Texas to Washington in an RV

Our recent cross country trip from my last travel nurse assignment in Mansfield, TX to my current assignment in Tacoma, WA was eventful to say the very least. We had two weeks in between assignments, but the amount of things we did in those two weeks is honestly so crazy to look back on.

My last shift in Texas was on a Friday, and the next day was my father-in-law’s birthday. So we made sure to have everything packed up and ready to go, and were able to leave on Saturday morning to head to our home base in Siloam Springs, AR. The trip only took us about six hours, but our truck was badly in need of new shocks (which we already had plans to replace while in Arkansas) so Keith was absolutely worn out by the time we arrived (all the bouncing caused the truck and trailer to sway on the road and made driving difficult). That night and the next day were spent celebrating family birthdays (Keith and I took our niece out for an afternoon to celebrate her sixth birthday since we knew we would be driving to Washington on her actual birthday) as well as my in-law’s 30th wedding anniversary.

Over the previous 3-4 months, we’d been noticing some problems with our kitchen and bathroom sink faucets – the water was just trickling out. After determining that the problem was indeed inside the faucets, we had ordered a new kitchen faucet online and Keith planned to replace it while we were in Arkansas (the bathroom one we were waiting to replace in Washington). There were a few other minor things that needed to be fixed – such as our porch light cover that had come off at some point on our travels. We also had to tag our new motorcycle while we were there, Keith had to get his COVID vaccine, and we had to drop off a few things at our storage unit. It was a busy few days, but somehow we got everything done! 

Tuesday night I flew by myself to Denver, CO. I planned to spend a few days with my brother and sister-in-law Jon and Flor, then spend another few days with my friends Kim and Jair (you might remember them from our trip to Telluride in the Fall of 2020) – about a week altogether. I planned that solo trip to Colorado because Keith was going to a bachelor party that weekend. Well, the Colorado trip did not go as planned (although it was still very awesome). Kim and Jair got sick a few days before I was supposed to stay with them, but it ended up being okay because I got to spend even more time with Jon and Flor.

My brother works for a startup company called Therapeasy, which has been described as “tinder for therapists”. If you live in Colorado and are looking for a therapist, you should definitely check them out. He does most of his work either from home or from a shared work space at a building in downtown Denver. I was able to go with him to work on one of the days I was there, and it was such a cool environment (my favorite part? Dogs are allowed)! We also went on a few hikes, cooked so much delicious food (Jon is the best cook), and I was able to spend a lot of time planning and strategizing for my photography business. 

The next Monday and Tuesday morning Keith spent driving by himself (well, with Luna) from Siloam Springs, AR to St Vrain State Park (North of Denver) where we would be staying two nights, giving Keith time to rest before driving the rest of the way up to Washington together. Once we arrived at the state park, however, we discovered a water leak around the bathroom sink faucet. No big deal, we were planning on replacing it anyways, right? Wrong. Three trips to the RV supply store and two trips to Home Depot later, we determined that we would need a professional plumber to fix the leak (although Keith was able to successfully replace the faucet). So we didn’t have water for the rest of our trip to Washington (luckily, we were already planning on staying overnight at RV parks during this trip, so running water in our camper was not an absolute necessity since we would be able to use their bathroom and shower facilities). 

Keith’s second day in Colorado we spent relaxing. Although that particular state park caters more to people wanting to fish in its ponds instead of people wanting to hike (like us), they did have some walking trails that we were able to explore and we had a great view of the Rockies. That night we met up with a few other friends for supper, and it was so nice to be able to catch up with them (the last time we saw them was at our wedding in September of 2019 – they had a quarantine wedding in the Summer of 2020 that we were unable to attend).

Bright and early the next morning we set out. Our destination that night was Brigham City, UT. We stayed at the KOA there and it was lovely. Never having spent any time in that part of Utah, we were pleasantly surprised by its beauty. 

The next day we drove from Utah through Wyoming and into Oregon, staying the night at A-Frame RV Park in Baker City, OR. That park was amazing and we wished we could have stayed longer. Everyone we met there was incredibly nice, and they had a huge fenced-in field behind the park that they allowed dogs to run off-leash in. 

Our third day of driving finally brought us into Washington. Even though it was overcast and drizzly (it even snowed on us for a few minutes!), the scenery here is SO beautiful. Due to the clouds, we didn’t see Mt. Rainier until the next day, but once we did we absolutely fell in love with this beautiful state, and we can’t wait to have even more adventures while we’re here! 

I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook to get updates on future blog posts, see sneak peeks of my amazing couples, and so much more! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!

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