Day 41

I do believe once we made it into Missouri, we also made it past the invisible line of humidity. We were all pretty warm all night and I have moved all the cold weather clothes back up into the roof cargo carrier and exchanged them for tank tops and short pjs.

I woke up this morning and immediately got on my phone to check out the riot situation. There were a couple dozen arrests and there wasn't any news of anything happening this morning, so I chatted with the other adults and we decided to go into the city.  Ever since our first trip in 2012 I wanted to go to this museum but I knew there was no way I would be able to do it by myself with 3 kids. Now each kid had an adult and I was just hoping we could keep up!

We arrived at City Museum a few minutes after they opened and were in awe of everything we saw. We decided to go outside first in the cooler part of the day to climb and explore.  Our first stop was a giant ball pit!

Ryan was my partner for the first few hours and she must of lost me about 43 times.

I found Laney climbing toward me and Grammie and Brayden climbing above me!

We found a bunch of slides and things to climb through. After all the adults started complaining of painful tunnels Dave found easier ways around just about all the fun stuff.  We were all sweating within about 45 minutes so we headed inside to explore.

The girls were the most adventurous taking Grammie on underground tunnels and exploring above us in the ceiling.  Brayden found Laney, Ryan, and Grammie in the tunnel underneath him!

We decided to head to the roof next for more slides, the ferris wheel, and the bus hanging off the side of the roof!

All three kids even opened the door of the bus to look out! Although I'm not sure Brayden actually looked out.

 

This was by far my favorite slide!

Next we went to what looked like an indoor skate park where the kids tried a 9-foot version of a warp wall. All of them made it up after quite a bit of frustration and practice!

By this point the kids all needed a break so Dave found a fascinating little room where people were cutting extremely intricate snowflakes. Every year the kids decorate our house with at least 100 snowflakes so this was right up their alley. 

By the time they were finished we were all starving. Fortunately on the way into the museum we noticed a pizza and beer place just across the street so we headed there to refuel and catch some college football. Dave and I added a few beers in hopes it would numb our already throbbing knees! The vegetarian pizza there was outstanding and one more thing to add to our list to make once we got back home. 

We had about 45 minutes until the next project from the snowflake lady - this time native american dolls with real bows, arrows, and birchbark quivers - so we all switched partners and explored a bit more. Brayden and I headed back outside for my other favorite slide and what became his favorite slide once he actually tried it. My slide was the long one, his was the deceptively short but crazy fast one!

We spent about an hour crafting then we switched partners once again for the last 45 minutes. I had planned 3-4 hours here and already we'd been there 6!  My partner this time was Laney and we headed back up to the roof! We found a new slide that was super fast and rode the ferris wheel again. I may have also made her go down favorite slide one more time!  Here are her feet on the ferris wheel and a fun selfie to see the city behing us!

We met everyone in the gift shop for post cards and t-shirts. The kids were exhausted so you know the adults were about to pass out! I was incredibly impressed with Grammie's perseverance to hang with each of her partners all day! I do believe the kids would have stayed until closing, but there was no way these adults would make it to midnight!

We made it known we would be attending the nocturnal animals program at the campground that evening. Once we made it back to the campground, we had a quick dinner and joined everyone for the program. The naturalist speaking appeared very young so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was seriously impressed with her animal knowledge. All the kids at the program enjoyed it and we all learned at least a few things!

We watched a little bit more football they retired for the night. I wouldn't recommend sleeping on the ground after a day at City Museum. It was going to be a long night of flipping and flopping with all our emerging bruises! Ouch.

Day 33

I was up early this morning because of my snoring tent mate so I sat in the car writing and editing pictures until sunrise. I was hoping to catch some color on the still lake this morning but the smoke and the mountain weren't all that cooperative. However, I immensely enjoyed sitting there listening to the elk bugeling in the woods and the woodpeckers drilling their holes across the water. The sounds carried so beautifully across the water I almost felt like I was there!

We weren't planning on leaving Banff until 10:45 so we took our time getting ready this morning. It was chilly so I boiled some water for dishes and made some cinnamon swirl french toast. Our site was a walk-in site with clusters of tents together so we had some other campers eyeing our breakfast as they walked by with cereal! After packing up we all hit the showers and headed to the Indian Trading Post. Brayden's fascination with wolves and Laney's with native tribes necessitated a stop there. We walked out with only a ring for Laney though.





















We met up with Grammie, traded kids, and got on the road toward Calgary. We had strategically planned our departure from Banff to arrive in Calgary at 12:30. Our next stop was quite possibly the activity Dave was looking most forward to - The Skyline Luge. An hour later we exited the transcontinental highway and spotted the Olympic Park from the road. The kids were super excited to stand on the medal blocks and sit inside a bobsled!

 

We were to be riding special cars down the luge event site from the 1988 Winter Olympic Games and with our arrival timed perfectly we would be one of the first riders of the day. We weren't sure what exactly to expect other than some serious fun, but we were blown away by how awesome this was! We bought Grammie one ticket (and practically had to beg her to go) and we got tickets for the rest of us to go three times. We all put helmets on and rode the chair lift up. When the girls first saw the lift, this was the part that frightened them the most. Each kid paired up with an adult and found out it wasn't all that scary at all. Of course Brayden wouldn't really look down.

Laney, Brayden, and I got our instructions for our first time down and demonstrated we knew how to stop a couple times then we were on our way. My cart must have been ridden quite a lot because the vibration on my seat and hands was almost painful! I passed Laney (aka Driving Mrs. Daisy) quickly and was behind Brayden for the first half of the track. We had some pretty tight turns so I was going down pretty conservatively since we had two more tries. Dave came flying by both of us so I went ahead and passed Brayden right before a crazy 15 foot drop! We got to the end into the chute that collects the cars and everyone had big smiles, even Grammie!

