I am so far behind on my blog...that I didn't even write about our trip from Texas to Canada. Luckily, I did jot things down along the way so I would remember to write about them. So, here we go...
We left Abilene on Friday morning - on time, no less. That's a first for us. We were quite happy with the start to the day. The morning was fairly uneventful, and we didn't have to stop until lunch time...in Canadian, TX. We really wanted to take a picture by the "Canadian Visitor Center", but we didn't have time. We went to the town park, and found that the only picnic table they had didn't have any benches anymore, so we sat on our blanket and had a little picnic. Jesse and Rebecca found a puddle and had fun playing in it. After our lunch break we packed up and headed north again. Both kids napped in the afternoon, which is always nice. Rebecca, while she was sleeping, said "Uh-Oh," and then continued on with her snoring. It was quite funny we thought. We stopped for supper at Garden City, KS at a McDonalds (with a PlayPlace). It was raining, so I was glad we were inside for this meal. After supper we had 105 miles to drive before we reached our evening destination. We ran into a nasty storm that spit some golf ball size hail at us. We thought it looked cool to watch them explode as they hit the road, but it wasn't so cool when they hit our windshield. I don't think we suffered any major damage though. Later that evening, as I was watching the TV, a weather warning came on and apparently there were tornados in the area with the storm we went through. I was glad we were inside and settled for the night! We all went down to the pool and had fun swimming for a bit before bed. Everyone went to bed and slept well.
Day two...We actually got going almost on time (20 minutes behind schedule). We stopped for lunch in Julesburg, CO at a rest area/visitor center. It was quite nice. We had a shaded picnic area, and the weather was nice a clear. The visitor center had all sorts of maps and pamphlets, a lookout tower, and free internet. Plus, they had free coffee, so Mike filled up his mug before we left. We stopped for an afternoon break at a beautiful park in Chadron, NE. Jesse and Rebecca had a great time running around, and even trying out the merry-go-round. Then back in the car for a couple more hours. We had planned on stopping at Rapid City, SD for the night. I had a hotel picked out an everything. Unfortunately, I had forgotten it was the long weekend...and being so close to Mount Rushmore, everything would be booked. We tried 3 or 4 hotels in Rapid City (and they were all full), before driving on to Sturgis. The first hotel we stopped at there was also full, luckly the next one we tried had saved some rooms for "stranded visitors". We were so thankful. The hotel didn't have a pool, but we weren't complaning...we were just glad to have a room. The kids were starving and ready to get out of the car, and since we had seen a McDonalds just a block or two away from our hotel, we drove over there and had supper, and the whole PlayPlace, to ourselves. The kids had fun, we were all happy to eat and relax for a bit before going back to our hotel for the night. Again, the kids slept well (once Jesse finally fell asleep). Just after we all laid down and turned off the lights...Jesse was looking up at the ceiling and exclaimed (very excitedly), "Star! Red star!" He was looking at the little light on the smoke detector. Mike and I had a good laugh. Jesse was quiet for a while again...and then we hear the pitter patter of feet running in the room and suddenly the bathroom light turns on. After we got him back in bed that time, I think he finally fell asleep.
Day three...Are we there yet? I am so glad our kids aren't old enough to be saying that. We left about 20 minutes late again, but since we were 20 minutes further down the road than we had planned for, it was okay. We stopped in Miles City, MT for our lunch break. We had a short break in Sidney, MT at yet another PlayPlace. This one was completely empty and there was even stuff for Rebecca to do which was nice. And then the long stretch home. We had 156 miles to get to Bengough. The kids did great. We got to the border early, had a nice visit with the customs officer (who happened to know someone from Abilene (his uncle), whom we actually knew too), and managed to get into Bengough almost an hour early. We had a great supper, the kids were so happy to run around (although still a little leary of this new place we were at), and I think Mike was just glad to be done driving.
Some other random notes and tidbits...
- we didn't hit any birds this year (last year we hit like 6 or something)
- we saw a funny sign in Childress TX "Do not pick up hitchikers in this area". I think there was a prison nearby.
- in Hermosa we saw a sign that said "50 mph/88 km per hr
- at mile marker 43 on highway 16 to Sidney, we saw the first Sasktachewan plates on a vehicle
So, after the long drive to Canada, and one short night of sleep, Mike gets in the car Monday morning and drives to Regina for orientation for his summer job. He's working on a bridge in Estevan for Westridge Construction. He comes home on weekends and spends the weekdays in Estevan, living at Darren & Sandra's. The kids and I miss him, but I think we are settling into the routine. Our first weekend here, we had Rebecca's birthday party (a little late) complete with a turkey dinner. It was fun. John and Brenda, and Dan, made it out to celebrate with us. Aunty Judy came from Weyburn, and Lissy from Regina, and even Aunty Yvonne all the way from BC. We had a full house, and it was great.
The second weekend we were here, Mike, the kids and I all traveled up to Saskatoon for a job interview. The weekend was good, but we didn't feel that well rested when we got home Sunday evening. The third weekend we were here (which just passed), we stayed home. Mike preached on Sunday, and we did a little shopping in Weyburn on Sunday afternoon. Then we even had a short visit with Nana and Grandad (since it was Fathers Day and all...) We've had mostly cold, rainy weather so I am looking forward to some nice summer temps soon.
And, to finish off, here are two funny things that Jesse had said recently:
- while we were in Saskatoon, we stayed with Rob & Diane. They have a little boy named Niles. Jesse calls him "Smiles" or "Sniles". Very cute.
- as we were driving through Regina, I said to Jesse, "Did you know we used to live in Regina?" He says, "Elijah?" I said, "No, Regina." And he says, "Elijah." (He misses playing with you Elijah, and still talks about you!)
If you've read this far, I am impressed!! Leave a comment if you like. :o)
