Summer vacation days 2 and 3 - Waterton

The next morning we headed out to what was supposed to be the highlight of a trip to Waterton - Red Rock Canyon. Well, our kids have an innate ability to be miserable and fight-y and whiny during "highlights" and this was no exception. The iconic part where most photos are taken was packed with people and we wandered around other parts of the canyon. "We" meaning Terry and me, and to be fair this part was lovely. Thinking to cut our losses, we headed back before lunchtime and stopped at the Copper Mine picnic area to eat lunch (picnic area = tables but no bathrooms). A little creek runs by the picnic area and ... yep. We spent hours playing in the creek and among the rocks, and enjoying the small waterfall downstream. This was probably only 3 miles from Red Rock.

When we got back to town, we wandered to a little waterfall in town that was only a few blocks away. Terry and the kids went to look for a creek to play in while I took a small hike alongside the waterfall. Dinner was the Mexican place in town that was surprisingly good.

I should also mention we saw and enjoyed watching prairie dogs once again. Having seen them in Banff and Waterton and never in Calgary, they seem to be more like "mountain dogs" or "foothill dogs" than having any actual ties to the prairie.

From Waterton we would head to our first camping adventure. We didn't want to get to the campsite before checkin time, because we're still green and thought there were people checking us in and paying attention to such things.

First thing in the morning we retraced the previous day's steps to some particularly scenic spots and tried for family photos. It remains to be seen if any of them came out well. At least we bribed the kids well enough that nobody would look too grumpy in the shots. We tackled the Bear Hump mountain next. It was less elevation than Tunnel Mountain but attained in a fraction of the time, so I was still huffing and puffing and swearing to start running when we got back to Calgary. It was a good trek and relatively short as hikes go. Stunning views from the top and a vicious wind.

As we still had some time after this hike, we checked out Driftwood Beach on our way out of town. Once again, what we thought would be a quick stop entranced the children. Alex decided to put her outdoor camp knowledge from last year to good use and started constructing a lean-to with the driftwood - there were already several along the beach, but she wanted her own. Terry and I looked for the perfect walking stick for each family member until we saw the sign that warned against taking any of the wood from the beach. Darn.

Because the kids were having such a good time we stayed later than planned and thus got to the campsite later than planned. More on that next.

Of note: We have every intention of returning to Waterton, the mountains are as beautiful as any of the other Alberta attractions and it is as cute a town and relaxed an atmosphere as any of the other mountain getaways we've visited.

Summer vacation - a rocky start

Our original plan for a July vacation involved spending a few days in Waterton, then crossing the border into Glacier National Park and making a loop through British Columbia on our way home. As we didn't want to (1) head home immediately and (2) quarantine for 15 days after spending no more than 4 days in the USA, we had to change our plans.

Enter operation do-we-like-camping?

Days 1 and 2 were in a hotel in Waterton. It is a national park like Banff and Jasper, but nobody outside Alberta seems to know about it. I could call that fact a big loss, but then it means it is less crowded when I want to go so maybe that isn't a bad thing?

Our first morning started off terribly. We needed stuff for staying in hotels and stuff for camping. And we have never camped with the kids. In the first packing attempt we didn't even come close to getting everything into the car. We had to rethink, rearrange, and employ the rooftop carrier our friends loaned us for the cross-country trip. Yes, we spent one week with the same amount of stuff we had for a week of driving plus a month or so of living in Calgary.

With that hiccup and leaving hours later than planned, the day could have gone south quickly. But somehow we all kept our good humor. Our stop at Tim Horton's for treats that we ate, after our sandwiches, sitting on a grassy area in the warm-but-not-hot sunshine next to the parking lot of Timmy's probably helped the good mood.

We had planned to drive through the Bison Paddock drive-through on our way into town. When we got there it turned out there were no bison to be seen this season, or at least at this time. Disappointed, we went to the end of the little dirt road to turn around and found a little hiking area that went past a pond and tons of wildflowers. We really hit the jackpot with the timing of this trip, as so many beautiful wildflowers were around everywhere we went (although not quite in sufficient numbers to show up well in photos).

