Before we started our cross country trek, we stopped by our old house to say goodbye to our landlord, Sophie, who was working on the house. The kids enjoyed one last climb on the tree and a turn on the swings. We were sad to see the house looking so empty, but we were also excited to start on our trip.
Our first night we stopped in Kamloops. Jeffrey and I picked up some dinner at the grocery store, but reportedly did a terrible job. After dinner, we walked to a nearby park to play in the warmer summer weather.
Hotel Grade: B
The Thompson Hotel was good and it did have a family room. However, it was really just two connected rooms with no door in between, so not great. But it did have a decent lounge area where we retired to while the younger kids went to bed.
Our trip Friday took us through the Canadian Rockies to Golden, BC. A really beautiful drive, only marred by clouds and rain. En route we stopped briefly at Revelstoke National Park and saw a black bear off the road, which was very exciting. The next (rainy) day we enjoyed visiting a wolf reserve, in which six wolves lived. On Saturday evening, I took the boys to Yoho National Park and we did a hike in to see a really beautiful waterfall. Because the sun was not setting until nearly 10 pm, we thought hiking was a better use of time than lying in bed trying to sleep.
Hotel Grade: A-
This particular Travelodge had a nice family option which connected two rooms via a kitchen area. The waterslide in the pool area was also a huge bonus. Breakfast was a little sparse and crowded, but overall the hotel did well.
Sunday morning we suited up and headed to Banff for church. We found a really awesome chapel and joined a surprisingly large congregation for a nice service. Sheralie and I even joined in their impromptu choir. After church we drove up on the Icefields Parkway on the way to Jasper and enjoyed a short hike to Peyto Lake. I wanted to venture a bit further to the tree line, but the kids were not happy to be hiking in their church wear, so we headed back to find our hotel in Canmore.
We spent a couple days in the Banff area - including Johnston Canyon and Consolation Lakes hikes. We also went to a Nordic Training Center which in the summer is converted to bike trails. Jeffrey, Laird, and I hit the mountain bikes while Sheralie and the younger kids did the frisbee golf course. Jeffrey really enjoyed it, even though I worried we had lost him at the end when we briefly separated. It was a beautiful quiet area, which contrasted sharply with Banff, which was overrun with a million tourists.
Hotel Grade: B-
The main problem with this Best Western is that we all squeezed in one room since hotels are so expensive there. Two queens, a sofa bed, and Levi’s inflatable bed made for some cozy living! The pool and waterslide were well-received, and the overall facilities were pretty nice. Breakfast was our best yet, but we were happy to leave to roomier quarters.
Wednesday we headed to Drumheller, Alberta. Once we left the mountains, the scenery changed dramatically. Lots of cropland growing what we later learned was canola flowers. Drumheller is a site of a famous dinosaur museum, but it is in the middle of nowhere. The dinosaur museum was okay, but what really excited the kids was our roomy quarters (two rooms with three beds in each) and the pool and waterslide (three straight waterslides!). On our way out of Drumheller, we stopped to see the Hoodoos, which were quite a bit smaller than I had envisioned, but still pretty neat.
Hotel Grade: A
This Ramada was very comfortable with large rooms and a great pool and gym. We were sad to only stay one night!
Thursday we left for Cardston and Waterton. We circled around Calgary, so we kind of have the impression that Alberta is completely rural. Cardston is a tiny, tiny city, and the temple is visible from a ways off. We dropped Sheralie off at the temple and then headed to a park to play baseball. The park was fun, but the kids wanted to get out of the sun, so I dropped the older ones off at the library while I did some grocery shopping. Sheralie really enjoyed the architecture and spirit of the temple. En route to Waterton we stopped in Leavitt to visit the graves of my great-grandparents, Francis and Sarah Steers Broadbent. They were among the first people buried in Leavitt. It was really cool to be there.
Hotel Grade: B
The Bear Mountain Motel was great as it was right in Waterton. I mistakenly made the reservation for August, not July, so we were a month early. Fortunately they squeezed us in before they sold out, but we had to cut our visit short by a day. The first night we squeezed into two very small rooms, with the floors mostly covered with air mattresses. The second night we had a very nice 2-bedroom apartment which was much more comfortable. We would have stayed for Sunday, but they didn’t have any rooms for Saturday night, so we just took off a bit early.
