Organizing Chaos and Pushing on a Rope

I finally got a vacation!
Day 1
1 Drive for 5 hours - see Moose at Burgess Junction, Wyoming
2. Drive for 3 hours - Found a Drive Through Bar in Frannie Wyoming
Send night in Laurel Montana - don't like being that near to oil refineries (We were going to camp but with the wife and I getting over pneumonia we decided to stay in motels)
Day 2
1. Drive for 4 hours visit Walmart in Butte Montana (Hey we had to have certain supplies)
2. Try to explain to the foster son about the history of the land from Butte Montana to Couer d'Alene Idaho
3. Try to explain Orogenesis (mountain building) to the foster son
Spend night in a lovely little motel in Couer d'Alene
Day 3
1. Explain to foster son that we will not be in Canada for another 8 hours
2. Get lost in Spokane Washington
3. Find way out of Spokane
4. Have lunch overlooking the Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River
5. Drive to Okanagon Washington
6. Stop at Okanagon Family Research Center to see if I could find out anything about my grandfathers family - found out Okanagon did not in 1889 when my Grandfather was born and did not exist when he was orphaned 10 years later. Did find out there was another Okanagon 75 miles to the southeast that was abandoned before the new Okanagon was founded.
7. Drive to Canadian Border
8. Donate some fruit and carrots to the border freezer because we could not bring them into the country
9. Spend the night in Keremeos British Columbia nice Cascade Mountain town
Day 4
1. Wake up and have a breakfast that can't be beat
2. Drive to Hope, BC - find a Tim Hortons - have some really good doughnuts (their double chocolates are the best!)
3. Clear Credit Card block - they were just protecting me from fraud
4. Drive through the Cascades to the Frasier River Valley and Chilliwack, BC
5. Get motel room
6. Go to TD Bank and resurrect my Canadian Bank Account get some really pretty colored money
8. Go back to Motel meet up with the in laws and go to cousin's 90 year old house (If you do woodwork you would really appreciate the use fir trim in the house - the cousins are presently restoring the house) for the first dinner that can't be beat of the 100th year family renunion.
Day 5 and 6
1. Go to family reunion, find out more about this clan I married into.
2. Find out I really like most of the in-laws
3. Ate very good food, drank some very good beer and found some elderberry wine to bring back
4. Saw more of the Frasier River valley without going into Vancouver
5. Tried to explain being polite to the foster son
Day 7
1. Got a late start after saying goodbyes
2. Drove through the Cascades and into the Rockies
3. Found a Tim Hortons - had more double chocolate doughnouts
4. Spent night in Revelstoke BC - Funny how old mining and timbering towns get discovered by the "in" crowd and all of a sudden become very expensive to stay at.
Day 8
1. Drove over to Lake Louise, Alberta and up the Ice Fields Parkway to the Columbia Ice Field. I have been there in 1985 and 2004 and the rate of retreat on the Athabasca Glacier is increasing it is now losing about 4 inches per day. But according to some there is no such thing as global warming.
2. Drove down to Jasper, Alaberta then over to Hinton, Alberta saw some Big Horn Sheep
3. Spent night at Hinton, AB
Day 9
1. Drove from Hinton, AB to Edmonton, AB Tried to explain to foster son that sugar rushes from Tim Hortons double chocolate doughnuts need to be stopped for a couple of days.
2. Showed the exterior of the West Edmonton Mall (world's largest) to foster son.
3. Tried to find some of the wife's old friends in St. Albert, AB
4. Spent night at brother in-law's house
Day 10
1. Loaded the truck with the wife, kid, mother in-law, luggage and various implements of destruction and headed for Lloydminster, AB
2. Stopped in Vegreville and showed the kid the world's largest Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Egg).
3. Got to Lloydminster, AB got the mother in law settled - crashed.
Day 11
1. Crashed in Lloydminster, AB talked with in-laws who did not get to family reunion
Day 12
1. Drive across the Saskatchewan prairie to Kindersly, SK saw some of the wife's old classmates.
2. Try to explain to foster son the prairie is not boring
3. Drive to Saskatoon, and Regina and end up in Weybourn, SK for the night
Day 13
1. Drive to Oungre, SK/Fortuna, ND Port of Entry, refrain from chewing out US border patrol agents for their attitude.
2. Drive through Williston, Watford City, Bellfield, and Bowman in ND then Ludlow, Redig/CrowButte, Newell, Sturgis, Rapid City, and home to Keystone.
3. Unload truck try to explain to foster son vacation is over.

All in all we traveled close 3600 miles through some of the best scenery on the planet, from desert to rain forest, mountains with snow and glaciers to lava plains through 5 states and 3 provinces. Good people were met, not so good people left where they were, good food, wine and beer, and so a good time had by all.

I even think the foster son learned a few things.