When all the kids got off I knew this place was a hit. I couldn't believe how long the track was! The next life I rode up with Laney and we talked about how we were riding on a course that Olympic athletes were on not too long ago. I think we'll all watch the luge competition next year a little closer!

The ride down was pretty intense and required both hands on the handlebars at all times. This time down we tried to take video with the camera hanging on Dave's neck to show his perspective and see him pass all the kids. After showing we knew how to stop, we all took off again with Ryan and Brayden in the front. Laney was next but of course she was immediately passed. This time down right near the big drop we got held up by a group of slow pokes so after trying to pass them we just stuck around and enjoyed the rest of the ride down.

Dave watched the video to see if he got anything but the camera seemed to be at an angle that didn't work so we adjusted our camera strategy for the last run. The helmets had go pro slots on them but we didn't have it with us today so this would have to work. We also tried to adjust our spacing strategy as the course was getting busy.

The last chair lift the kids were brave enough to ride by themselves. Our last time down was everyone's fastest I think. Well except for Laney perhaps. We all let our carts go without much braking except around the obstacles and hairpin turns. Twice I had the cart up on two wheels, once very close to flipping! The big drop this time was the best eliciting yelps from all of us.

We all finished this run with the biggest smiles and anxious to see if the video worked. Soon, we'll have it up on youtube to link here as it worked great! We bought pictures of each of the kids and I snuck into Brayden's picture.

We hopped back into the car with our adrenaline highs and headed to our next stop. We drove through Calgary looking to get back onto the highway, but Grammie's GPS kept taking her through town. After about an hour she pulled over about to throw it out the window as it had us scheduled for 6 more hours in the car. She figured out a "no u-turns" preference was confusing it and we got back on the road to Medicine Hat, Alberta.

We pulled into the campground and it looked like a little neighborhood with beautiful trees with leaves just starting to turn yellow and kids playing on the playground. We shooed ours off to go play and set up the campsite. Ryan and Laney spotted a few bunnies to they took off with the camera. Since Grammie had power I took over her kitchen and made black bean tortilla soup and salad for everyone while Dave went on a local beer hunt.

We were just starting to eat when a line of classic 1950s cars started cruising through the campground. Dave said he saw there was some kind of meet up down the road and I guess they were just driving around the city tonight. We all waved as they passed by and Laney decided on a 1950-something Chevrolet convertible.

After dishes the kids headed back to the playground and we organized a little bit for the next day's drive. Brayden had some camp ball batting practice until it got too dark and the adults sat watching until dark while the kids played. They were going to some kind of team record on the hanging wheel. Once Brayden's hands were too blistered to continue, they finally decided to stop and get some sleep. We were going back into the states tomorrow!

Day 29

According to the ranger the night before there was a shift in winds expected. This seemed like a big understatement when in the middle of the night it sounded like tropical storm level winds. I counted at least 10 campers that packed up and left. We stuck it out though and by about 3am I started smelling the smoke. It seems it was following us.

We were supposed to be leaving in the morning so once the sky started to lighten slightly I went down to the lake to see if it would be worth hiking back to Rocky Point. The view was completely blocked by smoke so I climbed back into the tent to write instead. I was trying to catch up writing a couple days before we went into Canada where I knew we wouldn't have any kind of service.

Dave seemed thankful I wasn't dragging him out of his warm sleeping bag as he mumbled and rolled over for more sleep.

Once everyone was fed and we were all packed up we headed to do the chores of the day - laundry and grocery shopping. Our laundry bag was so big this time I couldn't even begin to carry it! Dave and I each had one set of clothes left, but everyone else was going to have to walk around naked if we didn't make this laundry stop. I'm sure we were quite a site - all 6 of us walking in with 2 bags of laundry.

Grocery shopping wasn't much better with us wandering aimlessly around a small store trying to throw together menus. After groceries were crammed in the car and cooler we were back on the road out of the United States.

The drive was pretty uneventful as we listened to "Witches" by Roald Dahl. The voices of the witches had us laughing and trying to figure out what they were even saying. Before long we were at the border and I was instructing Dave what to say. After our entry a few years ago and being detained for having pepper spray (thanks, Ash!), our wording had to be careful. We were in a long line of cars trying to enter when we noticed these huge rocks on the Montana side of the border? We couldn't figure out the symbolism.

I'm not sure who Bob Clarke (with an e!) is, but Brayden spotted him so we had to take a picture.

Shortly before we were to reach the gate Dave and Brayden were reduced to tearful giggles joking like 13-year olds. I threated Dave that he needed to get it together or they weren't going to let us in. That's when he decided to call me a "hoser". And that is when I made him swear not to use that word the entire time we are in Canada. So he continued by using "eh?" at the end of every sentence. Life with 4 children on the road can be very challenging. They did eventually let us in.

There were moments along our drive where we just knew we'd left the smoke in Montana. Some of the mountains were so clear and beautiful. But about 30 minutes before our next spot we hit it again. As we checked in we found out there were more fires in Banff and British Columbia causing all the smoke. We pledged just make the best of it while we were here. We did get to cross another animal off our list - a bighorn sheep!

After we both set up, Grammie offered to make some baked potatoes since she had electrical hookups at her site along with a special dessert. While the kids played at the playground we checked out things to do in the area and prepared everything for dinner.

Once we were all stuffed we drove back to our site and headed to the showers. We weren't quite desperate yet, but they definitely made us all feel much better. The loop we were staying in had a neat pavillion that appeared to be a camp kitchen at one time. Now I felt like I was at Girl Scout Camp! It had lights and nice tables, so we played cards for about an hour before calling it a night.