We've found heaven(s) on earth ...

July 15 - Montana
Last night was a VERY CHILLY night - holy cow. Used the furnace in the trailer but we’re going to end up using up our battery, as this site has no hookups. Glacier has been fantastic in terms of mountain scenery - we drove for hours through tight winding roads all the way up to Logan’s Pass - this is called the Going-To-The-Sun road, and is world renowned for good reason. Breathtaking - we took a thousand pictures. It’s amazing - these ridiculously narrow roads have rock wall on one side of you and a sheer drop off on the other. And yet, somehow they are managing to do construction up there! Just enough room for a car to pass, and still have a bulldozer working away.
We got to Logan’s and got out to walk around in the snow - the girls thought that was great. Little prairie dogs running around everywhere - nonstop entertainment to watch them. Emily had been fussy all day - frustrating, until we got back to the trailer and realized she actually had a fever and was probably feeling crappy. Poor kid.

July 16 - Montana,Alberta
Last night was brutal as we had no heat (battery died) and therefore no fridge/freezer which was a bit worrisome. Also, Emily was up all night long feeling so brutal with her high fever and now throwing up. Wow, we need showers and a laundromat - badly. These are the days that challenge you when you are traveling, that’s for sure. On the other hand - just looking around at the surrounding mountains is stunning. Today we drove to Waterton National Park, which was just across the Canadian border in Alberta. This park actually borders Glacier National Park - they are celebrating their centennial anniversary. We are meeting up with Sheri, Russ, Wyatt and Aurora at Waterton to camp together for a few days! What started as a random idea (hey, wanna meet up?) has actually come to fruition. Was fantastic to see them - to meet the baby for the first time and see how big Wyatt is now. The campground is right in town, so we are not only at the base of the mountains, but can also walk into town for everything we need. Even better are the hookups, showers, laundry...aghhh. Civilization again. Now if we could just get Emily healthy.

July 17-18 - Alberta
Had a great time with Sheri and Russ and the kids - just hanging out. Heading to the park & splashpad, walking to see a waterfall nearby, throwing rocks into the lake. We are pretty tired from being up all night with Emily still and Sheri & Russ have been experiencing life in a tent with 2 kids. Not so much sleep there either. Ah well - thank god for coffee! Wyatt has been fascinated with all the prairie dog holes everywhere - with them popping up every 2 minutes to look around. Between them and the deer wandering everywhere, it gives us lots to watch. Russ had his birthday, so we hung up the balloons and Happy Birthday banner on the trailer and surprised him. AJ even made him a pancake in the shape of an “R” - I mean, it doesn’t get better than that. The next day, they packed up and headed home, and we enjoyed our last day in Waterton by renting a 4-man bicycle, doing laundry, talking to Mounties, catching up on emails and even saw a movie in their tiny theatre - Toy Story 3. Not nearly as good as the first 2 movies - ah well. Emily is hanging in there but still so sick - has barely eaten a thing in nearly 5 days so is basically living off of fluids.

July 19 - Montana
Today was a day of driving as we work our way south towards Yellowstone. Emily was still no better so we decided to stop in Browning on an Indian reservation and took her to the Blackfeet Community hospital. Four long hours later we had finally seen a doctor - he figured it was strep throat and gave us a prescription. Drove a few more hours and camped in Wolf Creek as a stopover. Few sites along the river at the base of a dam, primarily for fishermen - cost us a whole $6 a night!

July 20 - Montana
Thank god Em finally had a good night’s sleep (so we could too!) - what a relief. Drove to Yellowstone today. We are still in awe of all the scenery as we drive - the novelty has not even come close to wearing off. We drive through flat plains, then hills and mountains - endless stretches as far as you can see. And not a sign of civilization, except for the long, winding stretches of fences dividing the properties. Stopped in a little town for a stretch and bought the girls some cowboy...ahem..I mean, cowgirl hats - yeeehawwwwwww!! Arrived at the KOA in West Yellowstone - we made it.

July 21-23 Montana,Wyoming,Idaho
We have had a great time exploring the little town of West Yellowstone and obviously the national park itself (it was apparently the first national park in the world). Emily was still sick the first day but we managed to go through the park anyway, and see some absolutely amazing landscapes. Massive gorges with incredible rock formations, and intense waterfalls. The park is known for its geothermal qualities most specifically, and we dutifully went and watched Old Faithful spew into the air - right on schedule - pretty cool! The thermal hot pools, with swirling colours and rising steam, are beautiful and don’t even seem real. Oh, but the smell is real. Real stinky. The girls were not impressed.
Saw lots of elk, a bear (VERY far away), and some pretty intimidating buffalo that wandered across the road. They turn to look at you and you suddenly need a new pair of underwear - just ask these people on the motorcycle. The town itself was just as much fun, with its western flavour - yes, we even took one of those old fashioned photos where you dress up. AJ was less than thrilled initially but it ended up being pretty hilarious - we was cowboys!! We were able to see live bears and wolves at a sanctuary, and went to an IMAX movie on Yellowstone park. The first time the girls have been to one of those and watching their reactions as things came up close was priceless. In the opening scene, a bear zooms right up to the screen and I thought Megan would tunnel right through the back of her chair. Then the scene changed, there was this quiet moment in the movie, where all you hear is Megan in her loudest voice - “whoa!! That bear came CLOSE mommy”.