Saturday was our last day in Canada. We did a great hike by the Red Rocks area, and then drove out. We crossed the border at Chief Mountain. They don’t get many people moving from Canada to the United States, so they were a bit flummoxed looking for the right forms to give me for the car. I’m glad they took the time though, as the DMV gave me quite a bit of grief about it several weeks later (turns out I had the right form all along).
We then drove down to Glacier National Park and crossed the Going to the Sun road. It was a bit of a wash which way was faster, but I knew that road was more scenic. However, it didn’t sit well with James’s stomach. We recovered by skipping rocks on Lake McDonald before continuing on to the lake house that Greg was borrowing from one of the folks he worked for.
We spent several days at the lake, which I enjoyed because I could recover from the vacation to date. The kids spent a lot of time on the boat with Grandpa Keith and Grandma Bev doing water sports. Greg and I went hiking one day in Glacier with Krisina’s sister Simbria, who was also there. We hit Logan Pass early and went to the Hidden Lake Overlook. The lower part of the trail was closed due to bear activity so we also hiked the first mile or two of the Highline Trail.
Hotel Grade: A
We have Greg to thank for such sweet digs for the week. Sheralie and I had a room, and the boys shared a big rec room, while Lucy shared with Krisina’s sister Simbria. We were a bit crowded with Greg’s family and the Monroes, but it was a nice little mini-reunion.
From Kalispell, we set out through rural Montana across the state. Woods and lakes gave way to buttes and mountains. We recrossed the continental divide and after a long day of driving, pulled into Billings, Montana. First thing the next morning I went to a session at the temple. Later that day, we checked out the Montana Zoo, which was a nice little zoo. We saw a couple of grizzlies, some bengal tigers, river otters, mountain goats, and a few other animals. It was fun, but pretty scorching hot. Billings was a nice pit stop after the lake house.
We rented a house via VRBO. The grounds were spacious and we had three separate lodgings. Unfortunately, outside the main house, there was no A/C, so we shuffled around because some people couldn’t handle just having a fan. Overall, it was a nice little house and it gave us some space for the 2+ days we were there.
We left Billings on Monday morning and trekked out to Wyoming. I was very impressed with the Wyoming rest stops - the playground and picnic benches were very nice. We stopped for the evening in Gillette, Wyoming. It was very windy, and still quite warm.
The Arbuckle Lodge in Gillette was one of our better stays. The family room had two separate rooms with bunks in one so that everyone could have their own bed (with Levi on his inflatable mattress). They even served a complimentary light dinner! We enjoyed the pool for a while in the evening, and some Gilligan’s Island after that. The breakfast was very nice as well.
From Gillette we headed up to Devil’s Tower, a landmark on the Oregon Trail. It was a lot of fun to see and hike around there a bit. I was surprised such an out-of-the-way National Park attracted so many people. Plenty of prairie dogs and rock climbers to observe in the park. From there we trekked on to Rapid City, South Dakota.
Upon arrival at Aunt Sally’s place in Rapid City, we noticed the car’s radiator was acting up, so we immediately took it in. This gave us kind of a quiet afternoon and the next morning at Aunt Sally’s place. She was a very gracious host, and the kids LOVED her cats. I was just recovering from a cold, so the cats really aggravated my allergies. The kids played a lot of ping pong and pool the next morning and we finally got our car back around 2 pm. We made a late afternoon tour of Custer State Park, which has an amazing amount of wildlife (buffaloes!) and geographic rock formations. We hit Mt. Rushmore later in the afternoon, and finally pulled in around 7 pm. We ate and gave Sally a small concert before turning in.
Hotel Grade: A
Staying with family is always nice, and Aunt Sally was a great host. Great food, great company, and the kids loved those cats. Special thanks for helping us with car problems!
The next day I was eager to pack up and get out to relieve my allergies! I also knew we had a long boring day ahead of us. Before we really hit the road we found a gas station that had a mini-Field Museum in it. It was an amazing collection of animals, right off the side of the convenience store. What a find!
Halfway through the day we stopped in Murdo, SD, a ridiculously small town. We finally found its grocery store, and while waiting outside I read on the door that Bob would be celebrating his 80th birthday soon. And a few minutes later, I saw Bob walk in! Wow! From there we at a nearby park with a fun playground. Thanks Murdo!
We finally arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the other end of the state, and now in the Central Time Zone. Jeff and I grabbed some McDonald’s while the others played in the pool. We didn’t do much in Sioux Falls.
Hotel Grade: B
The Super 8 was not all that super, but not terrible either. The rooms were big enough, and the breakfast had some bright spots. The pool was passable, and that was really all we needed for this quick rest stop.