When we got to the hotel the room wasn't quite ready  so we decided to wander around the town - it's cute and entirely walkable. We ended up at the rocky beach where the kids proceeded to entertain themselves for something more than an hour. The rocks were stunning, a rainbow of colors. They were a decent facsimile of the colorful rocks we would have seen at Macdonald Lake in Montana if we had been able to get to Glacier.

After checkin it was time to think about dinner. Of the recommended places two were closed, one didn't allow minors, and with hot dogs listed twice on our camping rotation someone vetoed the hot dog place even though he could have gotten their apparently tasty falafel, called something like the not-dog. Dinner was meh, the ice cream afterwards was the best of the trip.

Socially Distant Banff, part 3 (and final)

After a particularly miserable night's sleep, we packed up and checked out. We decided to visit a couple of Banff's recommended lakes and figured we'd be home for lunch.

Vermillion Lakes puzzled us a bit. There seems to be no actual path along the waterways. COVID restrictions meant we couldn't just pull off on the side of the road by the openings in the trees with views of the water. We saw a number of cyclists race past and a few people launching watercraft. Maybe the draw of the lake is being on the lake? We couldn't really tell.

Onward and upward, they say. On our way to the second stop we passed a herd of mountain goats that seemed unsure whether they wanted to cross the road or not. The babies were pretty darned cute. We pulled over and departed the vehicle for some photos (as did several others. This kind of thing happens frequently in the park).

We had visited Lake Minnewanka in winter, and thus had to make a comparison trip to see whether we preferred its summertime activities. The deep blue of the water and the green of the vegetation is a very different experience compared to the whites and blues of winter. We wandered around the shore and over the rocks, stopping to note just how very cold the water still was. And, as it turned out, we were still there at lunchtime. The number of unoccupied picnic tables spoke to the reluctance of hoards to, well, horde. The parking lot was completely full as we departed, though, so it seems that morning is the prime time to show up. 

To round out our wildlife safari, on our way back to the highway we encountered a couple of herds of elk. They had been way back across a field when we passed them the first time, but on our return they had apparently decided to see what the commotion was all about. Once again we pulled over to get a better shot. When we looked back, one of the elk had decided to cross the road, then forgot what she was doing in the middle. Happily, we were able to get by and continue our journey home.

Still no bears. I'd like to see a bear - from my car.

Socially Distant Banff Part 2

Next day we woke to an overcast sky, threatening rain. Terry and Alex took advantage of the hotel's free bike rental for guests and raced away for their morning adventure with a plan to meet back at the hotel for lunch. Zoltan and I walked over to the Cascade of Time garden, which was certainly pretty but perhaps not quite as spectacular as the mountains.  It may not have helped that the waterfalls into the many pools were not running and various parts were taped off - no entry. We got caught in the downpour on our way back to the hotel and got to test how well the hiking pants dried after a soaking - thumbs up! Zoltan also announced that he had splashed in a number of puddles and the new hiking shoes are apparently waterproof - we had not known that.

With the rain coming down even harder after we ate, the kids got lost in their own pixelated worlds while Terry and I watched the weather worriedly, hoping it would not be a full rainy day inside. And our prayers were answered. Before 3pm the sun was back out....

And thus began our Tunnel Mountain Trail hike. Easily the highlight of the weekend. It has switchbacks and a super steep climb (although the 3 month old beagle we cooed over made it up himself without being carried) and wow are we (the adults) out of shape. It was good motivation for getting into shape. Alex practically ran up the mountain, which made us proud and hopeful as she tends toward the lounge-on-the-couch-and-read-all-day when we let her. Somewhere, somehow, she has developed muscles.

