I was a little sad to leave my new favorite place, Montana, on Sunday morning. However, the drive to the Canadian border did not disappoint. The views were absolutely gorgeous and I was able to soak in every last drop of the beauty of this state.
As we approached the border I realized I was a little nervous: What if they detained us? Made us get out of the car? What if I couldn't control Nolan? Adam passed over our Passports and the questions started. Seriously, who travels with over $10,000 in cash? Not us. Next question, please. When the agent was satisfied with our answers; no firearms, no goods to sell, and we were only staying four days. We got the green light. Phew, as we drove into Canada, I felt like we got away with something.
Sunday night we stayed at a hotel that had a "water park" inside. Jack had been counting down the days to Canada and visiting the water park. I am lucky that our sweet six year old was completely satisfied with two water slides, a pool for cannonballs, and a zero entry area for the wee ones. We were the only ones in the pool area that evening and we enjoyed ourselves. Nolan even went down the slides with Adam and me, a time or two.
After successfully wearing all three children out, we ordered pizza to our room and settled in for the night, or at least we tried. There was a youth bowling tournament in town and I am pretty sure every bowler in Canada was in our hotel and staying on our floor. It took every ounce of patience I had to not open my door and ask them to keep it down. Some of you may know, that I channeled my dad for a time in Michigan and joined a bowling league with some dear friends. I may not have been the best bowler, but the friendships I made I will treasure forever. As I laid in my hotel bed in Calgary I had to remind myself that these youngsters were making the same memories for themselves. I just wished they could have done it in their rooms and not in the hallway (or at least spoke in English so I knew what was so funny).
Miles Traveled: 597 (Calgary, Alberta to Fort St. John, British Columbia on Monday, June 3)
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| The Captain of our Ship |
Have you ever driven north through Alberta, Canada? Oh my, it is a loooong drive. And it was nothing like my beloved Montana. There were a lot of fields, cows, and a few more fields. At one point Adam mentioned that it reminded him a lot of Wisconsin.
We stayed in the bustling little town of Fort St. John, British Columbia. I am learning in the Milepost, an awesome guidebook for driving the Alaskan highway, that the majority of the towns we are visiting and driving through were homesteaded as the construction of the highway was occurring in the 1940s. Ft. St. John continued to thrive with the discovery of oil and the tourism industry.
We went to dinner at a trendy restaurant that was next door to our hotel. The kids were getting squirrelly. It always seems that final hour of driving is torture for them (and for us) and dinner can then be hit or miss. And this night their behavior did not provide for the most relaxing of meals. Have you ever tried eating a wrap while a squirmy two year old picks apart a grilled cheese while sitting on your lap? No? You should give it a go.
Anyway, I took Jack and Nolan back to the hotel while Adam finished his beer with Claire. And wouldn't you know it, that cute waitress struck up a conversation with him after we'd gone. While chit-chatting she asked him where I was from. When he told her from the Michigan/Ohio area she said, "Oh, I thought I detected an accent." What?!?!
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