So close...

Day 10
9 July

Billings, Montana to Colorado Springs, Colorado
8 hrs 44 min 621 miles

Today was our longest day yet! We drove to Colorado Springs to my in-laws house where we will get to relax and be out of the car for a few days! Since we had a late night we let Chase sleep in while the older two went swimming again with their Aunt Hope. We brought up breakfast from downstairs and ate it on our balcony over looking the inside of the hotel.

Once on the road we made a push to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we found Chick-fil-a! We got it to go because we wanted to get to the Springs as soon as possible!

The last 2 hours of driving was the worst; so close yet so far away! Chase kept complaining about how long it was taking because he just wanted to be at Mimi and Papas! After arriving we unloaded the trailer, chatted for a bit and hit the hay! It was a long day of driving and so nice to be somewhere familiar!

Monday we will make the drive to Altus; one more 8 hr drive and we will be to our new base. It just doesn't seem real that we are moving yet; it feels like a vacation....

Susan

Where her Daddy was born :)

Wyoming

It Feels Like America, It Just FEELS Different!

Day 9
8 July

Lethbridge Canada to Billings, Montana
6hrs 36 min 406 miles

Today we hit the road to the good ole U S of A! One last stop at Tim Horton's is a must, and this time we we got the box of 50 Timbits because hey, go big or go home right? Well we were doing both today! ;)

We stopped at the welcome center just before the Canadian/American line to see the big dinosaur out front and let the kids play in the rock cut-outs there.

Getting into the US was a breeze. The quote of the day is in the title and comes from my sister in law ;) After 7 days we finally had cell service, although I gotta say it was nice to be cut off from the world for a while. Reminded me of camping trips in Alaska, off the grid and just enjoying being in the moment, doesn't get much better then that.

We stopped at Fudruckers for lunch in Great Falls and ordered elk burgers. It was our first time trying them and they were SO good! Definitely different then cow, but not as game tasting as caribou or moose.

The rest of the day was spend driving to the hotel in Billings. We stayed at the C'mon Inn, and I gotta say, it was the BEST hotel we stayed at the whole trip! This place was awesome! You know how the Doubletree hotels have the room doors facing into the hotel and you can see down into the whole hotel area? This hotel was like that. It had a pool, a kiddie pool, 5 hot tubs, waterfalls, bridges and little ponds with fish in them. The kids were SO excited about the pool they couldn't wait to get down there and swim. We didn't arrive until about 9:00, so were able to get the kids in the pool about 9:30 as it closed at 11. Of course around 10:30, Chase, my newly 4 year old; super tough and fearless child, was running after I told him not to and slipped and hit the back of his head really hard on the tile. We checked and he was bleeding but from what we could tell it wasn't bad enough for stitches. We were mostly worried about internal bleeding and decided that you never mess with a head injury so we took him into the local ER. Thankfully he was acting fine, no vomiting or loss of consciousness so they said they didn't need to scan him, but they looked at the cut and said he did need staples. I was a bit surprised, but after they cleaned it out I could see what they were talking about. He did awesome though, we kept him busy with daddy's phone when the doctor put the staples in. He cried just a min and quickly calmed down. We're pretty sure he's going to be a PJ, spec ops or combat diver one day ;)

Gabriel, Chase and I arrived back at the hotel about 12:30 and got to sleep around 1.

Whew, never a dull moment with our family, thats for sure! ;) Just thankful Chase is going to be ok!

Susan

Yes, those would be pajamas...so what?

America here we come!

Beautiful Montana 

Riding the Sinclair Dino! 

Mountains, Waterfalls, Glaciers, Oh My!

Day 8
7 July 

Jasper National Park, Canada to Lethbridge, Canada 

7hrs 31 min  386 miles

Tonight is our last night in Canada! We are all getting a little sick of the car, but we agree that we are still sad our trip is almost over (well, the main part of the trip really). Today has been a gorgeous sunny day (FINALLY)! The past week has been really cloudy and gray which makes it hard to capture all the pretty colors! 

This morning we woke up, made a fire, grilled our last package of jalapeno cheddar caribou dogs for breakfast and boiled up some coffee. Breakfast of camping champions! We broke down camp and headed towards Banff National Park. This park is GORGEOUS! Seeing these mountains again makes me feel like I’m back in Alaska; makes me feel at home! Our first stop was a huge roaring waterfall. I had hopped out of the car just to take a few pics and then came back to the car saying everyone needed to get out of the car and come check it out! We hiked along around the waterfall taking it all in. 