From the top are spectacular views of Banff and the surrounding mountains and the river and the whole valley. There are also a pair of the Parks Canada red chairs looking out at one of the many beautiful views. We caught our breath and ate our snacks at a proper distance from other small groups doing the same, then set off back down the hill.  

Socially Distant Banff, Part 1

Banff needs our tourism. With the reopening of the town and the preferences for staying-in-your-own-province tourism, we were able to snag a somewhat last minute hotel reservation that included two rooms and a kitchenette. Friday was no holiday for Canadians so the town was much emptier at the start of our long weekend than it got as the weekend wore on. As we'd all recently acquired hiking clothing and shoes it was also a good opportunity to start breaking things in before our upcoming epic camping road trip. And celebrate that the kids are now my shoe size, so when they grow out of their (apparently very comfortable hiking boots) they will be MINE.

We started the trip with a short hike around Middle Lake. It was absolutely stunning with the wildflowers blooming everywhere. It was humbling and frustrating to know that there was no way to properly capture the colors and depths with camera lens, so I stared around and willed myself to commit the beauty to memory. There just happened to be a picnic table free just before the return to the parking lot, so we could soak in the view a bit longer while eating lunch. Whatever else happened, it was a great start to the trip.

Our attempt at a second short hike on the outskirts of Banff was dashed due to flooding, so we decided to try the hotel and hope we could check in early. No such luck. We let the kids hang out and read while we took a wander around the hotel neighborhood. We managed to find a little prairie dog village and enjoyed watching them run around.

Dinner was at Park Distillery, and was as yummy as we remembered. We were a bit nervous as it was the very first time we'd eaten inside a restaurant in four months. Not only was the city of Banff accommodating - the main street was closed to car traffic and open-sided tents were set up in the middle of the road for breezy, socially-distant dining but the restaurant itself, where our table was, kept things very distant. We ended up at the very front of the restaurant where the enormous, garage-door windows were open so we were essentially eating outside in the breeze.

Finally back to the mountains

For three months there was COVID. Just when restrictions lifted, we used the opening of the mechanic's to get the car fixed - the problem was OK for us to move around the city (our weekly trip to the grocery store) but potentially not safe enough to drive an hour out of the city. So that takes a couple of weeks. Then a weekend with pouring rain. Then Terry does who-knows-what to his foot and can barely walk.

Because he was still not 100% from that last one, we picked a spot where he could walk or sit as much as he liked. Forgetmenot Pond is stunning. The pond itself is pretty small, only about 15 minutes to circumnavigate it. It was a perfect spot for a picnic, some pretty pictures, and I got to walk a few times around and admire the views from all angles.

On our way back we stopped to check out this ram, just hanging out on the side of the road.

We also stopped to see Elbow Falls. It's a very short walk from the parking lot to the falls, and Zoltan and I took a small adventure climbing up on a side path into the woods a bit.

It was not a particularly strenuous day and yet when we got home we were absolutely beat. All that mountain air, I guess? And the COVID getting-out-of-shape?

Fresh air and exercise

Terry likes to play around with woodworking projects. As previously mentioned, wooden pallets are routinely available for picking. The three-tiered planter featured in the last post is one such pallet creation.

Before one can start working with pallet wood, one must first disassemble the pallets to free the wooden planks from all its other wooden plank neighbors.  Crowbars and hammers play a role here.  All the nails must also be removed.  It is a bit tedious when you are talking about removing five planks from each of a dozen pallets.

We have an accumulation of pallets. The weather is beautiful. The kids have a day off from school today (that sounds weird to say, I know, but it means that had they actually been in school they would not have gone today, and the child who does get daily assignments didn't have any for today). Put that all together and we get - Workforce Friday!

Garden!!!

