Day 28

Last day of the trip, and the day we arrive back home! We got up early and tore down our soaking wet tent. No amount of towelling off would get it dry, so we had to pack it up wet. We showered using our last tokens, and it was Brett with the company this time. Brett waited for the shower to open up, and found that, like him, there's always somebody forgetting their shampoo and such. Rhonda was the first woman in the showers, she even had to turn in the lights. A first.

Brett grabbed a cup of coffee from the general store. As soon as Rhonda was out, we hopped in the truck and hit the road (on our way out, the sun began to shine and there was a rainbow in the mountains. It figures, nice weather when we are leaving. But with only 2 days of rain in 28 we can't complain all that much). Brett's big concern was the inevitable lineup at the border crossing, which was only 20 minutes away. And the possibility of a search...

We arrived at the border crossing, and didn't see any duty free shops. ? However, the customs checkpoint was deserted! Hooray! And once again, as soon as the magic words "we're schoolteachers" passed our lips, we were on our way!

We had started the trip with a McDonald's breakfast, and we thought it would be cool to end the trip the same way. However, the nearest McDonald's was in High River, an hour and a half away. We filled up in Cardston around 9:30 AM, and made breakfast at the McDonald's in High River at about 10:45. Thank goodness it was a Saturday!

We drove through Calgary, and made our way to Red Deer. We filled the truck again for the last leg of our journey, taking the secondary highways back to Evansburg. Our GPS had different plans, as it wanted to lead us all the way up to Edmonton, take the Devon Bypass route, and use Hwy 16. According to our GPS, the route we ended up using took the same amount of time anyways.

Brett decided to trust the GPS when it was going to lead us along even more secondary highways to completely bypass Drayton Valley. It lead us to the Hwy 22/Tomahawk turnout, and we were back in familiar territory.

We arrived back in Evansburg at about 3:00 PM, having put about 700 km's on the truck that day, our longest since the beginning of the trip. And we were finally out of the truck and back home, safe and sound!

Total km's driven on the trip? 8,900 km's. Total pictures taken? Around 1200. Total gas expenses? We'll see... Total expenses overall? We'll see...

Was it worth it??? YES!!!!!! It was the trip of a lifetime.

Day 27

We got up to some pretty wet surroundings this morning. Our chairs were soaked, so we had to spread out a tablecloth on the picnic table seat for somewhere to sit down. We brewed up some coffee and tea, and made ourselves some breakfast sandwiches to start the day. We then packed up and hit the showers using our new tokens from the campground general store. Behind the general store were the public showers, and thankfully they were empty on the men's side. However, Rhonda once again had company in the shower. But she was a nice woman who let me have the shower as soon as I got into the room.

After we were cleaned up and feeling human again, we set off on the Going To The Sun highway (Without the sun part. Maybe we thought if we followed this road we would find it. But no luck. It was just a highway.). It's a highway that goes right up into the mountains, and over them. There were several stops on the highway, but they were all on the opposite side of the highway. We were driving back along the same highway, so we planned on seeing those sights on the way back.

Our first stop was at Logan's Pass, the highest point on the highway. It's located right at the top of the treeline, and offers some spectacular views of the lush, green valley that drops off from that point. That was, until the cloud rolled in and completely obscured the view of everything. When you're that high up, any clouds are at the same height as the road, so it ended up looking like a pea soup thick fog. It had been raining ever since we got to the Pass, and the fog didn't help any. After seeing the sights and perusing the gift shop, we hopped back into the truck and drove down to the other side of the Park. Driving in the fog along the extremely narrow mountain road was pretty treacherous, and we were simply coasting along at 10 mph at times. We also had to stop for road construction a couple times, too. Funnily, they had some pretty upbeat and happy road workers, though. All the while, the fog was blocking the view of all the deep valleys and mountain peaks that make the highway so beautiful to drive. And the road crews had set up their gear in all of the prime spots to see the sights. How convenient.

