Trip.2011.15

I just saw a speed limit sign announcing 45 mph and said to Steve, "Oh we must be in a school zone." We're back in Montana (home of the 75 mph roads) and I think I'm funny.

We had toyed with the idea of extending our trip by spending more time in Lake Lousie and the rest of Banff National Park, then Calgary before maybe heading down to Glacier Park (US version.) However, plans, mice, men, gang agley... Caroline has picked up Edward's virus and - I say this with all of love in my loving heart - they both suck too much to consider prolonging this delightful vacation by a millisecond.

This is Edward being bodily removed from (no I really, really, really mean it this time) the. single. most. beautiful. place I have ever seen: Lake Moraine in Banff National Park.

I have other pictures of him today being bodily r. from a scenic vista, a mountain creek, and a Safeway but the long and short of it is he's the last person with whom I want to spend more time in a car. Of course there's Caroline who... well, here:

Steve said, "Oh hey! Look look look! Up there! That! Is a glacier!"

Caroline said, "Oh wow! Really? Let me see! Oh wow oh goodie goodie! Open the roof so I can see better!"

Steve and I looked at each other, like, aw, what a long drive but to foster in our children such enthusiasm about the earth's magnificence... priceless. So we cranked the sunscreen thing and pointed to the glacier while Steve lectured on glaciers, their formation and the impact they have.

Caroline was silent for a minute and then she said, "Wait, where's the blimp?"

Blimp? No no, Caroline, it's a glacier. She sobbed for forty minutes, as if she had been knowingly deceived about a dirigible and she was just heartbroken by the treachery of it all.

So! Wheels home, as Steve likes to say when he is being especially annoyingly folksy. Tonight we're in north central Montana and tomorrow we're staying inconveniently further than we had hoped in North Dakota. Quick, name the hardest place in the world to locate a last minute hotel room. Cannes during the festival? Ha HA. Try North Dakota, like, always. North Dakota has a boom going and limited temporary housing so the result is a serious shortage of hotel rooms. We got a heads-up about this from my friend before we left and I thought oh we'll need to remember that and of course forgot all about it until tonight when we tried to find a room for tomorrow in Bismark. No dice. Jamestown? Uh-huh. Fortunately Steve spends a great deal of time in the state being kind to our fine feathered friends and was able to name more than three towns in North Dakota (thus beating me by four) and all of them had hotels and only a couple were completely full.

But Banff. Banff and Glacier. Hands down my favorite location for the entire trip was the stretch that lasted from Glacier Park in British Columbia to Banff Park and a little beyond in Alberta. It was... sublime to borrow from Tine in the comments.

Lake Moraine - where the water is blue and the wildlife are obliging. It was so, so gorgeous there.

Last of the mountains and the last time my hat will look inconspicuous.

Comments

[Doug]

I hope the kids get better fast!

[Jessica]

I hope everyone else stays healthy!

[Heather]

Sorry to hear you guys are going home early due to illness. Glad to see everyone got to see some really pretty scenic vistas!

[Amy]

I hope you go on more long family trips, because the frequent postings are delightful. The pictures are gorgeous. Hope the kids feel better soon!

[Hermia]

No one told me about the North Dakota thing. My mother-in-law and I ended up driving from Black Falls, WI to Regina, SK (980 miles)in one go b/c we had thought we'd stop in North Dakota. Glad you found somewhere to stay! (And you really have to go back to Banff and Jasper. Is lovely lovely lovely.)

[Jo in Boston]

We spent a lovely night in Jamestown, ND about a month ago on our way back from Yellowstone in a hotel with a water slide. Unfortunately, the scenery of North Dakota leaves a lot to be desired after the mountains. Are you going to Little Big Horn? One of the best parts of our trip.

[MJ]

So glad you liked Moraine Lake. We were fortunate enough to stay in the inn on the lake (not a place you'd want to stay with children) a few years ago and loved it. And like you I cannot say enough good things about the Canadian Rockies - one of the most gorgeous stretches of landscape I have ever seen. (Outdone only by the fjords of western Norway.)

[Jenny]

What a gorgeous picture of you and Caroline!