We were lucky enough to get a spot in one of the two community gardens we applied to. Then, after we got that notification Terry found a few spots in the back yard where he thought we could grow a thing or two (it is so shady back there we wrote it off at first).  On Canada's version of Craigslist - called Kijiji - there are often pallets available in peoples' yards for free. It is an entirely contactless experience, if also sometimes a disappointing experience when someone else grabbed the best wood just before you get there. Terry picked up a few and made this awesome planter, which will eventually be mounted into the fence! We're planning a row of lettuce, a row of various herbs, and a row of spinach because one of the children will actually eat spinach (as opposed to chard or kale) ... as long as we refer to it as lettuce. The sacrifices we make for our children's health.

The community garden had a socially distanced tour Saturday morning and Terry went, as this is definitely more his thing than mine and we had a hunch there would be some good tips shared and local gardening in general and the mechanics of this community garden in particular. He came home as close to elated as his stoic self ever is.

After dinner the whole family went down to be introduced to our garden bed - they are all raised beds and each is named for a flower, ours is Aster. Terry and I measured and planned and planted the few cold-weather direct-sow seeds we had - radishes, beets, snow peas, and lettuces. The kids played in the adjacent field, creating some kind of disk golf game that involved their fleeces as "home bases" and Alex's shoes as markers of where the disk last landed.

Look at Terry's super fancy "saddlebag" system for his bike!  He designed it himself, and the buckets handily hold garden tools, seeds, and as necessary - dirt.

More ice falls - Lake Louise

Our plan Sunday was to do all there was to do at Lake Louise. It was our first time out there, and again Alex whined and complained until we got to the waterfall. We knew it was at the far end of the lake and we saw the line of ants in the distance making it impossible to lose our way, but we didn't realize until we got there that the falls were behind the stand of trees we had been tracking during the walk (thus we never really knew how close or far we were from our destination).

The climb to the falls is practically straight up. None of our photos sufficiently represent the steepness of the grade, which is a great shame. I went up half the distance and the kids raced all the way to the base of the falls. The fun for them was in sliding back down on their butts. The incline was so great a couple of the adults who got a bit off balance raced so dangerously fast we feared they would plunge into the thin ice at the bottom of the hill - there was actually some water at this point so the lake itself was absolutely a hazard.  The kids loved their ride so much the went back up and slid down again.

This warranted some hot cocoa, which we found at the Chateau Fairmont Lake Louise. I do have to give the Fairmont credit, it is very well set up for all the day trippers who are not spending fantastic sums of money to stay at the hotel. On our way to the car to pick up the ice skates - the hotel clears a pretty good sized portion of the lake for two rinks, one for pickup hockey games and one for ice skaters - the kids discovered a massive pileup of snow they could not resist. They spent the next hour building a massive fort within the snow mounds while Terry and I skated and admired the mountains.


We also discovered around this point that Zoltan's boots are not at all

waterproof and his socks were soaking and his feet cold. I gave him my socks and went barefoot in my boots, because that is what mothers do. Especially when they wear the same size socks. His boots are too small for me or I probably would have switched those too.

Next up - sledding. Yeah, we really weren't done yet. We debated staying long enough to catch the sunset but dry socks in wet boots soon become wet socks.

Dinner was a disaster. We originally wanted to get back to our fave Park Distillery and hadn't figured on Banff being so crowded there was nowhere to park within a reasonable walking distance from the restaurant. So we forged on to Canmore. Where our 20-30 minute wait to be seated (reasonable) became an hour wait (unreasonable). Zoltan was famished and freezing so I worried a bit about him. when we finally got back to the hotel he actually did not complain about having to take a shower, looking forward to the prospect of lots of hot water. Bedtime came quickly that night. We worried whether he was getting sick from the exposure (yeah, yeah, cold weather does not lead to colds. However, I had a scratchy throat that day and with his defenses down - from being so cold for so long, as well as worn out and late on eating - he could have caught it). In any case, we planned a much more low key Monday before driving home. And that was lucky for us.