We eventually got out of the cloud/fog, and were back down to a normal altitude. We stopped at some small waterfalls for pictures, then went into Apgar Village, located on the far west side of the Park. Rain was still coming down, so we ducked from one gift shop to another, picking up some last minute souvenirs. Basically avoiding the great outdoors.

The shortest way back to our campground was back up the Going To The Sun highway, and our luck in terms of the fog was much better. We could now see the amazing vistas previously hidden by the thick fog and cloud cover. At one viewpoint, we even saw some mountain goats grazing on the valley floor, far below us. And yes we took a picture. But we didn't block traffic.

Some of the more interesting viewpoint were blocked off by construction equipment and emergency cones, but Rhonda did a good job of taking pictures from inside the truck on the go. It was a trial and error kind of experience. Rain was still coming down. After Logan's Pass, we stopped at most of the more interesting viewpoints for photos. By this time, the rain had let up some, and had completely stopped by the time we got back to the campsite. After realizing that we didn't have much to do at the campsite and no groceries for the night, we headed in St Mary again for some dinner supplies. Yes, we were actually planning to cook tonight.

After arriving back at the campsite again, we were both a little tired, so we bedded down for a nap. Meanwhile, the rain stated to pelt the tent and tarp again. We weren't feeling up to the task of cooking in the rain, so we decided to visit the great restaurant again.

Tonight, Brett dined on steak with blue cheese and chorizo cornbread, while Rhonda opted for the Prairie Chicken, a swiss and mushroom chicken burger. Brett went for another beer, this one called "Trout Slayer" from the same brewing company as the beer from last night. This one was a light amber ale, not quite as good as the one from last night, but still decent. Rhonda finally ordered something that got her a frosty glass, a Huckleberry Soda (she had been coveting Brett's frosty glasses all throughout the trip). To keep out of the rain, we opted for dessert as well, some chocolate cake. Rhonda had some tea which came in a cool pyramid shape. Other diners actually came to the table to look at it. That's how cool it was.

We staved off the inevitable and browsed the same gift shops again, and saw that tonight's forecast called for more rain and the possibility of SNOW! So, what to do for the evening?

We went back to the campsite, and hid in the tent. Brett bundled up in his hoodie and rain jacket, and enjoyed a large can of beer, while Rhonda snuggled in her blankets. We chatted, read to each other and basically passed the time until a reasonable hour for bed.

About 200 km's put on the truck today, and we're all still here. Cold and wet, but here.

Day 26

Our site in Lincoln RV Park was about 40 or 50 yards from where we set up our tent. There wasn't much point hauling the stove and everything else over just to brew some coffee (which Rhonda won't drink because she is scared that it might stunt her growth), so Brett hopped in the truck and grabbed some coffee from the local gas station, a 2 minute drive from the RV Park. It was a good thing that he had some cash, as all of the card machines were down. After sitting around, the sky started to rain a little, so we decided to tear down the tent. We packed the gear and got ready for the shower. There was only one shower available, so we were going to have to take turns. Brett checked his e-mail while Rhonda showered, and we switched off. While Brett showered, Rhonda found the campsite availability online for Glacier National Park, our home for the next couple nights. We decided to stay at the campsite with showers, and we were on our way. Showering has become noticebly important to us on this trip. I guess it is the close quarters in which we exist.

As made our way into the open valleys of eastern Montana, it started to rain on us. We stopped for fuel and a quick brunch at a gas station on the way. Needless to say, lunch at a gas station was not spectacular (understatement). We hit the road, and were in Browning, Montana within an hour. It's the southern edge of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Now, our only other experience driving through a reservatioin was in Arizona, and this was no different. It still looked like a third world country. Only this time with much less sand and sun.

We exited the reservation at St Mary, a small town right on the edge of Glacier National Park. We got in the park, stopped at the Visitor Centre, and found our intended campsite, which was only 5 miles up the road. On eof the exciting parts of this leg of the journey is the fact that our National Park Pass has save us a lot of cash, so it was a worthwhile investment after all.

