First, a quick shoutout to my husband. Today is our 30th anniversary, and it is the first time we’ve ever been apart on our anniversary. Economically it wasn’t feasible to drive down, fly back, and then fly down and back for my daughter’s graduation later this month, but I miss him, and love him dearly.

Day 4 of our trip down to Utah is where our adventure began. Up to that point there is one road to Watson Lake, and then just one additional road south called the Cassiar highway that goes down through British Columbia. I have only traveled on that once. It was beautiful, and maybe one day I’ll go that way again. But we stuck to the Alcan this trip.

Once we hit Alberta however, there are quite a number of options. When my husband and I drove, he always followed the main highway all the way down. This took us through the 2 biggest cities in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton. With the advent of google maps however, we can find alternative routes, some of them much quicker than the main highway.

Not only are these routes quicker, but they also take you through the countryside in a way you’d never see following the main highway. This was my son-in-laws favorite portion of the road as he loves farming, and that’s one of the reasons they are moving back to Southern Utah.

We turned off the main road near White Court and started our trek down the country roads of Alberta. This time of the year the fields are turning that beautiful spring green color. Some of the fields were being worked with tractors. Everywhere there were cows, horses, sheep, and the occasional herds of deer. It truly was a beautiful alternative to the main highway.

We went clear around Edmonton and then tied back into the main highway on the west side of Calgary where we followed a series of different highway’s around the west edge of Calgary. Oh my goodness, that is a huge city. We drove, and drove, and drove. My daughter and I were riding together and timed it. 45 minutes to go around the outer edge of Calgary. I’m glad we didn’t go into the main part of the city.

As we approached the border, we headed west again to cross at Babb, Montana. This is a tiny border crossing, there was only 1 car ahead of us, and it was a quick, painless process. We then continued on through small towns and country roads. I really enjoyed the tiny towns on this part of the highway as it’s not an area of Montana I’d ever been in.

That night we stopped at a little rest stop in the middle of nowhere. Everything was locked including the garbage cans, I found that very interesting as everything in Canada is open all year long. They are also well plowed and the paths to the outhouses are all shoveled. Anyway, we slept in the car again.

The night was cool, but definitely not freezing, and we slept that sleep of exhaustion that comes from traveling for 4 days and sitting too long. It wasn’t the best, but it would do for the last leg of our travels.

On day 5 my son-in-law and I woke up around 6:45 and we decided not to fix breakfast, just to grab something the next time we stopped for gas. We got going while the others slept a little longer and continued on our way.

I for some reason thought day 5 would be a shorter day, or at least I was hoping. We drove through the country roads again until we got to Helena, Montana where we rejoined I-15. We stayed on I-15 the rest of the way to Salt Lake City where we headed west to Tooele and my son-in-laws parents home.

What a relief to get out of the vehicles for the evening. We were greeted with a delicious dinner, spent a bit of time visiting, took showers and then retired to wonderful, laying flat and stretched out sleep. I am so grateful for their hospitality and kindness.

Day 6 started with a fantastic breakfast and then we had time to sit and visited for the morning, enjoying good company and beautiful spring weather. The trees were all leafed out, there were still a few with blossoms, and the lilacs smelled absolutely beautiful.

We were treated to some delicious Indian food at a restaurant called Mumbai House, I believe, and then we continued the last bit of our travels to Southern Utah. This was a short 3 1/2 hours left of our driving time.

While this was the shortest leg, it almost seemed like the longest in some respects. We arrived at the rental about 5:30 in the evening and were greeted by more of my son-in-laws family with food and help to unload, as well as my nephew and my parents who also came to help. It was a great reunion, and we were so glad to be done!

It’s been so good to be here with family that I only see once in a while. Sometimes it can be a couple of years in between visits. This time it’s only been about 6 months, but I miss each one while we are apart.

This last picture is my really quick rendition of the above picture. I loved the barn. It is a quick sketch, and I enjoyed the reprieve of painting on solid, unmoving ground, even if it was just for 30 minutes or so. Maybe one day I’ll do a bigger finished painting of this barn.