More ice falls - Canmore

We celebrated President's day with our first overnight in the Rockies. We stayed in Canmore, at a hotel that was 15 minutes away from one of the hikes we planned: Grotto Canyon.  When we pulled into the parking lot - having scored the very last spot - we discovered that we were missing one set of ice cleats and Zoltan had no handwear.

So we decided to see if we could check in early. It was fully booked the night before, it was just checkout time, and therefore no. The gentleman behind the desk very helpfully mentioned that Canmore does boast a Canadian Tire and they sell ice cleats and gloves and mittens. Off we go!

With shopping done and our eyes still on that prize, back to Grotto Canyon we go. As we had hoped, folks who had gotten there earlier were starting to leave and we were able to park the car. Alex did her usual tween thing of whining and complaining and reminding us of how much she hates hiking.  Until we got to the river.

The cool thing about this hike is that it is literally impossible in the summer, as much of the hike is on top of the frozen river and alongside the falls. I kept staring at the waves of ice underfoot - it was as if the river instantly froze in the process of flowing. (I was also very happy we decided to buy another set of cleats, as my bright idea of me and one child each wearing only one cleat would not have worked well).  The cleats we found were a tiny bit too big so they kept slipping to the side during one particularly slippery and steep part of the river, so I did not adventure quite as far as the rest of the family. Zoltan, even with his sturdy cleats, managed to slide down part of that steep, slippery river. It was terrifying to watch but he said it was exciting and just a little scary.

The hike was sufficient adventure for the day so we went back to the hotel, checked in, and let the kids have a run at the hotel pool. We dined at the Iron Goat, which is fun to say, and hit the hay in preparation for a long Sunday.

Third time's a charm? Three strikes you're out? Bad luck comes in threes?

In the nearly 20 years Terry and I have been together prior to Calgary I can think of five ER visits: each of Alex's broken arms, when Zoltan "broke his head wide open" (needed one stitch), when Terry rolled the tractor over his foot, and when baby Alex had a fever and I foolishly went against every instinct to just wait another day.

We arrived in late July. We had our third ER trip recently. Dayenu! (Enough!)

Trip #1: our third day at post. We had gone to Shakespeare in the Park and after the performance Zoltan fell off the stage while playing around. He refused to put any weight on his foot for 2 days, we finally decided to get that checked out.
Diagnosis: Dramatic license

Trip #2: Zoltan is sort of, a little bit, run over by a car when on his way home from piano practice. In an abundance of caution, the driver called the police and ambulance, and the paramedic (when I arrived on the scene) convinced me to let them ambulance take him to the hospital to get checked out.
Diagnosis: Overabundance of caution, but we couldn't have lived with ourselves if he had internal bleeding and we hadn't gotten it checked out.

Trip #3: Terry was cutting our new ice skate guards down to the right size and his hand slipped on the boxcutter blade. We first thought it was simply a bad cut that would need stitches then realized he couldn't move part of his finger.
Diagnosis: sliced tendon. Needed surgery and will have a splint for up to 2 months.

In hindsight, only one of those visits actually needed to happen. Feel free to ask us about how "awful" Canada's "socialized medicine" is (hint: we feel so fortunate to have gone through all this here.) 

Our First Canadian Rockies Hike

With the weather and everyone's health in line, we rushed out the door last weekend to check out a reportedly easy hike a bit over an hour away.

Our kids have seen far too many amazing things in their short lives and are subsequently painfully jaded. For Alex I could blame it on tween-ness but Zoltan has no excuse. They did not care about the spectacular mountains. Or beautiful view. Or the waterfall. Or the fresh, crisp air. Speaking of which, it is August and it took nearly half the hike for me to shed my jacket and my long sleeved T-shirt. Needless to say Terry is in absolute hog heaven.

In all fairness, they did did eventually stop whining about wanting to go home.

The guide book calls Canmore "Alberta's Aspen" but about a million times smaller.We headed into town after the hike to grab lunch and to wander around. The kids did an amazing job not whining in the candy store, and were happy to use their allowance to get some treats to snack on during the ride home.