We then arrived at our campground, and drove around for a while, looking for a good spot. We decided on a spot nestled amongst some old growth trees with no undergrowth to get in our way. Staying here would cost us $20 a night, and we intended to stay for 2 nights. However, we only had $38 in bills. This campground was one of those honor system campgrounds where you pay your fee at the entrance sign using an envelope. To make a total of $40, we had to use quarters from our change box. Which was ok, because it was pretty full, and we had to buy tokens for the showers here.

We set up the site, and then sat and relaxed for a bit. It wasn`t raining anymore, so we were able to enjoy the outdoors for a while. It was soon time for dinner. Neither of us wanted to cook, so we decided to try the restaurant beside our campsite. We headed over to check the prices and browse the gift shops, too. After, we headed back to St Mary to get some supplies for the evening. One of these would be instrumental in our relative comfort over the next 2 nights: a tarp for the tent.

Back to the restaurant we went to try some fine dining in the mountains. Brett tried the Ultimate Cheeseburger, while Rhonda went with the Sweet Chili Chicken. Both were very delicious, but I would say that the highlight of the meal was probably Brett`s beer, called Moose Drool. The best part was the slogan of the beer, "We Make Water Fun". And they did.

We went back to the campsite and started the fire and hung out having a quiet and relaxing evening. At midnight, it stared to rain and this was only the beginning. 300 km's put on the truck, and everybody's still here.

Day 25

We're slowly making our way back home now. We started the morning with a tear-down of the tent site in the RV park we stayed at in West Yellowstone, then we showered. While Brett was able to get in and out pretty quickly, Rhonda had to wait for the other females in the showers to finish. It seemed like all the women in the campground were in the bathroom all at once.

We hit the road with a fairly relaxed day of driving to Helena, Montana to look up some campsites around there. Brett was pretty excited about the prospect of driving 70 mph down the secondary highways (it is the posted speed limit, after all), but we need to warn anyone else who does this: Montana is pretty light with their driving signs, and you need to slow down in a lot of the corners, even if there is no sign saying you should.

We hit some construction on our way to the interstate, but it was a short wait before we were moving again. We gassed up and ate in a little town east of Butte, then headed north down a secondary highway towards the interstate and Helena. This bypass saved us about a half hour of driving; go team GPS! (This team consists of really only one person- Brett.) Our lunch consisted of a KFC/A&W restaurant, with root beer on a pull tap (like real beer). Brett got his special root beer in a frosty mug, while the Pepsi drinking Rhonda had a styrofoam cup, not being part of the special club. This was our first time trying A&W in the States, and we are sad to report that while they do offer a mama and a papa burger, there is no teen burger on the menu. Brett tried the closest thing to a teen burger, but it wasn't the same. Rhonda enjoyed a KFC chicken wrap with fries and gravy. The highlight of this meal was the fact that the KFC gravy down here is much superior to the stuff in Canada. It's got a darker, smoky flavour and a good texture and consistency, while the stuff back home is sort of gray, salty and usually pretty gelatinous. Sad that this is one of the major events of our day today.

We were on the road again, and soon found ourselves in Helena. We pulled off on an exit, and parked the vehicle. Brett's original plan was to stay at a place just northeast of Helena, in Black Sands State Park. Our GPS couldn't find it, but it did find us a state park in Lincoln, Montana, about 30 minutes away. It looked like the best approach to Glacier National Park would be using state highway 200, which is what Lincoln was on. We set our destination as Lincoln, and were on our way.

Brett was pretty surprised at how small Helena was. It's really no bigger than Drayton Valley, at least from what we saw from the interstate. We took our exit, and started making our way west through some small mountains. We drove over them, and found ourselves nestled in a valley with a creek and the highway running through it. We spied some national forest campsites, but our luck with them has not been good. They're usually very rustic and unkept, with outhouses, rather than any real facilities.

