It's been a brutal summer so far in Pensacola. 

The heat and humidity have been unbearable. We've decided to bail for a couple months and head northwest in search of some cooler weather and a change in scenery.  

In mid-July we purchased this guy on craigslist:

It's a Little Guy Double Wide teardrop trailer.  With a queen size mattress and air conditioning, it has all we need to camp in comfort.  Our road trip to the Tetons & Yellowstone last year was great, but car camping got old pretty quick.  Having this teardrop camper will solve a lot of problems.

Included with the camper is a screened canopy that attaches to the side.  I took some time the other day and braved the heat to do a trial run in the front yard.

You can also see the two storage boxes on the top of the camper.  The thought of firing up the welding machine in this heat was not pleasant...I wasn't even sure if I would be able to strike an arc in this humidity.  However, I managed to build and install some crossbars on the camper in order to be able to accommodate the storage boxes.

We've spent some time putting together a rough itinerary for the trip.  We knew we wanted to spend some time in Washington & Oregon.  Our trip two years ago to Vancouver and Seattle was great.  The few days we spent exploring Mt. Rainier NP did something to our souls that is not easily described.  Lacking any sort of natural beauty other than the beach in Pensacola, we have been wanting to head back to the PNW ever since leaving two years ago.

So far, this is what the trip looks like...I'm remaining hopeful for a 8/1 departure.  The drive across Texas will most likely suck.  We plan to scoot across to New Mexico as quick as possible.  Maybe spend a couple days in the Santa Fe/Taos area?  Depends on the temps.  It looks like while it may be a bit warm in that area during the day, it at least cools off nicely at night.

We've got a quick stop planned in Moab.  Maybe a quick drive thru Arches or Canyonland?  With our sights on cooler weather, exploring around Moab will be left for another trip.

From Moab we will work our way up to the Bend, OR area in about two days with an overnight at Lake Walcott SP in Idaho.  It looks like there's a lot to do around Bend...2-3 days here will not be enough time, but that's all we have for now.  From Bend we will drive down and spend a couple days around Crater Lake and the Umpqua NF.  We hope to find a nice, quiet campsite in Umpqua NF for a couple nights.  Any suggestions?  It will also be nice to break out the fly rod and chase some trout.

The itinerary then becomes a little less concrete.  We will likely spend a few days bouncing up central Oregon, ultimately making our way to Portland.  There are several folks in Portland we hope to catch up with while in the area.  After a couple days in Portland, we will head to Astoria to spend a few days camping and salmon fishing with our friend John and his family.  We are thrilled to have gotten the invite to join them on their annual trip.  I can't wait to catch up with John and spend some time on the water.

That's all you get for the time being.  Hopefully I will stay motivated and continue updates here as our travels progress.  No promises...happy trails.