Wheeling down the road

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to have a place to record impressions of our trip through part of the northwestern United States this summer. This is our first big trip in the motorhome we bought last summer (on Ebay, no less!), and I thought it would be neat to sit down whenever I could and write about our journeys.

Our son and his young family are house- and cat-sitting for us, which is a huge relief. The three silly felines just cannot be left home alone that long! Also, dear son is taking delivery of my new Asus netbook that didn't quite arrive in time to make this trip with me.

We finally got started today after spending the morning babysitting our one-year-old granddaughter so her mother could take her grandmother into Calgary for a medical appointment. As is often the case with such appointments, this one was late, so we got away a couple hours later than we had planned.

The weather in Calgary's been rather pitzy for the past couple days, and it was no better as we headed south on Hwy 22. We headed west into BC on Hwy 3 through the Crowsnest Pass. The rain just got heavier and heavier. We ran into a good thunderstorm just west of Fernie; the rain was coming down so hard it was flowing on the road! The best was yet to come though, as we headed into Elko, a tiny little town at the junction of Hwy 3 and 93. Hail. Rain. Lightning. Thunder. My new Blackberry Storm did a fine job of recording the moment so I could share it with my friends on Facebook.

The clouds finally broke and after a pitstop to get REAL Smirnies at the duty-free shop, we crossed into the US at Roosville. After an uneventful hour-long drive, we finally pulled into Whitefish, Montana. The last time we were here was for our honeymoon, almost 27 years ago! All I really remember is the view of the Big Mountain to the north of the town. I'd still like to go skiing there someday!

We pulled into the Whitefish RV Park, and got the motorhome into a rather tight spot, unhooked the car, and headed out for supper. Because of the US restrictions on bringing meat and other agricultural products into the country, we needed to do some grocery shopping. Gotta love Safeways that stay open past 9 p.m! Even better was that our Safeway Club Card worked in the States too! Maybe, perhaps, saved about the amount we spent on the exchange rate.

So now, we're all settled in, food and drink (yes, the vino and coolers are in the fridge, along with the steaks and veggies -- oh, yes, and Gerry's beer and hotdogs!) stashed away, and we're both sitting here with our laptops, keeping up with the world.

Life is good.