We stopped at the local ranger station for some camping spots, and we encountered a ranger who does 'real' camping, way back in the wilderness. Apparently, it's perfectly legal and accepted to backcountry camp in any national forest; it's just a matter of getting out there. Our ranger suggested a couple spots that were well away from it all, and required only short hikes. We thanked him for his time, and decided to check out the local state park on the edge of Lincoln. Once again, we were greeted with a campground in need of some serious upkeep. They had flushing toilets, but they were not exactly sanitary restrooms. We decided to head into town and see what they had for RV parks.

We found an RV park on the oter side of the town, and decided to pitch the tent there for $12 a night, only $2 more than the dilapitaed state park. Once again, the RV park is the best place to set up, with well manicured lawns, showers, a fairly well treed tent area, and a babbling brook flowing right behind our tent. While Brett was napping, 3 deer came out to eat on the lawn. When Brett came out of the tent they ran away. Strangely enough, we felt no need to try to get really close to them and take pictures or try to pet them. I guess we managed to avoid the curse of Yellowstone. The only drawback to this park is the fact that we can't drive to our site. We had to haul our gear about 50 yards to our chosen spot. This is what we consider hiking to our campsite. We definitely are not ready for back country camping.

After we set up, Brett laid down for a 2 hour nap and Rhonda read in the sun. We then went into town to dine on some ribs and fried chicken. Right now, we're sitting by the fire, enjoying a slightly windy, but relaxing evening.

About 350 km's put on the truck today, and we're all still in the truck. Next (and last) stop: Glacier National Park.

Day 24

We got up after a cold night's sleep (we managed to stay nice and warm, though). We got some complimentary cappucino from the RV office, showered, and set about our day: touring the park.

We got boxed lunches from last night's cafe, grabbed some breakfast to go from the local bakery, and set off to the park. Our day was definitely foreshadowed by the line-ups at the gate, and the fact that people were trying to cut into the express line we were in. After that little adventure, we got to drive maybe another 4 miles down the road before we hit the next roadblock. We probably lost a half hour slowly making our way through traffic, so everybody could stop and see... a bird. It was an eagle, which is pretty special to the American people, I guess. I can drive 10 miles from my place to see one though, so it wasn't really a big deal for us. As a side note, it wasn't even a bald eagle, we think that it was a golden eagle or something.

The next roadblock... we weren't even sure what caused it. However, we were soon on the Grand Loop, a big ring road that takes you through all the sights in the park. We made our first stop at the Lower Geyser Basin, where we saw some hot spring pools, mud pots, and a couple small geysers. Bacteria grows in the pools, creating huge blooms of slime and goo that are all sorts of colours, but tend toward yellow and red. We stopped again at the Biscuit Geyser Basin, and saw more of the same, but less spectacular. But we did see a guy all dressed in hunting gear, which seemed pretty new, especially since he still had the stickers on the back of the legs of his jeans.

Our next stop was Old Faithful, the most famous geyser in the world. We arrived there at about 1 PM, found a parking spot, and made our way to the viewing area. We then found out that the next eruption would be around 2:20. Brett decided to camp it out on the benches outside with a good spot, rather than wander around. After several false starts around 2:20, it finally erupted at around 2:25. Pretty cool. We got it on video on our camera, as well as some pics of the eruption.

Our next stop was the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Nothing too spectacular here. Just a couple small geysers, steam vents and some hot springs. It is situated on Yellowstone Lake, which is quite a pretty lake.

We stopped at Sulphur Cauldron. It turned out to be basically really stinky geysers that were not even that nice to look at. I guess we should have known from the name. More people were on the road taking pictures of the deer that were up on the bank. Once again, we were not all that excited. However, we did see a woman wearing a facecloth on her head. That was quite the sight.

