<6> The Journey; on four wheels

After the wedding we met up with my cousin and his family in the campground, they too, weren't allowed at the reception per our governments rule. We sat around the fire, chatting, until Mr Baby was ready for bed. We changed into jammies, repacked the car a bit and then I nursed him to sleep. We put Mr Baby in the car, our dog and two cats and began the first leg of our driving journey.

I was unable to fall asleep in the car, unfortunately, which was odd because I used to not be able to stay awake in moving vehicles; as the plan was for Chase to drive all night and me to drive all day- we decided to pull over and get a hotel room for the night so I could sleep.

We stopped in Moosomin, SK, at the Motel 6 which was surprisingly great! It was pet friendly, the beds were comfortable and the breakfast was English muffin breakfast sandwiches & coffee. We ate, re-packed and hit the road!

We drugged our cats with Gravol as they were *not* enjoying the drive and drive we did.

We stopped a few times so I could nurse Mr Baby and then we made it into Regina, SK, for lunch. We ate at a buffet which wasn't amazing but wasn't awful either, after eating we hopped back in the car and kept going.

We made it to Medicine Hat, AB, that evening around dinner time, we stopped at "The Local" for dinner- the food was incredible- and then checked in at the "Quality Inn"; there was nothing "quality" about it. Our bathtub tap didn't work at all, so no showers for us after a long drive; I didn't notice until the next morning because we fell asleep immediately, but there were long black hairs all over my pillow. It was Dungy, the pool was out of service and the manager was extremely rude when I mentioned our disappointment. Needless to say, we were happy to leave.

We stopped in Calgary, AB, at the TEAMS head office, where a friend of ours happened to be and said hello!

We went from there to Calavera Cantina and had some of the best tacos we've ever had. Their patio was dog friendly, the sun was out and we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. The staff were so nice and we had a really lovely time.

As we drove, we kept wondering how far we'd get next as we based all of our travelling on Mr Baby and his temperament. Fortunately for us, he really enjoyed our road trip, provided he had snacks, so snacks were had!

We stopped next in Lake Louise and wow I'm so glad we did. It's stunning. The clear, crystal blue water, the fresh smell of pine, the cold, crisp air. It was decadent.

My sister had come home to Winnipeg for the summer and had just moved back to Revelstoke, so regardless of Mr Baby, we had to stop- it was meant to be because he was pretty done being in the car as we approached the outskirts. We pre-ordered pizza, picked it up and headed over to Kira's! We had a lovely visit and really enjoyed a piece of home, that familiarity of family, it was a true gift. Mr Baby started to get tired so we figured we'd drive while he slept so we got into our jammies and hit the road!

We made it into Kamloops, BC, quite late, checked into the Plaza Hotel, fell asleep immediately and woke up super early (thanks to Mr Baby) so we hit the road again. We made it to Bridal Falls, which was absolutely gorgeous. The trail upon entering is a 15min uphill hike. The fresh water running down the creek was gorgeous and Makó thoroughly enjoyed drinking it. The waterfall was stunning, we stayed, breathing in the clean Air, for such a long time. It was our hunger that prompted us to leave, otherwise we would have stayed.

After Bridal Falls, we headed straight into Vancouver, BC, and ate the *best* gluten free fried chicken from Juke. It was raining and Juke is take-our only but fortunately there was a mini-mall across the street so we were able to sit down, enjoy our food and change Mr Baby.

We stopped at the Enagic head office so I could pick up my K8 water machine (more on that later!) and headed for the Ferry to Nanaimo!

We were on the highway towards the Ferry when it occurred to me, what time does it depart?!

Chase looked it up, the Ferry was set to leave in 24 minutes, it was a 30 minute drive and was raining a good Vancouver rain...

Chase said "there's no way we'll make it." I said "sure we will " and then a silver car passed us. So I followed it, all the way to the ferry, we paid, got in line and then the disappointment set in. Our lane was the longest one and wasn't moving. All the other lanes were moving, albeit slowly, but moving. I put the car in park and thought "at least we'll be first on the next one."

And then it happened!

Our lane moved, apparently one of the BCF employees was *determined* to get everyone on, was getting people to park bumper to bumper, on ramps, diagonal, you name it! We were the last car on the Ferry!

We made it to Jen and Jamie's co-op just after dinner and got settled in. They hosted us for 3 nights, we had a lovely visit and are so blessed to have such a wonderful family, happy to take us all in with our animals too!

I had told Chase about Cathedral Forest and said I wanted to go if we had time, we did!

We walked through the giant trees, appreciating the magic of the Forest, listening to the great Spirit encourage our decisions. We left the path and found a beautiful Creek where I took some keepsake rocks. We thanked the beautiful land and made our way to Coombs were they have "Goats on the Roof"- yes, real goats! We bought some goodies and headed back to meet one of my dearest friends, for dinner.

It was such a beautiful ending to our driving journey; surrounded by love from both family by blood and choice.

We got up at 4:30am and drove to the Ferry terminal, again, almost missed it, but made it and onto the Vancouver airport.

It was an early, long morning, but it all worked out beautifully. When we arrived at the airport, Chase got out with our luggage and our pets and I continued on to the car rental drop off. I MacGyver'd the carseat to attach to the stroller, wore Mr Baby and we walked back to the airport (in the rain) and made it back to Chase with everything already inside the airport!

And then we waited.