Summer Escape 2025
Let’s get out of this AZ Heat!!
Last year, we decided that we wanted to do everything in our power to leave Arizona for the summer. The heat was oppressive, and we felt trapped inside all the time.
So this year we made it happen!
We have a massive road trip planned, and we will post updates throughout!
Day 1 – Driving
To start, we are heading to Kelowna, British Columbia, for a week to get my 1/2 sleeve tattoo finished (woot!).
We drove 865 miles to Idaho Falls to sleep for the night, and the drive was pretty uneventful, which is always what you want on a road trip.
Our plan was to unload what we needed for the longer-term stays and only keep what we needed for Canada, and then head straight to bed.
Unfortunately, no trip is without incident, and as we were unloading, we realized the fridge wasn’t on like we thought. We happened to notice the front 12V was having issues, but we figured it was just an old charger. Nope, the 12V fuses throughout the car were burned.
An hour later, trying to deal with nice but annoying BMW things, we got them replaced, and we could get some much-needed sleep!
Day 2 – Driving
Another couple hundred miles, 739 to be exact, and we made it to Kelowna!
We hit rain around Missoula, and the clouds were so cool! Vancouver was the last time we saw clouds and mountains like this. Some of the mountains almost looked like they were on fire or steaming with the movement of clouds so low.
The drive continued to be easy and uneventful, letting us finish the 5th Bobiverse book about the same time we hit the border.
We were a little nervous about how the border would go. Sometimes they can be friendly, and other times not so much.
I am happy to report it was super easy, took 5 minutes, and the guy was helpful, confirming that while we had food, none of it was a concern. Apparently, they are only worried if you have barrels of milk or something 🤪.
It took another 2 hours to get to Kelowna, and it was gorgeous! Lots of rain and endless trees!
Day 3-8 Kelowna, BC
The week we spent in Kelowna was AMAZING! Definitely a new favorite place to visit, which works out well because we will be back to visit my tattoo artist.
There was so much to do and excitement that it will have to be a separate post to get it all in, so check it out here and enjoy a sneak peek at our photos.
~Use arrows on the left and right to navigate the album, or open in Google Photos to view~
Day 9 Driving
Thankfully, our drive back to Idaho Falls was a breeze. We listened to The Kaiju Preservation Society, which was a great book.
It took about 12 hours and another 1,200 miles before we arrived at the house we rented to get settled in!
Also, good news, the US Border Patrol was super easy. Talked a little bit about my tattoo and then sent us on our way.
Day 10-37 Idaho
Our first weekend has been a blast! I don’t know how we will maintain this much excitement for the summer, but if it keeps up, we are going to need the 6 months of AZ winter to recover 😜.
On Saturday, we started our morning with a bike ride to the river to attend the Pride Parade and Festival, followed by the Farmers Market.
The Pride events were a lot of fun, and people went all out for it, which I love. We are already talking about how we can up our game for next year and the outfits and accessories we can get. I am also so proud of Idaho Falls and the people who showed up in support of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Idaho Falls Farmers Market has also grown in the years that we have been in AZ, and it is incredible! We got fruits and sourdough, snacks as we walked through, and tons of vendors and things to purchase.
The best surprise was that the Original Chimney Roll (Instagram here) was here in Idaho Falls!!!!
It was the same family and booth from the AZ Renaissance Festival, and we immediately had to get our Chimney Roll. Don’t worry, we plan to get one every week while we are here! 😋
Then Nathan was miraculously able to find a bike shop in Idaho Falls (of all places!) with the Gazelle eBikes we wanted from Kelowna. While initially we only bought one for him, he quickly convinced me to also get one so we have now fully upgraded our bike systems!
That also means that we have spent a significant portion of our week biking every morning and doing different things around town, because they are awesome!
We are still working out what accessories we want, but the basket and trailer have been pretty great.
On Wednesday, we were able to go to Alive After 5. It turned out to be a pretty great event with drinks and food stations/trucks.
The music was good, and next time we will remember to bring a blanket to sit on. Maybe even some backpacking chairs that would easily fit on our bikes!
After that, we were able to get tickets to the Chuckers baseball game with my parents. While we don’t care about baseball, it was still fun to visit and be outside. My dad, the luckiest person you will ever meet, was selected to spin the wheel during an event. It was Spud Days at the game (yes, Idaho takes every opportunity to celebrate potatoes 🤣), so we won a bag of Lays!