Our final moment in Yellowstone was to go to a rodeo - it was great!! I think maybe we are true fans at heart, ‘cause we were right into it. Who’d a thunk it? The girls thought it was great that there were lots of cowgirls in it, and Megan even got to go into the ring. The had all the kids come in and then released a calf with a ribbon attached to its tail for the kids to chase. Megan had a ball running around without a clue in the world what she was doing - and at the end she got a gold coin. Wow - it doesn’t get much better than that. One funny thing - we ran into a family for the third time here - three different places - Mount Rushmore, Deadwood (South Dakota) and now Yellowstone. Weird. The reason I remembered her was that she had a guide dog with her - a Great Dane no less. Apparently she is a dog trainer and rescued the dog - dog is blind and deaf and yet has the ability to sense changes in the girls blood sugar(she had a condition - not sure if it is diabetes?). Anyway, this dog is now trained as a medic guide dog for the girl - how bizarre is that?


July 24-25 Idaho, Utah
Emily is finally 100% better (thank god) and we headed to Salt Lake City which was really just a stopover for us - a chance to get some laundry and shopping done. We are now into the HEAT and are going to have to get used to that for the next little while. Thank god we have A/C in the trailer! The drive here was, as seems to be typical with this trip, filled with fascinating landscape changes. From flat farmland to dry, arid fields, and then incredibly rocky terrain changing into rocky mountainous hills.
Some interesting things about Salt Lake City - Salt Lake is 3 times saltier than sea water and nothing lives in it except this one type of brine shrimp. Also, the world’s first KFC is here. Further to that, this is the headquarter for the Church of Latter Day Saints - yessir, polygamy is alive and well here (though no longer legal). I told AJ to make sure not to get arrested as he gathered a few more wives for the trip. One last thing - they have a huge copper mine here that is so big you can see it from space! We didn’t get a chance to see it (as ironic as that sounds), or much else since it was Sunday, but this concludes your lesson on Salt Lake City.


July 25- Utah
Drove to Moab today - OH MY GOD. If there is a place that doesn’t even look like you are on the same planet...this is it. Are there KOA’s on the moon? Moab is a little touristy town surrounded by several different national parks to explore. It is widely known for off-road jeep and mountain bike trails, rafting...you name the adventure sport and it is here. It is about a billion degrees but we have learned that you head into the desert in the early hours of the day and that’s it's too easy to get dehydrated.
We’ve had three full days here and have seen so much. Arches National Park, aptly named, showcased some unbelievable rock arch formations that defy gravity. Just driving through the desert as you head into the park is amazing - and the incredibly huge rock formations that rise up around you are fantastic. I know I keep using the same adjectives to describe these things but really, there is no other way to convey the mind-blowing impressions you get when you look at them. Rocks that are just barely perched atop these cliffs - you can just about imagine them finally crashing down to join the pile below. We had the girls up at 5:30am to get out to the parks by 6:30 in order to get a jump on the heat - was perfect. No people, and fairly cool to start - you could hear a pin drop it’s so quiet. We’d be the only car as far as you could see for the first little while, and even later there were very few. The other park we went through was called Canyonlands - you’ll never guess - we saw canyons. But truly I can’t even describe the immense size of these things - what I picture the Grand Canyon to be (so can’t wait to see that next). Again, the way these rocky cliffs form over time just boggles the mind. Emily was so proud that she learned to use the rock markers to follow a trail - what a little hiker!
Since the truck has 4x4, AJ used his “Jeep College” driving skills (yes, he actually took this "course") to take us through 3 different off road trails.

HOLY CRAP!!

What would start as a sweet little dirt road,would then morph into driving uphill over boulders where I had to get out and scout ahead and direct him over these things so we wouldn’t get grounded on top of one. The next ones were rated a bit easier, but still had us driving pretty rocky roads on the absolute brink of the mountains as we worked our way though the switchbacks. Two hands on the wheel, that’s for SURE. Hilariously the girls slept through a lot of this, heads bouncing around so hard I thought we’d be at the chiropractor the next day for whiplash for sure. Or they’d be attempting to colour as we catapulted our way through the rough turns. All I’d hear is “bumpy road, daddy!” while I was gritting my teeth and praying to the off-road gods that we didn’t wreck our truck. Our vacation transportation. Our only method of transportation for getting home. Good god. Then I hear “mommy, why are your eyes shut?” - oh, just a bit sleepy sweetie...luckily she didn’t notice the death grip I had on the armrest... Anyway, we survived the off-road experience and we still have a vehicle with which to continue our adventure.


... tomorrow we're off to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon!!