The Orange Jeep Dad's...blog.: Scout Trip - Headed to the Heart of the American Redoubt

Scouting the American Redoubt for a Homestead Location

Part 3

Let the Roadtrip Begin

Once I got all packed up and gassed up, I made a few last pitstops for road supplies and headed north. I've traveled enough on the road that I know what works for me in terms of keeping my brain occupied and staying awake.

In high school and early college, I used to drive from Oklahoma to Arizona to visit my mom. It was a good 18 trip one way. That is when I learned the value of taking plenty of good music to keep you focused and in some cases energized.

Now that we have cell phones (didn't have them in high school), it is easy to pack along some entertainment for long trips. Include some headphones in your Bug Out Bag and you can keep your brain busy for a long time.

A few of my favorites include having podcast episodes to listen to and movies to watch. Some of my faves that take a while to watch on Amazon Prime:

The Hobbit series takes a good seven hours for just the three movies. My total trip was around ten hours so if I get bored, these guys will keep me entertained for a long time. I'm headed out on my own Unexpected Journey so it seemed appropriate.

Lonesome Dove is another good one.

To change it up, I still like to check in on Cody every now and then too. He's a real inspiration of a man taking on social media and still keeping up with solid, healthy content.

Although, I noticed under my OJD login on YouTube that it offered me to "JOIN" once I got to his channel. I had joined his channel back in the very beginning when he started. It was a recommendation from JW Rawles on SurvivalBlog to check this young man out.

Rawles was not wrong. Cody has been pumping out solid videos for around ten years now. I called in on his show once too.

Anyway, when I clicked to JOIN his channel again, I was prompted to subscribe for $4.99/mo for access? I guess you have to be a paid member now to join his channel?

Well, it's worth it. I would support Cody with that one. I like to watch his videos from time to time still. If you haven't seen his stuff, go pay him a visit.

He ran a contest one time and encouraged submissions of parody videos of himself. I submitted what I thought was hilarious but didn't win anything.

You can see the video I submitted called Coyote Attacks Dog - Shoot with Glock 26 Mashup.

So with my audio/video cache full, I added a few snacks for the road. I find a few Snickers bars and Twix candy bars help during periods of heavy eyelids.

I grabbed a large Diet Dr. Pepper and was headed north for St. Maries, Idaho.

I couldn't resist taking a quick photograph of this hilarious church marquee on the way out of Twin Falls.

The Cruise Control Route

I altered my course this time around and sought a route that would spare the switchbacks and cell signal dead zones.

I know enough people that visit the Coeur D'Alene area that I was offered many route suggestions. This time I headed slightly west by northwest and went through Oregon and Washington on my way to North Idaho.

I was able to use my cruise control and relax my legs during the first seven hours of the trip.

Then I was tempted with a GPS prompting to choose one of three routes that branched off east and terminated at my destination.

The most southern of the three options would save me 28 minutes and after seven hours, I was ready for less driving. So I took that final leg of the journey.

Bad choice. I ended right back in the switchbacks and internet dead zones.

I should have taken Kennewick through Spokane. Sure, it would have been longer but cruise control is worth it.

Nevertheless, I finally arrived at my destination.

Well, Hello Deer!

Finding my assigned "hospital apartment" was easy enough. The hospital had arranged for me to stay in a nice little place while I scout out the area for a more permanent solution.

I hopped out of my van and began to walk up towards the back porch so I could check out the place. Before I got very far from the van, I noticed a decent pile of scat near the steps to my back porch.

I looked up and quickly snapped a picture of these two apparently just hanging out next to my porch.

I had heard rumors of "town deer" before and now I met them firsthand. I could handle seeing wildlife like this in my backyard on a regular basis.

The home turned out to be decent when I arrived Saturday night. Sunday I reported to church.

Come See This Property

As church wrapped up, I sat and watched the congregation mingle and chat. I would be getting to know these folks very well in the next few years and I enjoyed sitting back anonymously and observing.

As fate would have it, the first gentleman who approached me ended up knowing where there was a nice piece of property for rent right on the edge of town.

It belonged to his friend and neighbor who had since relocated for work. He was now interested in renting out his home and this friendly neighbor had a key to the property.

A few brief phone numbers and address exchanges and I had an appointment to view 22 acres the very day after I arrived in St. Maries.

I have some great pictures and will describe this fantastic property in my next post. For now, It's 2 am and I'm getting a little droopy around the lids.

I need to finish off my late-night snack and head to Snoozeville.