Journey out West

Our July continued with a trip out to Calgary to visit the other side of the family. Zanna was thrilled that this year she was tall enough to ride Grandpa's go-cart by herself! She went round and round the property and successfully caught on to the feel of the clutch and break. She figured out how fast she could take the corners. She had a grin from ear to ear! She was feeling pretty confident in her driving ability that when Grandpa asked her if she wanted to go with the guys to the RV place she replied that, "no, I'll drive." Here lies the miscommunication. Grandpa thought she meant " No, I don't want to go to the RV place. I'll keep driving around the property." When in fact she meant "No, I don't want to go with you. I'll drive to the RV place myself." So the guys took off, not noticing they had someone following them down the street. Yes, you read that right. She sped down the driveway and out into the street ready to follow the guys to the RV place off of Highway 1. Oh, yeah. Thankfully, her angels were on high alert and by the grace of God, that go-cart stalled halfway down a country street. Fran and I were chatting it up in the house when dear daughter opens the front door sobbing like I've never heard her cry! After stalling and managing to get to the side of the street, she kept thinking the guys would notice her not behind them and come back for her.  Poor thing kept waiting and finally took off her helmet and trudged up the hill. The tears streaming down her face mixed with the dirt of the dust kicked up and the helmet hair sticking up on all ends produced quite a disheveled site! She was sticking with her story that "Daddy said I could". After calling Daddy and filling him in, the misunderstanding came out and helped shed a clearer light on what happened. She was pretty shaken up but safe and sound, thank God! Quite a first day of vacation! This incident did not keep her from driving though - don't worry!

We had a calmer day at the Calgary zoo the next day and were thrilled to take in the new penguin exhibit. We went with the cousins and they had a great time together in the Calgary heat.

Not all of our holiday was spent in Calgary this time around. We loaded up Grandpa and Grandma's  new motor home and piled in for a 10 hour drive to Saskatchewan. We were going to celebrate the 45th wedding anniversary of Wayne's aunt and uncle. He was looking forward to reuniting with family he hadn't seen in almost 20 years! We had never met most of his cousins children all of which were ages 12 and under - perfect for my kids! Lots of new friends to play with.

While the traveling accommodations were certainly nice and we had nothing to complain about, 10 hours anywhere was enough to drive you nuts! And there wasn't much to look at between Calgary and our destination. We stopped to refuel and get some lunch at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere. Or so it seemed.

This is "Cactus Corner" where I was sure I had last seen my eldest child after being abducted by some backwoods, toothless perverts. He was lost. After being the first to exit the motorhome to run to the bathroom, we couldn't seem to find him. They had moved the motor home to park and he wasn't in there. He wasn't in the bathroom. He wasn't in the shop. He wasn't in the restaurant. He wasn't in the motor home for a 2nd check. I screamed his name, ran frantically around like a crazy person. I panicked, I prayed. Wayne checked the motor home a 3rd time. Suddenly, my husband and son were coming toward me and I wanted to hug him and whack him all at the same time. He had come back to the motor home after using the bathroom and went to the back bedroom, closed the door, lounged on the bed and read his book. He hadn't heard anyone calling his name and finally wondered where everyone was. After working up quite and appetite from all that running around, I had to sheepishly enter the restaurant I had just been screaming in and order lunch. Ah, vacation. Sure is relaxing.

On to our trip. There may have not been much of "anything" for this city girl to look at but there was this -

Not bad, eh? Beautiful fields of canola, wheat, barley and other things stretched for miles. Food. This is where it all happens.

We had a great time upon arrival and it was great to be a part of such a happy occasion! Last summer we drove the back roads of Albert Lea, MN to discover my roots. This summer we drove the back roads of Foam Lake, Sask to discover Wayne's roots. We visited graves of never forgotten family members, drove past homesteads of family, visited the home of Wayne's deceased grandparents and enjoyed the memories he recalled there.

Here's the old one room schoolhouse that Wayne's dad attended for grade school and where Grandma Sally used to teach. We also visited the farm of Wayne's aunt and uncle and got a tour! Yes, I'm up there in a dress!

In honor of the anniversary, fun things were planned which included a morning of golf for those that golfed (not me) But these people did -

Zanna and I did some miniature golf and baked in the intense heat while slightly cheating on miniature golf to "move things along".  That evening there was a lovely meal, slide show and shin dig to celebrate! Wayne also had the privilege of baptizing 3 of his cousin's kids on that Sunday! After all this family fun, it was time to pack up the motor home and head back west. Shortly after departure, Will got sick. Let's just say, the bathroom was good to have but then we had to smell everything that happened. At the nearest truck stop I purchased some Pepto for the sick kid to try and keep things coated over the next 9 1/2 hours. It was disgusting. And after all that time of being in an enclosed space I had just about had it. I was starting to loose it. When my phone finally picked up some bars, I texted this to my sister-in-law -

It was my only contact with the outside world!! Will continued to be sick for the rest of our holiday there. It varied in symptoms. Basically, it was a fever and lethargy. The fever broke the night before we boarded the plane but went into a head cold that lasted until a few days ago. It was brutal!
And that's our trip!