Dizzy...

I spent the day driving up into a reverse-painted sky. Truly lovely out here. Had an odd noise pop up with a wheel on my truck. Turned out to be nothing. Think rock in a high speed tumbler. But we had to cut our day's travel short. But we ended up, because of that, at an awesome, brand new, HI Express in Dawson Creek. Next door to a venue where Korn is playing. Crazy they came all the way up here. Very posh room.  Tired. Jacuzzi and wine and bed.

Easy day...saw a moose...

I think the title says it all. Enjoy some pictures.

Racing to Saskatoon

Having trouble remembering where I was the day before. Not just a single occurance, either. Daily. Yike. I have to pull out hotel receipts and check. But that's ok:)

Got from St Cloud, MN to Winnipeg no problem. Across the border and I got nervous, hoping to not say the wrong thing. My experiences with border crossings has usually involved guns and bribes, so...in case I raise any flags with that statement, I was renewing my visas while living in Thailand and I had to go to Burma and walk across. There are guards with guns. Same with crossing into Cambodia and Laos. Fun.

Winnipeg is where I woke up yesterday. Today it's Saskatoon. In between there's a long line of mud and wind and coffee and gas stations and skunks, dead and alive. There are also some of the kindest and gentlest people I've ever encountered in my travels. I don't know if all Canadians are like this (I know my cousins from Toronto are!) but I hope to meet more of them.

We left Winnipeg fine. Stopped for coffee and breakfast at Starbucks. The coffee is so much better up here. Maybe they use Nabob;)? Drove for a while, then stopped to top off both vehicles. We were warned by a couple of truck drivers and some friends that the gas stations are far apart, and infrequent, so we had decided to stop often. Also gave us a chance to stretch. Remember, Duane is driving the UHaul and I'm driving the RR with the kids behind me.

After about 100 miles, we stopped again. Little place out in the middle of nowhere. Bought a ton of candy (not American stuff!) and chatted with the nice folks there. We have had people approach us and ask if we are moving, as if the truck and Virginia license plates aren't indication enough. Then off again. Ate all the chocolates and listened to the Beatles and Veggie Tales and Bolt soundtrack while cruising AK-1. Very coo.

We stopped next at a Tim Horton's. More chocolates and coffee and a chat with a lovely guy who spent the night in a mobile home. A tornado came out of nowhere and did some damage just up the road a bit, and we would see it when we passed through. Made us nervous because all the way so far we'd been fighting with consistant 30-40 mile per hour winds. Hard on Duane in the box truck. Ultimately the only evidence we saw was some electric poles knocked down. Unless all the dead skunks were killed by tornadic activity? Naw...And we did see one live one. Duane just barely missed it.

On the way to the next gas station the wind picked up, gusting really hard at times. We were told this is pretty unusual for this area. Everything is so flat it just races hard straight at you. I kept thinking about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family traveling across the western plains of the US. We saw some of that passing through Minnesota. Completely gorgeous; I can see what the draw would have been for Charles Ingalls. But Caroline? If there's no Target, will anyone come visit?

The wind got harder and the rain started to fall. We watched clouds break up and reconnect, swirl over our heads and disappear into the larger mass. All along the road are largish ponds, right up to the roadbed. One good gust and in we'd go...

More rain and dead skunks and an eternity later, we found a town where Duane decided to stop for info on the nearest gas station. We pulled into a farm equipment dealership and found they were closed. As we tried to leave the car park, the UHaul stuck in a mud pit. Absolutely unbudging. Duane wandered across the street to look for help in the cold wind. He found the owner of the business, who said he had a tractor to pull us out with. Again, more kind and friendly folks. The power was out, and that was why he had closed. But it came back on as we were leaving and he said try up the road for gas. Got that sorted out, and then ran straight for Saskatoon. We had thought about going to Edmonton, but that was just way too far. 

So here we are, after a good night. Another coffee-fueled day ahead of us. Onward to Whitecourt.

Excelsior. Yup.

Well, we're getting there. Not very fast, but that's OK. We had a gorgeous drive through the mountains of north western MD and WV, which I spent convinced we were going to crash. Spent the night in Cumberland, MD. Pretty, but avoid if you have a UHaul and a truck on a tow trailer. I think we were the day's entertainment. Literally people were gathering to watch our little parade try to get out of the city. Then we hit virtually the next three exits to deal with gas and food. It's hot up here too, so our tempers were a little short by the time we got really moving.
We finally got to Ohio, only to be greeted by a closed welcome area and dead skunk. Wonder what kind of social commentary that could be...
Oh, well. We ran through OH as fast as we could, managing to get all the way to Elkhart, IN. Found a hotel that looked ok (we're fans of Holiday Inn Express, by the way). Turned to be next door to a firing range that was open all night. It also appeared our hotel was full of drunks, and they hadn't invited us. How rude, to quote my namesake.
Got through Chicago unscathed, though there was way too much traffic going our way. What is so exciting in Chicago on a Sunday that people have to get in their cars for? Didn't they know we were coming and wanted to avoid sitting for two hours in traffic? Really.
Once on the other side, I started to hear a nasty noise coming from the Red Rocket (heretoafter to be known as RR or the Rocket, or simply Rock), so again we stopped. Got a bite, found an NTB in Antioch, IL, an HI in Pleasant Prairie, WI, and, after some judicious juggling and a portal whining, got me settled with the kids, in a room with an unfortunate view of the pool and no swimsuits or patience, at the hotel and Duane at the NTB with a dying phone and an urge to gab.
Ah well. It all turned out well. The RR is fine, the kids are itching for a quick swim and I need to run some laundry before we hit the road. Hopefully Fargo today. Bring on your woodchippers and complaints about not talking;)

Bug out day?

What this move has become is a large, slow-moving and potentially dangerous animal that we need to keep prodding forward, but will turn on us if we push too hard. It's already snarled a couple of times. But hopefully we now have it going steadily and reliably going in its proper direction.
So, yeah, now that I've written the above ridiculousness, I need coffee...or maybe just lie here a little longer and bask in the silence and peace that comes from my boys being asleep still at 8am...

Ack-- delays!

Just informed we are delayed by a day. Again. So I'm putting a positive spin on things. My nail polish matches my smoothie:-)

Contemplations on the Great Unknown

Well, I'm in my bed at my brother and sister-in-law's house. My tummy's rumbling but I'm too tired to do anything about it. We picked up the truck and my stubborn husband is bound and determined to load it tonight. He's got some help and the slightly cooler night air on his side, so I suppose it's OK. He can sleep after. We'll clear out after the final inspection and try to make Ohio before stopping for the night. We just want to get going. This last week has been rough, but we are excited to go and itching to get moving. But for now I'm going to take care of my sleepy four and rest my weary head. Amen.