Back in the truck. We drove for a bit, pulled over at a picnic site and had our lunch at about 3 PM. It was time to see some waterfalls. Next stop was Tower Falls, way in the northeast corner of the park. On our way, we hit another traffic jam. This time it was 2 bison beside the road. Getting past that block we managed to make it about another mile down the raod and then again there was a traffic stop. The same cars that had just stopped for 2 bison were now stopping for 1. By this point we were getting frustrated. This bison decided that he too had had enough and crossed the road and left. Finally we made it to the falls. We went down this path, that was basically leading nowhere fast, so back up the steep hill we went. Once again, back in the truck.

We decided that we had enough of the park and it was time to go back to the campsite. Unfortunately, we hit yet another roadblock heading sout towards the West Yellowhead turnoff, and it was a gooder. Some people had spotted a grizzly bear in some bush just to the right, and pretty soon, everybody just abandoned their cars right on the road to go and see it. People were walking pretty close to where the bear was. It wasn't until a park ranger showed up that some semblance of order was restored. He ordered everybody back to their vehicles, and a few people actually listened. It was very frustrating to be stuck behind 4 unoccupied vehicles right on the road itselfvand to see somewhat clear roadway in front. Eventually, we got through as people pulled ahead and off to the shoulder. The funny thing was that we never saw the thing ourselves, even though we sat there for about 10 minutes. Maybe it was someone's idea of a joke. Who knows.

Two elk held up traffic on our way back into town. A real exercise in controlling your emotions on the road, and Brett almost lost control a few times (good thing Rhonda was there). We weren't back in town until around 8:15 PM. We did some souvenir shopping, and grabbed a late meal to go from McDonald's.

I would say we only put about 200 km's on the truck today, but we spent close to 5 hours in the vehicle. But, we're all still in the truck.

Day 23

Driving. That pretty much sums up what we did today.

We left the little RV park in Idaho and headed west to Jackson, Wyoming to grab some supplies before we headed into Yellowstone for the night. We hit the K-Mart in Jackson, gassed up and we were on our way.

We passed through Grand Teton National Park, which has some mountains in the west dropping down to alpine valleys in the east. Pretty nice. However, we encountered some major road construction leading up to Yellowstone's park gates; it set us back about a half hour.

As we drove up to the entrance kiosk, we were informed that campsites in the park are usually all taken by 10 AM. It was 4:00 by that point, and Brett had a little panic moment. The ranger suggested we try West Yellowstone, a small community just west of the park.

We set off through the park (at a max speed of 45 mph) through the 60 miles of road we needed to drive through to get to the west park gate. However, we got a taste of some of the stuff the park had to offer: geysers! We could see a bunch going off as we drove through the park, which was pretty exciting.

We finally reached West Yellowstone, and after a couple tries, we found an RV park with all the amenities we needed. We decided to stay for 2 nights and fit all the sightseeing into one day. We put up the tent, had some dinner at a cafe, then went back to the tent for the night. It got COLD that night, too! 36 defrees farenheit.

So far, we put on about 500 km's on the truck today, and we're all still in the truck.

Day 22

It's been 3 weeks already. Today was pretty boring. We got in the truck after a relaxing free shower, and headed north through Utah. We pulled over just south of Salt Lake City, and decided to take the western approach into Wyoming, through Idaho. We had planned on staying at a series of campgrounds through a National Forest area, but none of the bathrooms were up to snuff (outhouses are not our style). We pressed on to Bear Lake Resort in the northeast corner of Utah, but they had closed their campground area. So, we pressed on even further into Idaho. We now sit in an RV park outside of St. Charles, Idaho. Close to a town called Paris (yay Brett took me to Paris, Paris, Idaho. Not quite the same). The owners are nice and the campground is clean and well kept. We had a great supper of smoked pork chops, salad and grilled french bread. And now we are parked next to the showers to get a clear WiFi signal to write the blog. Next it's back to the site for a fire and then bed.

About 550 km's put on the truck, and we're all still in the truck. Our phone no longer works, so expect collect calls home instead, mom and dad. And keep reading our blog!