Alaska 7. Road Warriors July 16

Today’s itinerary includes something other than driving. We are visiting the Hoh Rainforest to take a hike on the river trail. 

We drive a bit and see very few cars. So it is with utter confusion that we start seeing signs saying “Parking lot full. Expect waits exceeding one hour” lining the road every few hundred feet like signs for Wall Drug in South Dakota. It was 9 am. Could it really be full?

Eventually we reached the park gate where there were six cars ahead of us. They were moving slowly — seemingly paying and proceeding — so that was good. When it was our turn we paid $30 for the privilege and proceeded toward the visitor center. We rounded a bend to utter chaos. Where on EARTH did these people come from? The lot, the roads leading to the lot, the overflows were all full.

However in an unexpected turn of events, the OVERSIZED parking was OPEN! You had to be an RV or a car with a trailer to park — which we are! When does that ever happen?

I don’t like crowds. And I REALLY don’t like crowds when I’m hiking. But that’s what National Parks kind of are. I thought I was prepared, but I guess I wasn’t. The good news was that the river trail was the least trafficked of the three options. It still lots of people but it was tolerable. 

I know sound like a total hypocrite. It isn’t lost on my, I assure you. I mean *I AM* a visitor. What makes me special? Nothing. I know that. I’m just telling you what’s in my crazy head.

Dave and I were trying to remember when we last visited a National Park and neither of us can remember — which oughta tell you something. 

After we finished our hike (very nice but nothing over-the-top special), we stopped at a turnout to make some lunch. It was during this sojourn that I finally agreed with Dave’s continual and unending obsession with the state of the Bronco hitch. He had been going on and on and about it since leaving. And I finally said, “Yeah. It looks really terrible.” I had not told him that since I had begun SECRETLY obsessing about it maybe 24 or 48 hours earlier. I didn’t TELL him because I didn’t want to 1) admit it, and 2) add to his obsession or 3) have to deal with it.

Adding insult to injury, we just REPLACED the 4Runner because of how it towed the camper. How can we STILL be having problems towing the camper? The Topo 2 camper is not like some behemoth. It’s 2000 dry weight with 250 lb tongue weight. While the Bronco isn’t like a pick-up; it’s not made to be a towing vehicle. It still has a 3500 lb towing capacity with a max tongue weight of 350. And we aren’t anywhere near that!

You may remember from Alaska 1, the first post, that Dave had literally JUST replaced the hitch receiver on the Bronco. When he brought it home the day before we left and hitched up the camper, the hitch went straight out. It was perfect. In fact, the spare tire just barely hit the ball as the gate was swung open. Now, it had more than 2” of clearance. What this tells us is that the hitch receiver has bent once again. Originally, we thought the Bronco came with a bent hitch receiver from the factory. But we know that when we started the trip the replacement hitch was straight. So it has definitely bent since we left – a seriously FREAKY situation. 

Much, much googling and research ensued. 

And where we have landed is that we (but really he because I haven’t had a lot to do with the Bronco), greatly underestimated the affect the 12” hitch extender impacted the hitch capacity. We have the hitch extender so that we can open the stupid back gate on the Bronco. It is HUGE and LONG and HEAVY! Opening that gate and risking it hitting the camper and cracking the fiberglass would be no bueno — though online I found plenty of people on forums carving idiots like us up for being so “incredibly stupid.”

I found a calculation online to figure out what our actual tongue weight/hitch capacity was with the set-up we were using, and I think we have determined we overtaxed the Bronco hitch. So it’s our fault. BUT SERIOUSLY. All this tells me is that the Bronco is all show, no go. Like a lot of the guys that drive them. Not Dave of course. Just an observation.

Dave is now saying, “I guess I’m just gonna have to get a pick-up.” And I have just kept my head down, on my computer, writing this damn blog. Nothing good can come from me responding to this. 

Guess what we did next?

We drove.

And drove and drove and drove.

And when there was one bar of cell service we googled hitch repair places. And Bronco forums. And when there wasn’t, we talked about the hitch. It was a really fun day. 

We drove all the way around Olympic National Park. At the very top we drove out to a spot called Dungeness Spit Recreation Area, assuming it would look like all the other beachy-type campgrounds we’d see so far, but oddly it was very quiet, not ON the beach and kind of cute — in a Florida/brackish way. (Forgot to take a picture). So we picked the most secluded spot and I made a crazy concoction of ingredients and called it a pasta for . I’m so sad I forgot to take a picture!! Here is a list of what all went in to it:

Italian sausage, onion, peppers, garlic, cherry tomatoes, Napa cabbage, Rosé, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, penne pasta. 

I’m going to patent it. 

We wandered out to the bluff, just steps away from our spot and watched the sun set over Vancouver Island while I forced Dave to play a game of cribbage to keep him awake until 9pm (the time of the sunset). And you’ve just got to see this:

We had the SAME HAND! He led and every card he laid down, I played the same one (for 2 points each). Have you EVER heard of such a thing?

The sun set and we were asleep less than 15 minutes later. I’m telling you, driving is hard work!

Series Navigation

<< Alaska 8. Road Warriors July 17Alaska 6. Road Warriors July 15 >>