Boulder to Hood River

[Adeibold]

I just arrive home last night from my first big trip in my 84' Sunrader and I couldn't be happier with how it all went.

Late May to early June is the typical allotted time for summer training camp in Mt Hood OR with the US Snowboard Team. This year's camp also happened to be scheduled in accordance with a wedding for two Team staff members that was to be in Park City, UT - directly along my route to and from camp - so I decided to take the Sunrader.

With 1200 miles a head of me I planned on two long days of driving there. I headed out, loaded up with snowboards, skateboards, cameras, wedding attire and my Mini Martin, totally unsure of what my MPG would be, but after reading around here, I was hoping for 14-16mpg. Driving West on I-80 through Wyoming is almost always a windy affair and this time was no exception, albeit a bit more never racking with the motorhome acting like a sail. Because of getting a later start (11am) and the bad head/cross winds I made less than half way and stopped just east of Ogden, UT.

I had a nice chat the following morning with the owner of a half-million dollar diesel pusher after parking next to him at Denny's. While I'll admit I may have been a little jealous of a few things (mainly cruise control) I was still proud to be getting at least twice the mpg he normally gets. (I had gotten 16.6 between my last two tanks) I got back on the road early as i knew I had a looooong day a head of me. The next 600 miles were pretty uneventful, but as I neared my destination and dropped into the Columbia River valley the gusty winds made for some of the most white knuckled driving I have ever experienced, but I managed to make it to my destination unscathed.

The next 6 days were filled with lots of on-snow training, a few fishing expeditions (one of which produced a size-able salmon) some white water rafting on the White Salmon River, disc golf, and lots of catching up with teammates and friends, many of which were very jealous of my rig.

As camp concluded I decided to get back on the road to Park City as soon as possible not wanting another 14 hour day behind the wheel. The rest stop I pulled over at had several people camped out on the ground with blankets over their eyes to block the street lights. Ive been there, several times, and I was not envious. It was in this moment that I most appreciated my rig.

After coffee and yogurt, I was back on the road and made it into Park City with enough daylight to skate in city park long enough to help rid me of 'road trip legs'.

The wedding was the following evening and was the first I had attended since I was 6. I got to see people that I hadn't seen in years, and reconnect with friends that are in other disciplines of our sport. The ceremony was short and to the point, with only a few tears and one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen (do seeing them on TV still count?) The night was filled with lots of dancing and lots of drinks, too many in fact. My goal was to be on the road by 9am at the latest the next day and this was difficult. But, I was fueled up, and had coffee and breakfast on the road by 9:15, so I'm still taking it as a win. The tail winds on the way home helped me get my best mpg yet (21.1 !!) and I was home right around 6.

I had a lot of nightmares about breaking down out in the middle of Idaho and not being able to make to camp or to the wedding. The Sunrader was a total champ and made the whole trip without the slightest hiccup. I managed to get 17.9 mpg for the whole trip, which was much better than I was expecting. I rolled it over the 100k mark on the trip, and I hope I can continue to put many more miles on it with as many good stories in the future.

[wanderso]

Great trip!