After Sioux Falls we quickly entered Minnesota, which had a whole lot of nothing. We had originally planned to drive up to Minneapolis and enter Jeff in a half marathon there, but our friends that had lived there moved to Oregon during the summer, and the half marathon was canceled. So, we changed course and instead crossed Minnesota, landing in Onalaska, Wisconsin by the end of the day. Wisconsin marked the beginning of concentrated population centers. We celebrated at TGI Friday’s (and because it was Friday). This day also marked the beginning of the Summer Olympics, though the opening ceremonies weren’t all that great.
Hotel Grade: A
The Holiday Inn Express was very nice. The pool was great, and the rooms were spacious. The breakfast featured great cinnamon rolls and a pancake maker, among a wide variety of other things.
From Onalaska, we trekked on to Chicago. Getting through downtown Chicago was a bit of a traffic mess, but we eventually found our place. After getting settled I took the boys to a White Sox game, which the White Sox won! We also scored some great batting practice jerseys with old school logos. A very enjoyable game with some lively fans. It helped that I found the tickets on Stubhub for only $6/ticket.
On Monday, we hit the Museum of Science and Industry down in Hyde Park. We wound up spending the whole day there, hitting some IMAX movies (sharks, National Parks), a maze of mirrors, a lego exhibit, a tour of a captured German submarine, and much, much more. A lot of fun. For dinner, we headed downtown to meet a fellow I knew in middle and high school, David Jones. He was a great guy, and I believe we went to the same bus stop. We talked a lot of politics then, and at dinner also! He insisted on paying, which was very generous as there were seven of us and two of them (he and his wife).
Hotel Grade: C-
Ok, this was probably my fault. I went with an Airbnb rental. We had an Airbnb place in Vancouver before we left, and it was terrific - 10x better than a hotel. However, this place in Hyde Park was a bit different. For one, we didn’t have the whole place. We had use of the main floor, but other renters were in the basement, and the top floor. We shared the kitchen and dining areas and bathroom, but we had three bedrooms and a living room for just us. When I booked the place, I knew it was a little south of Hyde Park, but I thought, well, it’s not that far south of Hyde Park. Well, it doesn’t take much! A bit nerve-wracking, but ultimately fine. While I took the kids to the baseball game, Sheralie found a park near a church to play with Levi and Lucy. We wound up not spending much time there, and it was added incentive to get out on the town. The landlady was super nice, and even though her help left a bit to be desired, it was fine. Sharing facilities was not optimal though, especially with only one bathroom. And the A/C didn’t seem to reach the bedroom Sheralie and I were in, which made it quite uncomfortable. Jeffrey did enjoy the piano though.
On Tuesday we set out to Cleveland. Another long day with lots of tolls! That night while watching the Olympics, we were treated to an epic lightening storm. It was really exciting. We lost power several times and marveled at the power of the storm.
While based in Cleveland, we visited Kirtland, which was pretty neat. The sister missionaries gave us a more complete tour than I remember from the last time Sheralie and I were there in 2003. We found that one of the sisters was from Poway and knew Sheralie’s little sister. In the afternoon we visited the Kirtland temple, and they (the reorganized church, the Community of Christ) had a much more thorough tour than I remember from 2003. A highlight of the tour was singing “The Spirit of God” in the temple. Sheralie played the piano while I conducted.
After the tour, we braved the newly-found humidity in the adjacent graveyard. We pretty easily found the grave of Mary Duty Smith, who is my great (x4) grandmother. We thought about hitting the Johnson farm, but the humidity was sapping all strength. We headed back to the hotel and the pool.
Hotel Grade: D
Ok, this was a great deal, but you get what you pay for. I think Expedia tricked us when it said “3-star” because while it may have previously been three stars, it was easily one star now. The elevators stuck, and the bedding was in terrible shape. The pool was big, which was nice, but they also opened it up to the community (for a fee) which congested it. The worst part was the breakfast, which was an almost total loss. The waffle maker was almost the only option, but even that wasn't working properly. No eggs. No yogurt. No oatmeal. Bare bones. And there was a monitor who was making sure no one was taking anything out of the breakfast area. As if! Our second morning I just finished off our Indian food from the previous night and took the rest of the crew to McDonald’s.
Last day on the road! We high-tailed it to Virginia, so we could get the key (3:30 pm) and check out our house. It marked four weeks to the day from when we had started, and we covered 4,600 miles in our journey.
