucker's GPS (a GPS that you can put your height, weight and everything in between regarding your rig and it avoids any cumbersome turn arounds in the middle of nowhere). Having these GPS units isn't always easy, though, because while it avoids the low clearance, it still will route you through some terrain or in our case, twisty, turning inclines, declines and abutments that will have your passenger, at least Maria's, jaw dropping as they admire the beauty and terror of it all. (I do list tools and essentials for the full time RV Life here)
I experienced some anxiety and beauty on U.S. State Road 60 aka Salt River Canyon Drive to our destination of Mesa, AZ. This road starts out where the drive is taking you through some "high desert" type areas with pines, national land but swiftly turns into a high climbing mountainous terrain with curves grating on nerves, an area only skilled driver's should be cruising through. I usually get a lot of video but in this case, I only snapped a few pics and when safely stopped at a rest area, a couple videos here. The drive was breathtaking and the first time navigating in something that required nerves of steal.
The second road is "Rattle Snake Grade" or Highway 3. After driving through Montana's beautiful mountain region and following a running river along Highway 12 (pictures below) to Clarkston, WA, we were in for a big surprise. We just left the only civilization for a bunch of miles and were taken up this massive incline that eventually led us to "Rattle Snake Grade" (pictures below). Once at the top the road flattened out. We were greeted by farm land, and super gray clouds of a thunderstorm rolling in. I stopped on the side of the road to take a few pictures before proceeding. When I continued the incline in Clarkston was only a sign of what was to come. We were taken up Rattlesnake Summit for what seemed forever. Endless canyon's, greenery, and peace. We were elevated almost four thousand feet, at the top, and I stopped at the side of the road for a breather. This was the quietest we had ever been on a drive, and there were only a few random passenger cars that would pass us. On that break I looked down and was greeted by an earthy red drop off that stunned me. I survived and the beauty far outweighed my white knuckles. We drove that road until it flattened out and eventually led us through to Enterprise, Oregon. Our destination was Joseph, Oregon for my summer gig at the Wallowa Lake Tramway. What an experience.
This life will continuously throw curve balls, but those curves are the winding endless roads that our GPS chooses for us to travel. What adds to the beauty of the open road is the fact that most times I let the unit guide me and often don't even look at the route so that I'm surprised and enamored. With every nerve racking drive awaits sites to see, feelings to behold, and like I said, another notch in the belt of navigation. The inspiration that awaits our next adventure are memories that seal themselves in the mind forever. I hope to see you on the road soon!
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As always, thanks for stopping by!
Tim Eagle
Tim Eagle is an author of the novellas Stolen Seed, Life Ship, and the Vasectomus Collection. He lives full time, on the road, with his wife, Maria and their dog, Cocoa. He grew up in Michigan and is inspired by the dysfunction of America. His books are available on Amazon, godless and this site timeaglefiction.com
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