We got back in the car and drove a bit, stopping at the lookout areas for me to take pictures. We came across another neat waterfall where just Gabe and I got out and hiked up it. We got up towards the top and could feel the water misting on us, definitely a refreshing and relaxing spot! Not too far after that we all got out of the car and hiked up to a huge glacier! It was neat to see where the glacier had started and after all these years where its recession point is now. We got as close to it as possible; it was a bit chilly and pretty windy near the glacier, but such a neat view.

The next stop was Lake Louise. It’s gorgeous and quite the attraction for tourists. There’s a huge hotel on the lake and lots of people out canoeing on it. There was even a lady in a wedding gown getting pictures and Chase says, “Mom why is she wearing THAT?!” haha! 

We then took the road to Moraine Lake, which has the most beautiful greenish/blue water and amazing mountains in the backdrop. Banff Park is definitely a must see, I can’t believe we didn’t go through it on the way to Alaska! I’m so glad we found out about it and checked it out this time! We will for sure have to take more time going through the park on the way back to Alaska and enjoy even more of it! There’s just so much to see/do from hiking, to lakes, to glaciers to waterfalls, to hot springs, canoeing, wildlife viewing, and gorgeous snow capped mountains; these two national parks that are practically attached are amazing! 

Susan 

Camping breakfast!

Hiking around the waterfall

Hope enjoying the views!

Hiking up to the glacier 

Lake Louise 

Moraine Lake

These really neat overpass bridges are made just for the wildlife! 

Pretend It's 1993!

Day 7
6 July

Grand Prairie, Canada to Jasper National Park, Canada 
5hrs 6 min 249 miles

Yesterday our first stop was at Tim Horton’s for some coffee and Timbits! Gotta get as much Tim Horton’s in as we can before we leave Canada!

We decided to make it a shorter day and camp in Jasper National Park. I worked on clearing my camera card in the car on the drive to the park. When we got in the park we immediately saw some elk on the side of the road. They were gorgeous and huge! We also saw some rams along the way by the water.  The national park has a small town in it; we initially decided to drive through the town to get gas and find a rest room, but once we drove into the town and saw how neat it was we decided to get out, walk around and find dinner. It’s a sleepy little town that reminds me a ton of Durango, Colorado. We decided to eat at their brewing company, which had a really awesome atmosphere. The kids were enjoying their spaghetti, and I was being a bad mom in letting them eat it the wrong way (see photos below), mostly because it was the longest spaghetti noodles I’ve ever seen in my life, so why not?

After dinner we walked up the main street and found some ice cream. Jude’s new favorite flavor (and mine too) is Rolo! After that we got back in the car and drove a few miles to Whistler Campground, which had around 780 campsites! We were able to get a site near the playground, bathrooms and showers. It was a super sweet campground! The kids played on the playground which was right behind our site while we set up the tent and got a fire going. Finally around 10:30 we called the kids over to our spot and hung out by the fire roasting marshmallows before we put them to bed. Oh, Hope and JD saw a mama elk just hanging out when they walked over to the bathrooms before bed. It was one of the best campsites we’ve ever been to.  Thankfully the mosquitoes weren’t out, so we were able to relax and enjoy the night.

More tomorrow! I can’t believe we only have 2 more nights until we get to Gabe’s family’s house in Colorado!


Susan

Elk as we entered Jasper National Park 

At the Brewing Company 

Jasper 

Jude helping us set up the tent 

JD found an awesome tree to climb at the campsite! 

Playground right behind our tent site 

Enjoying the fire and the nice wether!

If You Could Get The Sign In The Picture, That'd Be Great

Day 6
5 July

Fort Nelson, Canada to Grand Prairie, Canada
7 hrs 21 minutes


Today was a pretty boring and long driving day. We didn't have any fun stops for the day and just pressed on towards Grand Prairie.

We did stop in Dawson Creek to get a photo with the famous "Alaska Highway" sign. Before I even stepped out of the car a man walked over asking if I could take their picture, of course I said yes and when I got over to his family standing under the sign he says to me "If you could get the sign in the picture, that's be great." Ha ha, I couldn't help but laugh and really wanted to tell him I was a photographer and he didn't have to worry about that, but I just said of course and bit my lip.

We did leave behind the mountains and traded them for some beautiful farm country; reminded me a lot of Pennsylvania!

We settled into our hotel in Grand Prairie and made popcorn and did some laundry. Not much exciting to report. I'm super tired since I drove the whole day, so I'm off to bed! Tomorrow we plan to camp in Jasper National Park....super excited about that!

Gnight!

