Day Eleven, Sat, 9/14/24, Lethbridge to Calgary, 130 miles, 2 1/2 hours

This was a short driving day, and we were glad for it.  Our Super 8 in Calgary advertised free breakfast, free wifi, indoor pool, fitness center, guest laundry, elevators, and hot tub.  We were on the first floor very close to the reception area, the pool, the hot tub, and the breakfast area.  The guest laundry, again, was not working!  Fortunately, we had plenty of clean clothes from our wash in Livingston, MT, and we had separate suitcases for what we thought might be colder weather in Calgary.  We were good to go!

While we were in Calgary, we planned to visit the Calgary Farmer's Market, the Calgary Zoo, to travel to High River where the Heartland series is filmed, and to visit Heritage Park.  We ended up letting go of Heritage Park, and we decided not to fight the traffic every day.  I found a cab company with a phone app where I could just arrange a pickup.  It worked out well for us.

In some of the motels in which we stayed the bathrooms were so small, Mary could not get in or out of the shower.  However, the Super 8 in Calgary had a slightly larger bathroom, so Mary was good to go.

Another goal or aim we had in Calgary was to go to the Calgary YMCA.  I chose this Super 8 because it is very close one of the seven YMCAs in the Calgary area.  Our home Y confirmed our membership so that we could visit when we wanted to.

What was meaningful about Day Eleven and arriving in Calgary?  We were finally at our destination!

What did I learn?  Calgary is a HUGE city with lots of traffic.  I don't know why this surprised me.

What would we do differently if Mary and I traveled again in the future?  I might pick a smaller town to stay in.  I don't know.  Calgary was exactly where we wanted to be and finding a cab company to take us to the zoo was a perfect compromise.

Day Ten, Fri, 9/13/24, Livingston, MT to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada; 438 miles, 10 hours

This is the day we drove through the Sweetgrass, MT port of entry into Alberta province, Canada.  We changed our route from Livingston slightly to take advantage of the interstates, I90 and CA4.  Along the way we stopped in Helena for lunch, and we stopped to go to the bathroom.

Steve's Cafe in Helena, a landmark

It was rainy all day this day, but I put the RAV4 on cruise control and let the vehicle determine the closeness and speed behind big trucks on I-90.  This is the day that we logged 47 mpg.

Surprise!  The bathrooms were closed, but the Tyranosaurus Rex remained.

We arrived at the Travelodge in Lethbridge about 5:30pm after 10 hours of driving.

Preparation, Sat, 8/17/2024

We had several months to think through how we wanted to make this trip from a portion of Mary's mother's inheritance. Thank you, Lillie, for leaving a clean and well-maintained house and for conserving much of the wealth your husband, Glenn, left for you! We dedicated this trip in honor of Lillie Faye Ray and as a second honeymoon celebrating our 9th year of legal marriage.

Originally, Mary wanted to travel by train from Newton up to Chicago and across Canada toward Vancouver, BC. However, we decided (1) it was just too expensive, and (2) we couldn't stop where we wanted to stop.

We finally decided to make a car trip in our new (used) Toyota RAV to Calgary, Alberta. Mary took on the task of deciding our route; how many miles per day; what towns we would stay in; and how many days. We decided on 23 days total.

Another decision was whether to stop on the way to visit anyone. There were two people in Hoxie, KS we could have visited; at least one person in Denver, CO; and then two more people in Grand Junction, CO. We decided on a stop in Grand Junction to visit Sr. Ann Ashwood and Sr. Lorren Harbin.

Another decision was whether to take Buzz with us. Buzz is Mary's mobile vehicle. We eventually decided to take a rolator instead. However, it stayed in the car the entire trip! We never got it out, and Mary did just fine with her cane everywhere we went. There was one exception, but I will tell that tale later in this story.

Today, August 17, 2024, I begin to make reservations.

By Wednesday, August 21, 2024, all reservations are made, and Sr. Ann Ashwood let me know that she has our day in Grand Junction planned out.

Stopped in Limon, CO our second day on the road.