I woke up this morning with a nervous pit in my stomach. I was so nervous. We were crossing the Canadian border into unknown land. What were we going to do? Where were we going to stay? I kept telling myself it was no big deal. We've done this before and we can do it again. With kids. We started driving north on this freeway in the country. We were literally the only people around with rolling farmers fields and mountains rising up in the background.
We stopped at a fruit stand and bought freshly picked raspberries and Montana cherries the first of the season she said. They were so good. I think we each ate about two cups of raspberries a piece. Great antioxidants, eh? After that we saw a farm that sold cage free chicken eggs. We stopped and bought a dozen for only $2 and they didn't need to be refrigerated. Bonus!! Cory had gone to Utah Natural Meats and bought some sausage, bacon and pork chops for our trip and the eggs meant that we would definitely be enjoying some hearty breakfast. We were pretty pumped. After another hour of driving the kiddos started to let us know that they may be dying soon if we didn't eat, but since we only had yogurt for breakfast we stopped for an early lunch on this beautiful bridge right off the road by a lake. The place was covered in wildflowers. We ate while swinging our legs over the low bridge listening to the stream flow by us and the birds chirping. It was another one of those perfect moments. Chloe spotted some wild raspberries, so she picked as many as she could to share with everyone. They were so sweet.
The feeling of fear and anxiety knotted up inside me slowly started to untie. I was reminded of my yoga class that I went to a few days earlier and the whole focus of the class was letting go of control. I thought that I wanted to let go of control of this trip and let it unfold before me. I was reminded of that moment and just kept breathing and letting go a little bit more.
We breezed through the Canadian Border. We ended up with an agent that was really laid back and funny. I love going through the border in more remote locations. We immediately veered off our path toward Lethbridge to see an ancient forest along the highway. One of the kids picked up this map called the crown of the continent with points of interest so we drove over to this nature walk right off the trail. I don't even know the name of the trail besides the fact that it was hard to find and not well marked at all. When we found it the kids were whining incessantly, but the trees won them over. We happened to see the oldest Cottonwood trees in the world. Usually when Cottonwood trees start to get tall the wind blows and they break because they aren't strong enough to hold up to the wind, but in this little valley the trees were protected by the elements surrounding them and happened to be in a conservation area so they weren't cut down by loggers. The trunks of the trees were so large that we couldn't all reach hands around the bottom. Moss was growing all over the trees and the ground was covered in all kinds of greens that reminded me of the Hoh Rain Forest. Wild berries including more raspberries and thistle berries were growing and ripe all around us so we ate even more berries.
We drove for a couple more hours until we reached a campground called Premier Lake Provincial Park. The road for about 20km was gravel and bumpy. Zella kept singing to the sound of the tires hitting the grade. We definitely had a reward in store. We got into camp and saw the most amazing playground ever. Swings, slides, zip-lines, teeter-totters....the kids were so excited. We found a campsite in a grassy meadow next to the bathroom. Easier to take kids at night when we are close even though we have them go right before bed. We just want to be prepared. While Cory set up camp we let the kids play their hearts out at the playground. The kids were in heaven. My only regret is that we didn't really take many pictures. We pulled them away for dinner and then bribed them with more playground time if we did a hike around the lake. We went on what we thought was going to be a short hike around that lake that actually was a steep incline to the top of the mountains The sun had started it's descent for the night and the tops of the mountains were littered with remnants of an old fire. Isaak an Chloe were playing imaginary games and collecting rocks and sticks until their pockets were absolutely bulging and their hands were full. We had amazing views of the lake far below us and another range of mountains jutting up towards the sky behind us. Another perfect moment. A high. I couldn't believe how lucky we were to find such a beautiful and perfect spot. We rushed back to the playground before the sunset and got the kids in bed around 11pm again. Thank you long Canadian days. We went to bed with clouds settled on the horizon, but I wasn't worried because the chance of rain was only 20%.
We breezed through the Canadian Border. We ended up with an agent that was really laid back and funny. I love going through the border in more remote locations. We immediately veered off our path toward Lethbridge to see an ancient forest along the highway. One of the kids picked up this map called the crown of the continent with points of interest so we drove over to this nature walk right off the trail. I don't even know the name of the trail besides the fact that it was hard to find and not well marked at all. When we found it the kids were whining incessantly, but the trees won them over. We happened to see the oldest Cottonwood trees in the world. Usually when Cottonwood trees start to get tall the wind blows and they break because they aren't strong enough to hold up to the wind, but in this little valley the trees were protected by the elements surrounding them and happened to be in a conservation area so they weren't cut down by loggers. The trunks of the trees were so large that we couldn't all reach hands around the bottom. Moss was growing all over the trees and the ground was covered in all kinds of greens that reminded me of the Hoh Rain Forest. Wild berries including more raspberries and thistle berries were growing and ripe all around us so we ate even more berries.
This isn't my favorite pic, but Isaak insists that I include it
We drove for a couple more hours until we reached a campground called Premier Lake Provincial Park. The road for about 20km was gravel and bumpy. Zella kept singing to the sound of the tires hitting the grade. We definitely had a reward in store. We got into camp and saw the most amazing playground ever. Swings, slides, zip-lines, teeter-totters....the kids were so excited. We found a campsite in a grassy meadow next to the bathroom. Easier to take kids at night when we are close even though we have them go right before bed. We just want to be prepared. While Cory set up camp we let the kids play their hearts out at the playground. The kids were in heaven. My only regret is that we didn't really take many pictures. We pulled them away for dinner and then bribed them with more playground time if we did a hike around the lake. We went on what we thought was going to be a short hike around that lake that actually was a steep incline to the top of the mountains The sun had started it's descent for the night and the tops of the mountains were littered with remnants of an old fire. Isaak an Chloe were playing imaginary games and collecting rocks and sticks until their pockets were absolutely bulging and their hands were full. We had amazing views of the lake far below us and another range of mountains jutting up towards the sky behind us. Another perfect moment. A high. I couldn't believe how lucky we were to find such a beautiful and perfect spot. We rushed back to the playground before the sunset and got the kids in bed around 11pm again. Thank you long Canadian days. We went to bed with clouds settled on the horizon, but I wasn't worried because the chance of rain was only 20%.
Scenic driving pic on the way to Premier Provincial Park
driving pic of the Kootenay River
Zelly on the hike-you can see her eye is swollen. The picture does no justice
Isaak and Chloe talking slate rocks at the summit of our hike
The trail back down
Premier Lake near sunset
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