Spring Break Adventure in Canada- Day 1

The adventure has begun!  While others packed flip flops, sunscreen and headed south, we packed ski boots, base layers and headed north, determined to make the most of our Mountain Collective ski pass. Our day started at 1AM when Darin rolled out of bed.  We were in the car by 1:30, doing a groggy roll call on the most critical items:  3 boys—CHECK!  Darin’s wallet—CHECK!  Passports and birth certificates—EXPIRED!  I’m not sure what this says about my life (actually, I know what it says, but I’d rather not reflect on it:-). In all the chaos of motherhood, I hadn’t used or thought to check my passport in quite some time.  There were Dr. Seuss hats to be constructed and Leprechaun traps to be dreamt up (1st grade with twins is intense y’all).   Darin reacted to news of my expired passport in the same way he reacted to finding out we were having twins—utter disbelief and laughing nervously thinking I was trying to pull one over on him.  (I always have considered myself rather funny!).

I dashed into the house, dug through the file cabinet and breathed a sigh of exhausted relief when I located my birth certificate and our marriage certificate.  Surely the great and merciful country of Canada wouldn’t turn me away with this array of compelling evidence?   (My stomach might have hurt a little all the way to the border!?😬)

So after the passport incident, we finally got on the road.  It was 1:45AM and we were headed north faster than Santa in the wee hours of Christmas morn.  We stopped in the northern Wyoming town of Sheridan for breakfast.  The Cowboy Cafe was filled with locals looking to relax on their Saturday morning.  The boys read their recent book fair purchases in a quiet daze. A retired couple stop to tell us what adorable, we’ll-mannered boys we had.  I basked in this comment like a pious parenting prodigy (they didn’t need to know about the shenanigans that usually ensue during mealtime:-).  

(Kenny is back there somewhere—we hope!?)

We continued north and reached Great Falls, MT by 1PM.  This was our original overnight stop to break up the drive.  We ate lunch at the renowned Roadhouse Diner.  You probably haven’t heard of it (we hadn’t either) but Trip Advisor, Food Network, and Guy Fieri all raved about it.  And now we do too.  They grind their own locally raised beef daily, cut their own fries locally grow potatoes into fries, and have the sweetest staff and atmosphere.  It wasn’t healthy but we gobbled it up like it was the Last Supper.  

Snow was in the forecast and we all felt like a million bucks (??) so we decided to push on into Canada.  I was sweating and praying like Jesus in Gathsemene as we approached the Canadian border.  Countless trips through the Port Huron border crossing with valid credentials during my career days had left me jaded towards Canadian border patrol.  Would I be sent to the Canadian Guantanamo Bay for trying to enter their country on an expired passport?  Should I play the funny card about the trials of mothering contributing to my passport oversight?  Or keep a straight face?   I was relieved when the border agent, in a very serious manner, asked his questions and seemed more concerned about potential firearms, anything dangerous or alcohol being transported in our vehicle.  I played it cool and bit my tongue rather than blurt out, “Do our 3 boys count as something dangerous?”  I’m not sure he would have related to my humor!?  We sailed into Canada with a sigh of relief (and a passing thought of whether the U.S. would let me back in!).

As we drove the last hour to Lethbridge, I enjoyed feelings of being a road tripping warrior, and I couldn’t help but compare our family to one that might be found in a wagon on the Oregon Trail 150 years earlier.  But then the Jacob said his iPad’s battery was dead, the navigation system chimed our next turn, and I adjusted the temperature of my heated seat for my perfect comfort.  On second thought, I’m not sure we’d have done so well on the Oregon Trail😂