On our way to the park, I jacked up my shin! What I thought was a transition from sidewalk to the road was still a curb, and when I went down the pedal scraped my whole shin. Gave me a dead leg the rest of the way to the park, and let me tell you, trying to pedal with one leg is very difficult without clip-ins! 🤣
Another year and another Fourth of July celebration! This year wasn’t the best we have had, but we made the best of it.
We woke up early and packed up our bikes for a full day of festivities, and started for the parade route where extended family would join us throughout the morning.
Unfortunately, things went bad quickly. My mom fell off her bike face-first, and she had to be taken to the ER. Thankfully, she is on the road to recovery now and will be ok, but it was not a good morning.
Nathan and I finished the ride to the parade route to make sure that we got our spot and that the family knew where to go. Thankfully, some of the extended family was able to find their way there while we were taking care of my mom, so it worked out.
That is, until the rain started to pour… and pour… and pour!
Most people just gave up being dry and let the rain come. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold, so we were wet and chilly but not so cold that we were shivering.
We ended up having to twist and wring out the blankets by the end of the parade because they were soaked, as was everyone in our group.
Nathan had left the parade route early to head over to save our spot at the river for the evening fireworks. He got pretty wet while riding over, but then he was able to hide under the canopy for the worst of it and give us a 2-minute warning on what weather was to come 😆.
The family split up for a bit after the parade to clean up, grab afternoon snacks and supplies, and then met us over at the river.
Given my mom’s accident that morning and how wet everything was, I didn’t dare ride my bike to the river as planned. Instead, my aunts’ friends were able to take her, me, and my bike over to the river to hold our spot.
By the time we got there, the rain and slowed and the sun came out for the rest of the day. So Kristen, Nathan, and I spent the afternoon chatting and catching up, which was the highlight of the day.
I also decided to give up on my low-FODMAP diet and try a different approach for my issues. That meant I got to eat all the food truck delicacies that I previously had to miss out on! Corn Dogs and Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese were just as good as I imagined them.
We did have a hell of a dust storm roll through around dinner time, but it didn’t last more than 15-20 minutes, and then the sky cleared for the rest of the night.
The Melaleucca Freedom Celebration (fireworks) went off without a hitch and was another fantastic show.
I do think we will try to change things up next year in some way, but I always enjoy hanging out outside and with family, so that won’t change any time soon!
Having the 4th on a Friday was perfect to sleep in the next day and then head to the Farmers Market!
We met up with some family and got to enjoy more chimney cakes and whatever else we found, including some cheese, chocolate, fruit cups, and a new decoration for the house!
After all that excitement, Sunday was a relaxing day to go see the new F1 movie (which was fantastic) and some dinner with both of our parents.
Keeping up with the trend, our weeknights were packed full again with visiting parents, events down at the river, and random errands. We even did some apartment hunting as one of our options for next year’s snowbirding adventure.
With only two weekends left, one of which was a camping trip, we knew we had to get all of our heavy chores done Saturday/Sunday. On the list was to redo the pop-up trailer bumper so we can attach the bike hitch and bring the bikes with us camping (as well as home), and then lay a new concrete pad in my parents’ backyard.
Thankfully, we have a retired welder in our family who was able to help with the bumper pretty easily.
The concrete pad was a different story. I say this on day 3 after starting this project, and I am SO SORE! Seriously, muscles I didn’t know I had in my hands and forearms are so tired! Even grabbing my phone is difficult. 😩
That said, it has also been kind of fun. Hard and exhausting, but I am now a master at mixing up the concrete. The wheelbarrow sucks, and 80 lb concrete bags are HEAVY, but it feels good to have a project.
We had another great week of working during the day and visiting with family in the evenings. We were able to go to another Alive After 5 and picked up some backpacking chairs that fit on our bikes.
On Friday, we packed up and headed camping! We packed a lot into a few days, so I had to write a post all on its own, which you can check out here!
~Use arrows on the left and right to navigate the album, or open in Google Photos to view~
This is our last week in Idaho 😭. We have had a blast this past month, and I am going to miss the amazing weather and seeing family so much. Hopefully, we will be able to make it work next year to spend the entire summer here.
Our week was a lot of the same: visits with family, bike rides whenever we could, and then we packed up to head to our next destination.
While I am sad to leave Idaho, we are both excited about the rest of our trip as well. Plenty more adventure to come!
Day 38-39 Driving
Coming Soon!
Day 40-46 Chicago, IL
Coming Soon!
Day 47 Driving
Coming Soon!
Day 48-73 Minneapolis, MN
Coming Soon!
Day 74-76 Driving
Coming Soon!