[Jackie]

I'm sorry you are dealing with sick kids, not fun in the best of times, and less fun in a car trip!

I am thrilled however that you enjoyed the moutains of Alberta, and especially thrilled that you were as taken with Moraine Lake as I am :)

I hope that rest of your trip is quick and vomit free.

[Penny]

I have so enjoyed your very frequent posts. It has been wonderful following your adventures! Hope the kids feel better soon and that it doesn't hit you all! The pictures are beautiful, we must go there. Thank you for taking the time to share this with your faithful readers.

[Katherine]

I hope the illness is short lasting and doesn't spread to anyone else. Have loved hearing all about you trip. Makes me want to do a similar trip! Unfortunately we'd be starting from much further south.

[Martha]

I'm sad your vacation is ending - I've been having such a good time! You've traveled so many of the same roads I traveled with my parents as a child, especially in Washington and northern Idaho, though I've also had the privilege of visiting all of the other places you've been and heartily agree with your soaring descriptions!
Hope the sickies are loads better tout de suite, and that no one else gets sick. I'm sure you'll be glad to see your own beds.

[Taryn]

It's very exciting to me that you're holidaying in my neck of the woods, as I read your blog religiously. And it's even more exciting to hear how much you love it here! We are so lucky to have the Rockies at our doorstep living in Calgary, and to me it's devastatingly beautiful...something that so many Calgarians often take for granted and forget about. Sad you couldn't stay longer and visit the beautiful city I call home, but good luck with your sick kidlets! If you ever get the chance to come back, be sure to check out more of Waterton Lakes National Park (our side of the US Glacier National Park)...nothing compares.

[Sharon]

I've been to Lake Moraine!!! Just a few weeks ago! But it was sleeting. And our kids (6 and 8) were whining that they were COOOOLLLLDDD! (It really was cold, but also BEAUTIFUL.). But I agree. Driving through the park and the Lake Louise/Banff area was the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen (and we live in the Bay Area and are close to lots and lots of gorgeous places). By then, of course, we'd given up on our kids enjoying the scenery and gave them their phones to play on so at least WE could enjoy the drive. Then we got to drive for 4 hours to a dude ranch in British Coloumbia where we spent 6 days and got to horseback ride, hike and raft through more and more beautiful land. Just awe-inspiring how pretty that area is. Anyway all this just to say "I KNOW! It's just so PRETTY!"

[Shannnon @nwaMotherlode]

I have loved all your travel posts. What fun! Btw, the hat is too cute and I think you should wear it whenever and wherever you like, conspicuous or not.

[Leah]

Ach, so gorgeous. I'm so tired of NYC in the stinky summertime.

Thanks for "bodily r." Lovely reminder of P.G. Wodehouse who I never read much anymore but love dearly.

[Terri C]

I love "bodily r." as well, also your hat. So sorry the twins are sick, awful! Am wondering if "Lake Lousie" is a Freudian slip.

[Lisame]

Patrick looks like a porcelain statue in that photo. He is beautiful.

[Tine]

It IS sublime, isn't it? When you're standing in scenes like those, you have to remind yourself you're IN them, not looking at an Ansel Adams print.

[zarqa]

That last picture made me shed a wee tear. So beautiful, the vistas, and your family.

[Heather S]

I am so sad I didn't read this yesterday so I could have offered to, well I don't really know but I have read your blog for years and I'm just so excited that you were so close. We live in Valley City, which is about 30 min east of Jamestown and I would have recommended eateries and hotels and such. Hope all the flooding didn't scare you away from our area too much.

[Sally]

dearest Julia, you make me laugh and laugh and laugh. Thanks for sharing your vacation with me
x

[Noelle]

Super awesome hat, Julia!

[Liz S]

21 years ago, we went on our honeymoon to Lake Lousie. It was gorgeous and we hope to go back one day. And there are also no hotels in Montana when its the Butte 50 year class reunion the same weekend that the symphony is in town. We drove through three or four cities-not close together I might add- to find a side of the road motel that resembled the I Love Lucy Show when they went cross country. We got separate twin beds and the train shook the whole room every time it went by.