Bullet train sushi

Not too far from our apartment is a Japanese restaurant that delivers the dishes via bullet train, in a very modified version of conveyor-belt sushi places in Japan. Point Sushi also has a number of cooked dishes to ensure the kids ate something too.

The way it works: Each table has a tablet with the menu for ordering. Order in groups of four - the trains have spots for four dishes - but order as much as you like. When the order is ready, a little "bullet train" (looks more like a lengthy car) zips down the runway along the booths and stops at your table. Remove the dishes and the car zips back to the kitchen.

It's tapas-like, with very small plates. We ate about 16-20 dishes for everyone to have enough food. To be completely honest, the cooked food was quite a bit better than the sushi. And the novelty ... we'll try to get back once more while we're still within walking distance.

Days of Yore

We really do spend most of our time at work (Terry) or looking for housing (Lynne) but sometimes there's nothing scheduled and it's the weekend so we have been trying to get out and experience Calgary. Or stuff near Calgary. About an hour away is an annual event called the Days of Yore. Basically, there are different groups of historical reenactors - Vikings, Medieval, WWI, WWII and such, and they gather together for a full day of displays, mock warfare, and of course tents of things to buy.

Alex was particularly interested in the older stuff - people using swords rather than guns. The re-enactors were pretty serious and skilled, we had the chance to feel the armor and weaponry before the event and it was all pretty genuine. There was a bit of comic relief when a Medieval knight decided to join in with the Viking duels. Zoltan was thrilled by the military tactics, vehicles and of course guns. But there were other things as well.

One tent held a series of pelts, all the kids of animals found in the Canadian wilderness and the kinds of things the old trappers would sell. Foxes are a lot longer than they seem when they don't have any bones or guts. One particularly interesting exhibit was an amazingly well preserved top hat in its original case, from probably 100 or more years ago. Apparently the wealthiest men in London prized beaver pelts for these hats because they were warm and very waterproof. The hat he showed us was beautiful.


We also tried the very "traditional" taco-in-a-bag for the first time. Is this a common thing in the world and we have been overly sheltered?

After a few hours in the blazing sun we were absolutely beat and decided to curtail the planned second stop (more on that when we do finally get there). One thing we have had a hard time really digesting is that the temperature always feels 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it really is. Too many 60-something days I have made the kids put on pants rather than shorts and later apologized. I have heard a similar phenomenon occurs in the winter, where -20 might feel more like -10. I'm ready for that!

Some of our early adventures

Our fabulous sponsors invited us to accompany them to Shakespeare on the Bow, which is Calgary's version of Shakespeare in the Park. The performers do one play each year, and this year was Midsummer Night's Dream, which is a perfect pick for us because Alex's class did some Shakespeare a couple of years ago and this was one of the plays. It was a beautiful evening, we were congratulating ourselves on throwing the picnic blanket in the car for our road trip so we had it to use, and the performance was amazingly good - especially for being free/donation requested. We are so excited for next year's season!

The only downside came when Zoltan, playing with the other kids after the performance, fell off the stage and injured his foot. He said he couldn't walk on it so I piggybacked him home - thankfully the performance was only a couple of blocks from our temporary housing. We stayed home the next day and on the day after that, when he still refused to put any weight on his foot, we went to the emergency room.

So far I have exactly one complaint about Canada. Who the heck makes emergency room parking paid?? And you have to pay in advance, so you have to guess how long you'll be there. The nice triage nurse guessed we'd only be there an hour and I should not have trusted that, given that I went back twice to add additional hours to the meter. Otherwise, the whole process went very smoothly, x-rays were taken and reviewed, no breaks were confirmed, and crutches were provided when he still refused to put weight on his foot.

Another Calgary delight our fabulous sponsors let us know about is the Southland Leisure Centre, which (most relevantly) has water slides and a wave pool, as well as ice skating, a gym, and other resources we didn't check out because we were there for the pool.