Susan

The start (or finish for us) of the Alaska Highway! 

Where Are We Actually Going??

Day 5
4 July

Liard Hot Springs, Canada to Fort Nelson, Canada
3 hrs 55min  189 miles

About 3 am this morning we woke up to the sound of a woodpecker, in which case, Gabe jumped out of the sleeping bag yelling "YEAH?!" thinking somehow someone was knocking on the tent door...he opened the window zippers, saw it was a woodpecker and got back into the sleeping bag claiming "It's just a woodpecker!" The funny part is when I mentioned it first thing in the morning he had no recollection of this happening and now claims that we are just making it up. Thankfully Hope saw it too and can back me up!

After a few more hours of sleep and praying a bear didn't get us, we all woke up, broke down camp and got ready to hit the hot springs! Liard Hot Springs is such an awesome spot, one of the many locations of the trip we were really looking forward to! A boardwalk leads you back to the hot springs where there are two sections you can get into. One side being hotter then the other and the other side a bit cooler, and the further you go down the cooler it gets. Thankfully the springs is isn't too deep so Cheyenne and JD were able to stand on their own the whole time. Even Jude loved splashing in the natural hot water! After getting out and changed we headed back to the car, got some snacks and made coffee with the jet boil (if you don't have one you should get one, I'm telling ya!).

Once everyone got some food in their system we headed towards our destination for the night; Fort Nelson. We knew it was going to be a short day of driving, so we were able to take our time and enjoy the scenery along the way. Muncho Lake is by far one of the prettiest lakes Ive ever seen! The water is such a gorgeous blueish/green color! I kept thinking it would have been awesome to explore the lake with a clear kayak! (of course it was overcast and gray out so the camera really didn't do the colors justice)

After Muncho Lake we stopped for gas at at the Toad River Lodge. We saw a sign for soft serve ice cream and since we weren't on a time crunch, we let the kids out to run a round and then checked out the shop. They have the largest hat collection hanging from the ceiling. It's pretty neat! We got a few ice cream cones and Cheyenne got a cinnamon roll. Jude tried his first ice cream and was grabbing at the cone for more! We really liked the Toad River Lodge and agreed it would be a neat place to camp the next time around.

We saw some more bears, bison and this time some mountain goats. Our total count for yesterday and today was 35 buffalo, 11 black bears, 4 sheep and 1 moose.

We made it to Fort Nelson and after checking in we ate dinner at Boston Pizza. Cheyenne and Hope split a pizza burger; I had a bite and it was so good! Pretty genius to put those two foods together!

We shuttled in all the suitcases and backpacks, pillows and dirty laundry. It's amazing how much stuff is needed on a trip like this! I got the boys showered and ready for bed and as Cheyenne was getting in the shower I heard a big crash and a cry for help. She had slipped and hit her chin and busted open her lip. Super upset and scared at the sight of blood I helped her out, got her wrapped up and wiped up her bloody lip. We decided we should take her into the ER to make sure she didn't need a stitch or two. Again we were able to leave the boys with Hope in the hotel room (thankfully Jude was already asleep in the pack-n-play) and took her across the street.

The whole place was locked up so we had to be buzzed in by some nurses. There were two nurses working, and I use that term pretty loosely because I'm not quite sure one of them was even a nurse; and we told them the story. The one nurse took a look at it and said she would have to call the doctor in if they were to do anything about it. The other "nurse" kept asking us if we really wanted service because "It costs a lot of money". We tried telling them we had insurance and even threw out "Tri-Care Prime" but they didn't quite understand. Like do Canadians not have insurance? The "nurse" kept saying how expensive it was and even brought out an itemized sheet, to which I told her I didn't care because she could just bill my insurance. She then asked me if I was American...here we go again.
The other nurse made the call to the doctor and came back basically saying she didn't think it needed stitches and because of the location on her lip they weren't able to put on a butterfly or use the super glue on it. Ok, thats fine, if you could have told me that in the first place that would have been nice... So back to the hotel we went, hoping that was the right call and that her lip heals quickly without busting open even worse on the trip.

Well thats about all the excitement for today! Off to bed it is!

Gnight!

PS- The title of the post comes from the question that Chase asks everyday in the car. We tell him we are going to Oklahoma, but he doesn't quite understand how far away it is and that it takes a long time to get there. So, when he asks where we are going and we reply, "Oklahoma" he then says, "No, where are we actually going???" Its pretty cute.

Susan

Liard Hot Springs 

I love this shot! Muncho Lake 

How could you not??

Toad River Lodge 

This picture just doesn't do it justice!