Packing, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, planning, re-planning, forest fires, ferry tickets, laundry-sooo much laundry, worrying, angst, stressing, food planning, bag picking, snack buying, roof racks, chickens, dogs, kids, and alas we are off. Nothing felt better then when we locked all the doors asking over and over if we'd forgotten anything and took off towards the open road. Only to turn back to rearrange the cooler because we almost smashed Isaak when we made our first turn. It felt like a relief for it to finally be happening. I was excited to spend the next month with four of my most favorite people on an adventure. We have one of our biggest drives ahead of us today and it was only a mere 5.5 hour drive to Bannack, Montana.
The ride was hot, but we had air conditioning which helped. Cory talked about when he was a kid they'd make their yearly journey to Edmonton sweating, sticky and uncomfortable. He dreamed of swimming pools and lakes at his final destination. We left about 11:30 am which was only an hour and a half late. I think that was pretty impressive. We challenged the kids not to ask..Are we there yet? We made it about 30 minutes before Chloe asked if we were there. We started off the journey with Lego Batman which kept everyone occupied until we made it to our lunch stop. Zella picked it by accidentally touching the touch screen when we searched on the phone. The park had five stars. I'm not sure why because there were not bathrooms. Yikes. The kids peed in the trees. I held it until we got to the grocery store and picked up some ice and a few things that we inevitably forgot...ketchup, mustard, gallon zip baggies. I like to use gallon zip baggies in the cooler so it doesn't get all full of juices and such.
The ride was hot, but we had air conditioning which helped. Cory talked about when he was a kid they'd make their yearly journey to Edmonton sweating, sticky and uncomfortable. He dreamed of swimming pools and lakes at his final destination. We left about 11:30 am which was only an hour and a half late. I think that was pretty impressive. We challenged the kids not to ask..Are we there yet? We made it about 30 minutes before Chloe asked if we were there. We started off the journey with Lego Batman which kept everyone occupied until we made it to our lunch stop. Zella picked it by accidentally touching the touch screen when we searched on the phone. The park had five stars. I'm not sure why because there were not bathrooms. Yikes. The kids peed in the trees. I held it until we got to the grocery store and picked up some ice and a few things that we inevitably forgot...ketchup, mustard, gallon zip baggies. I like to use gallon zip baggies in the cooler so it doesn't get all full of juices and such.
Notice there isn't a single bathroom in sight!
We then got back on the road and drove the last 2.5 hours to Bannack with many cries of I'm bored and are we there yet??? We arrived in Bannack at 6pm. We got a beautiful camping spot and were the only people in that part of the campground so the kiddos played soccer and while Cory got dinner ready and I set up the tent with all our sleeping bags. It was perfect and it almost seemed too perfect. Except for all the mosquitoes. After dinner we headed over to Bannack which is a ghost town in the campground. We were the only people there since it was about 8pm by the time we made it. Isaak kept saying that he was creeped out. He loved it the last time we were there, but now he understands that people lived and died in these houses. It's almost like he could sense the life of the old town. Bannack is one of my favorite places. It was established in the 1800s when gold was found in Gun Smoke River. It quickly became a small dangerous mining town and people didn't leave there houses after dark because shots were often fired in the streets and especially at the saloon. A group of men known as the road agents start stealing gold and killed about 116 prospectors. The gold is still rumored to be hid in the mountains by Bannack(which our kids were sure they were going to find). The three men that started the road agents were hanged by the towns people when they had enough of the tyranny and fear. My favorite building is an old Hotel called Meade Hotel. The winding staircase, the view of the mountains out the kitchen windows and the high ceilings. Chloe fell in love with it too. The kiddos also loved the old school and the antique merry-go-round that still works.
Our campsite in Bannack State Park..well right by our campground obviously not our actual tent.
Running in the grass toward Hotel Meade on the right
Masonic Temple and School
The Old Jail complete with gun holes 
We got to bed late, but all curled up nice and cozy in our tent for the night. Zella was the first to fall asleep and Isaak was quick to follow. Chloe swished around in her sleeping back for awhile until everyone was asleep, but me as I read to the red glow of my headlamp. After I said just one more page four times I finally turned out my light and fell asleep instantly.
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