A final adventure of our first two weeks is the spectacular Calgary Public Library. We got our library cards last week, the kids signed up for the reading challenge, then decided it was their job to finish it with all due haste. I told them if they came back one week later with 40 hours of book reading accomplished the library might not believe them.  The library has a whole indoor play space for the really little kids, a giant chess set, it's huge, roomy, airy, with super available, helpful and friendly librarians. The book checkout stations are throughout the library, not only in one corner at the entrance. There's a cafe inside and a huge variety of seating for reading your finds, from cushions on the floor to a standard reading room with long tables and signs to remember to be quiet.

Between Zoltan's "still injured" foot and house hunting and the weather we still haven't made it to the mountains for hiking. I'm hopeful we get there before too long.

This week will be the last one before the kids start camp and I go to work. Most of our time has been spent either trekking from house to house in hopes of finding our home, or kids reading/playing games while I scour the rental web sites for new houses to see, or going to the grocery store because when you are starting from scratch there are a million things you need to buy.

We went to the State Fair ...

We were definitely surprised when the most expensive hotel room of our road trip was Great Falls, Montana. Until we discovered that the Montana State Fair opened the day before we got to town. And was located 0.2 miles from the hotel.

Terry had mentioned earlier in the day that while we were in Montana we should definitely eat some steaks. We managed to accomplish it on a smaller scale at lunchtime but had planned a steak dinner. Instead, we ended up with fair food. Cheese curds for dinner? Heck, yeah!

The kids were a little whiny as we went from the goats to the bunnies and pigeons and chickens and mules and alpaca. The 4-H club woodworking displays (chairs, benches, etc) were pretty cool. Then we let them loose at the carnival part, where good parents (us) stood in long lines until our feet hurt.

After the carnival came the meal. Cheese curds for the adults, fast food for the kids, funnel cake and fried dough (called elephant ears in Montana) for dessert. Then the hypnotist, then the art exhibit. Then some overtired tantrums and finally bed.

The next day it was up and out the door for the very last stage in this trip - the Crossover Into Canada!!

We got to the border just before noon and decided to get to the other side before stopping for lunch. Major Fail. We spent three hours being processed at the border, something we hope never to repeat as we should have our diplomatic IDs with us for any future border crossings. I was happy for the snacks I always have in my bag, and there was a water fountain by the bathrooms, and the kids had brought their books inside with them, so the whole thing could have been a million times worse. It was, however, seriously uncomfortable. I even eventually went out to the car for more snacks but there is truly nothing like a meal in the middle of the day. And, tip for anyone who might find themselves near the Montana-Alberta main crossing - on the U.S. side there is a little town right along the border. Seriously, we gassed up one last time about 5 minutes from the checkpoint. On the Canada side - nothing for an hour.

The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful. Our fabulous sponsors met us at the apartment and helped us haul in all the luggage. They also left a pile of games for us to play (they seem to be at least as into board games as we are), which has been an enormous help in our downtimes.

The apartment is fine (I keep telling myself). The bedrooms have enough room for the beds and side tables and nothing else. The kids share a room. There is much squabbling from being too close for too long with little else to distract them (how much worse it would have been without the games!)

Vikings and Paririe Chickens

We drove through Minnesota and ended up in North Dakota.  We had planned a few more "World's Largest" stops along the road but the first time we actually stopped was the World's Largest Booming Prairie Chicken. Apparently, during mating season the males fluff out a bunch of feathers and also puff out these sacs under their necks that are bright orange. Here's a sample video, because it is too awesome not to spread the word about this phenomenon.

We looked into somewhere to eat nearby and 0.3 miles down the road was a barbecue place that only opened a few months ago. The smoked meats were absolutely delicious, the barbecue sauces didn't have as much heat as we would have preferred, although the kids were thrilled with the honey-sweetened option.

