My Very First Day in the Van

We drove four hours east from Ontario, OR (where we picked up the van) to make camp for the night. I used a combination of the iOverlander app and FreeCampsites.net to find a free public land campsite for the night and it was a beauty! As soon as we got there we saw that there were more beautiful campsites down closer to the Snake River so we surveyed the dirt road drive on foot and decided we should go for it. While I was in the van turning it around to head down to the other camp spots, I got stuck.

The ‘dirt’ around camp turned out to be hardpacked sand that turned into straight up sand once the weight of the van was on top of it. I got the rear wheels dug in pretty far and we had to get the shovel and dig the van out - we also threw an old Christmas tree (that was already at the campsite) in front of the wheels to give it more traction but didn’t end up using it because we went backwards instead of forwards.

We eventually got settled at camp and it was BEAUTIFUL! We were right next to a very wide bend in the Snake River and spent the evening making pasta, organizing the van, drinking Coors Banquet, and staring out the back of the van towards the sunset.

THE VAN HAS A HEATER - which is the best feature hands down. It is a diesel-powered heater that lives underneath the passenger seat and blows warm air towards the back of the van. It is hooked into the van’s diesel tank and battery setup so it’s literally as easy as setting the thermostat and that’s it! Enjoy some pictures of the camp site down below.