No, we didn't just spend the last several months in Great Falls. We continued on into Canada. And then back into the US.
About two months before we left Texas, we finally had ferry passage reserved. Since we were not leaving from Bellingham, Washington as we'd originally planned to do, we needed to quickly get a passport for all four girls and me. With Michael's travel schedule and the requirement that he either be present or sign a form giving permission for me to apply for the girl's passports, it quickly became apparent that we may or may not receive them before our planned travel dates. We had a small cushion of time built into our travel plans in the event something came up along the way that delayed us, but waiting for more than a week after our planned departure date would mean missing the ferry if we had a major vehicle failure on the road. Still, even though they could take 4-6 weeks to arrive, we needed passports. By the time we applied, there were four weeks exactly before we were planning to leave town. The week before the movers came, we visited with family and friends in Florida. While we were there, our next door neighbor let us know that some of the passports had come in. By the end of the last week of school, we had all five passports and were ready to go.
This was the first trip out of the country for our girls and I added a 4th country to my list. (those would be Ecuador at ages 8, 17, and 18; England at age 12, and Canada at age 36, and of course, the US, where I've pretty much lived my whole life) I'm not sure how many countries Michael has been in, but we all added some more states to our lists as well. I'd never been to Montana, even when we lived in Wyoming, so it was neat to see the accuracy of their state nickname, Big Sky Country.
When we pulled out of Great Falls, we wandered along a river with some beautiful views until we reached the interstate. Once on the road, it was a few short hours to the US/ Canadian border. Before we crossed into Canada, we realized that we really needed to set up an international calling plan for our cell phones. We had three hours to the border to figure it out. I decided that even though we'd have the calling plan, I would leave my phone off unless for some reason Michael and I went separate ways. It was nice to be disconnected for a few days.
Crossing the border was a bit nerve-wracking at first. When we pulled up to the checkpoint, we were told that the cargo rack was partially blocking our license plate. The Customs official asked what the plate number was and both Michael and I stumbled over trying to remember the correct sequence of numbers and letters. Then when he asked us to open the back window, I originally thought he meant the window on the tailgate, not the left passenger window. Eventually, we got everything sorted out and the drive through Canada began.
When we lived in Cheyenne, there were three main colors. Brown, white, and a combination of the two. If we wanted to see something green, we drove to Denver. The landscape across the border was beautiful. Lush, green, rolling hills gleamed in the sunlight after a rain shower. Familiar, yet foreign. After the ruggedness of Wyoming and Montana, the green fields made me think of the Wizard of Oz. There were no fences on the lands immediately across the border to keep livestock in and people out. It seemed open and welcoming.
One of the first things we noticed was a U-Haul truck pulling a trailer that had been at the border. When we pulled up to the border checkpoint, we saw that it had a flat tire. Folks traveling in another vehicle seemed to be helping them change the tire. Apparently, the tire didn't fit because when we passed them on the road, the U-Haul was sending sparks flying as the rim of the wheel dug a groove into the pavement.
Another thing we noticed almost immediately was the courtesy of the other drivers. In Houston, we often said that using your turn signal meant that other drivers knew to speed up because you revealed your intentions. In Canada, we saw very few drivers not use their turn signals. In Houston, Michael claimed that "Driving Friendly" was just another Texas myth. However, in the western part of Texas, we did encounter several folks who "Drove Friendly." In Canada, we had many people pull over to the right, especially on the four lane highways, when a faster moving vehicle approached. In fact, most people drove in the right lane except to pass. Imagine that! :)
It was interesting to find places to eat and fill up the gas tank though. In the US, highway signs indicate which direction you need to travel to find a restaurant or gas station. In Canada, we pulled off the major roadway several times but were unable to figure out which direction we needed to go and how far we would need to go as well.
We hit Calgary at rush hour. It wasn't too bad at first, but the far side of town was awful compared to what traffic we'd been in over the past couple of days. Once we made it out of Calgary, and thankfully onto the correct road, the drive was quite pleasant.
Edmonton was another challenge though. We had stopped for dinner earlier and decided to try to find a hotel on the route out of town. After taking several exits and not finding hotels, we finally found one. After the many hours of driving, we were quite relieved to find a place to rest.
Up next: Edmonton to Whitehorse
