Safe and Sound in Calgary

Well, we have arrived safe and sound in Calgary. The drive took 4 days, but we all made it here in one piece. For those of you who are interested, here is the tale of our journey.

Day 1 (Wednesday) - Abilene, TX to Clayton, NM
Rebecca turned 1 week old today, and we set off on our journey northward. We left Abilene around 11 am. Months ago, I had prepared a schedule for us of places to stop and hotels etc. I had done this up with the thought that I would still be pregnant (the schedule had us only stopping twice a day for meals...not every two hours for feeding!) So, on day one we were supposed to travel 642 miles to Colorado Springs. Needless to say, between leaving 3 hours later than scheduled, having to stop every two hours for me to walk (to prevent blood clots) and feeding Rebecca, we didn't make it to Colorado Springs. We did make it out of Texas and into New Mexico though. We stopped to eat our packed lunch at a small park by the lake. Jesse had fun running around and throwing rocks into the water. The ducks and geese thought it was food and came rushing over. Some baby geese wandered over, and the mama and papa geese hissed at Mike and Jesse before herding their young away. We stopped in Clayton, NM for the night - at the same hotel we stayed at on our way down. It was 11 pm before everyone was in bed and asleep. Rebecca woke up around 2ish, hungry. She ate for over an hour. Then she woke up at 5:30 to eat again. This time Jesse also woke up and climbed into bed with Mike. Jesse laid there contently, talking to himself and snuggling with Mike. Around 6 everyone was up, getting showered and packing up. We managed to eat breakfast and leave shortly after 8.


Day 2 - Clayton, NM to Wheatland, WY
We managed to put a good 3 hours in this morning while both kids slept in the van. We traveled slowly through New Mexico where they are still working on twinning the highway. As we entered Colorado and drove through the hills on the southern border, we reminisced of driving down to Abilene pulling the trailer, and how nice it was to actually go the speed limit this time through (which is a wonderful 75 mph on the interstate). We stopped for lunch in Pueblo, CO at a McDonalds so Jesse could play in the PlayPlace while I fed Rebecca. When she was done and we were getting ready to eat our packed lunch, Mike pulled out the Cool-a-tron, and noticed that all our food was warm, really warm. He had plugged it in backwards, on the heat setting. I found it extremely humourous. Mike didn't at the time, but I'm sure he will someday. So, we picked through the food and threw out our yogurt, mayo, turkey meat, and milk (which had started to separate or curdle or something!) Then Mike and Jesse went to Wal-Mart (which just happened to be in the same parking lot) and bought some food to replace what we had lost. I sat and fed Rebecca again. Then we ate in this big grassy area beside the parking lot (Colorado grass is so nice). Rebecca ate once more (she's a hungry girl) and had another dirty diaper (third one since we had stopped), and we were off again. We drove through Denver. Traffic wasn't too bad, but still not fun. It took at least an hour to get through the city. At some points, the interstate had 6 lanes each way, and traffic still came to a stop. We were glad to get out of there and stopped in Lafayette for a supper break. Jesse was spinning in circles in the parking lot and fell, scraping his face all up. Our second night we got a hotel in Wheatland, WY (same city we stayed at on the way down, different hotel). Jesse and Mike had a blast down at the pool while I got Rebecca ready to bed. We had a fairly good night, and got up around 6. We were on the road again by 8 which felt good.

Day 3 - Wheatland, WY to Great Falls, MT
Today was a long day. Jesse did fairly well considering this was his third day stuck in his car seat. We stopped in Kasey, WY for lunch at a rest area. Jesse got to run around in the pet exercise area with Mike while I once again fed Rebecca. After Kasey we drove to Billings, MT where we decided to stop again at McDonalds. Jesse had fun at the PlayPlace, I fed the baby, got my "lunch" to go (it was around 5 before I got to eat it), and we were on the road again. We really wanted to get to Great Falls since it would make the next day a lot shorter. Jesse cried for over an hour on the way to Great Falls. We kept expecting he would fall asleep since he was really tired. As we drove, Jesse started making this strained face like he was trying really hard to poop. We thought he was constipated since he hadn't had a lot of fruits and veggies in the past couple of days. Anyway, he probably strained for 10-15 minutes. When we got to the hotel, Mike went to change Jesse's diaper. It was really full, and Jesse was definitely not constipated. He had pooped just fine, and boy did it smell. As Mike described it "the smell burned my eyes." We took it out to the dumpster, but our hotel room still smelled until morning.

Day 4 - Great Falls, MT to Calgary, AB
We got on the road fairly early again today, around 8. We were at the border by 10ish and maybe waited in line for 20-30 minutes. When we got to the window, we breezed through questioning and were on our way. That was a huge relief for me, since Rebecca doesn't have a birth certificate yet. We stopped in Lethbridge for lunch at a park by the lake. Mike and Jesse got to play at the playground (Mike commented today that he feels like a single parent the past couple of days). We ate down by the lake. Jesse had fun watching and chasing the birds. It was a great place to stop and nice weather too. Jesse fell in the parking lot and scraped up his knee, but recovered fairly quickly. I was changing Rebecca before we left, and had just gotten her diaper off and her all cleaned up when she started peeing. At it wasn't just a little pee either. It went everywhere, all up her back and in her hair (she was on a slight incline). So, she got a baby wipe bath and a new set of clothes. At least when little girls pee, it doesn't spray all over you! We arrived in Calgary around 4, and at John and Brenda's by 4:30. Jesse finally got to run around and chase the puppies. Rebecca got loved on by her grandparents. Mike won't have to drink any more energy drinks. And I can finally stop wearing my compression socks!

We are glad to be here and look forward to settling in to a routine over the next couple of days. I will try to do a better job of keeping everyone updated on what's happening out here.