If you’ve never been to Bellingham, WA, we highly recommend you go – especially if you like beer. A hidden gem and brewing mecca, Bellingham has some unique spots we enjoyed checking out during our time there: Aslan Brewing, Melvin, and Chuckanut. After two nights at Bellingham RV, we finally thawed out our icicle from a full-vessel deep freeze at Mt. Baker and hit the road for Crystal Mountain.
Our arrival at Crystal was our official turn-around point for the #EndlessCaravan adventure. Our time there was nothing short of interesting. After getting our tickets in the morning, we blindly navigated our way around the mountain, doing our best to get lost and find the undiscovered stashes of fresh powder. We were blessed to have met a solo rider, Manuela, who knew the mountain much better than we did. She showed us around, led us to some hidden spots, and became a fast friend. If you visit Crystal, be sure to pack some extra Benjamins too. They loosely hand out $100 fines for what seems like every wrong step you make – especially the RV parking situation, which is not at all “crystal clear.” Either way, we were grateful to be able to recover the mood and celebrate Ryan’s birthday that night with some newly acquired friends at The Snorting Elk.
After riding with one of Ryan’s clients the next day, followed by an intimate dinner party, we planned our departure for the next morning.
We had a family member visit us who was craving warmer weather, which led our decision to go visit Napa Valley. After an overnight stop in Shasta Lake, we arrived into Napa on Saturday afternoon, guided by the light of In-N-Out Burger.
One of the most rewarding parts of traveling is the ability to connect with different people in so many different places. We received a direct message via Instagram a couple of weeks back from a follower in Napa, who openly invited us to reach out if we ever found ourselves in the area. Fortunately, we did find ourselves in the area and had the pleasure of meeting him at Robert Mondavi Vineyard, where he is a winemaker. We were grateful for his hospitality, tour of the vineyard and incredible tasting. We were even more grateful for how welcoming he and his wife were, sharing a meal and swapping travel stories. Whether it was the wine or the sunshine, we made many new friends during our time in Napa, including our new dear friends at Revik Wine.
Our time in Napa was the longest we had gone without wearing a jacket on this entire trip. After recharging our batteries (solar style) and a delicious meal with family at Mustards, we said goodbye to Napa and hit the road for snowy Tahoe. We timed the travel just right to be arriving during their best snow week yet. We’re ready to hit the slopes again, although this time, we’ll be swapping out beer for all of our newly acquired vino!