Back on the road to just-before Fargo. We planned to stop at the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center from the moment Atlas Obscura let us know of the replica Viking ship located there that actually sailed from the USA to Norway back in the 1980s. The story of the man who built this ship practically in his shed and the crew that sailed it from Duluth through the lakes and rivers of the USA til it reached New York and ocean is pretty spectacular.

We didn't think we cared until we got to the Center, but there is also a replica of a Norwegian stave church on the grounds. It was built by a local scientist who was also a woodcarver, apparently as a project to keep him busy in retirement. Apparently the Scandanavians were not so quick to adopt Christianity and some elements of the indigenous culture were incorporated into the designs of, for example, churches. The dragon heads that adorn the corners are a first clue. Our tour guide explained that even the pattern of the shingles on the roof was meant to evoke dragon scales.

The kids were thoroughly unimpressed with the church. This was partly because they were aching to get back to the main part of the Center, where a table held all kinds of Viking armament and armor with a strict sign not to actually hit people with it. They mostly complied.

Then we drove three minutes across a bridge and were in North Dakota!

Wizards and a boardwalk

From Illinois we drove forever through Wisconsin - it took most of the day. States are really starting to get bigger. The highlight of the day was our stop in the Wisconsin Dells, where we went on a Wizard Quest. Alex had been moaning and complaining before we went in - she wanted to do her own quest alone. We said no, we will stay together as a family. She sulked. Until we got the Kindle with our quest and started moving. There were slides, tunnels, secret doors, stairs to climb and run down, and a ball maze the kids got to dive down into twice (there is a secret tunnel at the bottom of the thing, so they really disappear).

We didn't quite finish within the hour that would have gotten us a big prize, but we had a ton of fun and have some wonderful working-together time. The Dells is like a boardwalk, with lots of tchotchkes, fried food, fudge and such. We asked the employees at Wizard Quest what they recommended for lunch and they mentioned a few places. In the end we got ourselves a true Midwestern tater-tot casserole and were perfectly delighted!

One more border crossing before bed, and we were in Minnesota.

Ohio to Illinois

In the morning we indulged the kids - and ourselves - and took half an hour on the beach along Lake Erie before hitting the road. Zoltan got his sneakers soaked so he got to ride barefoot.

From Ohio we went through Indiana where we stopped in Elkhart for the day's activity: RV/MH Museum and Hall of Fame. Yep, we toured a whole bunch of recreational vehicles and checked out a manufactured home (lots of folks do, as we initially did, get the MH wrong). There was one donated by a Scranton family who had been using it through the generations over 40 years. There were several from the earliest days, hitched up to Model T Fords. Alex has gotten it into her head to design a 12 foot trailer for a family of 5 that has to include both kitchen and bathroom, so she got lots of good ideas and a sense of how much space things actually take. The family highlight: the Eagles mobile. I'm pretty sure this is the exact vehicle referenced in a recent podcast we listened to... In fact I think Terry heard it only the day before.

We ended the day in Schaumburg (outside Chicago). There, Terry proved what an amazing father he is by acquiescing to Chicago deep dish pizza for dinner (kids and I had the pizza, he got a pasta dish. He can agree to the restaurant but he certainly won't stray from New York thin crust except under duress).

Epic cross-most-of-the-country road trip

We have one last epic road trip in us for this year. When we move to Calgary, we have to drive our car. We're also required to travel an average of 360 miles per day, which adds up to 7 days from Rockville to Calgary.

Our first day on the road took us into Ohio. On the way we stopped at Penn's Cave in PA for a boat tour through the cave, where the guide pointed out the fascinating and beautiful stalactite and stalagmite structures. We also managed to catch sight of a beaver who had come in for a brief visit.

We also took a bit of a detour to visit Terry's Alma mater, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. I'd never made the trek, much less the kids. Terry just kept saying "that wasn't here when I was in school" as though he wasn't nearly 20 years out!

We got our first looks of Lake Erie heading into Ohio, where we crashed after a long, long day in the car.