over the top

I have been worried that I won't be able to keep up my training over the holidays. The last few days I have
found it easier to not run especially after the long days of driving. This morning I woke up and quietly put on my gear laid out the night before. The campground was
quiet and the sky was blue. I ran in the direction we had come in the night before. The neighborhood of Kaysville sits among the mountains of Utah and is immaculate and pristine. I ran through a neighbourhood much like a Street
Of Dreams, gorgeous brick homes set against rich landscaping.




















Manicured lawns, backyard pools, basketball courts and huge decks, and yet you won't see a BMW or a Porsche in these driveways. They buy American here and fly their flags high. Patriotism and religion surround you in these parts.
I got a good hour run in and was able to enjoy the local landscape and take in the sunrise over Salt Lake while others slept. I love being an athlete. I did some sit ups and pushups back at camp before everybody woke up and felt completely refreshed and back on track.





















After coffee and a game of 7 up with Grace we headed out. The Blue Plate Diner was calling us for a late breakfast. Deep in the heart of Salt Lake city the diner was featured on Diners and Dives and did not disappoint. It was a funky little diner with cool local artwork on the walls, postcards hanging from clotheslines across the ceiling, licence plates hanging behind the soda bar and an ecletic assortment of chairs and tables throughout. It was a fun stop. Next stop Bryce Canyon.

a grain of salt?

On August 05 we set out from Dillon Montana (we stayed at the Best Western in Dillon where we enjoyed the luxury of decamping and the kids splashed in the pool plus the added bonus of wifi totally made my day) with Salt Lake City our next destination. We have been averaging 500 miles a day and yet are managing to "keep it real" . The ladies are excellent travel companions and get along better than others in the vehicle ;). Having their itouchs has certainly helped keep them busy when the scenery doesn't keep them occupied. As you can see they pass the time in some unique ways. I love how their exploration of backseat photography has brought together the toys of yesterday (slinky) with the technology of today (photo taken with Grace's itouch)

















We drove through Montana and back through southern Idaho. I took the wheel just before Utah and while Dad slumbered,the snoring drowning out the radio, I drove. Of course the rain came hard at this point and there was fresh paving being done for 17 miles. Probably the most brutal part of the drive to date. I white knuckled at points as the road narrowed considerably with only one lane open and me with the camper!!
But the Utah skies were blue and the outside temperature was 40 when I pulled into a rest area just before Ogden Utah. There were only two campgrounds in this area and neither was a run of the mill campground. Both were destination style rv campgrounds. One,called Lagoon, was the site of the largest amusement park in the northwest states. The other park called Cherryhill had a waterpark on site. Luckily Lagoon was full as it would have been next to impossible to say no to that one and at $40 each even though we were arriving at 6pm it would have been a major unnecessary!
We ended up at Cherryhill where they had everyone packed in like sardines but miraculously our electric site sat alone with no neighbors. The waterpark had an after 4pm rate so we donned our suits and headed over. The lazy river was refreshing after a long hot day of driving and the views of Salt Lake city below were beautiful. The ladies had a blast and it was well worth the price of admission. I had some chicken strips in the fridge that I had marinated in a teriyaki sauce and we BBQed those for dinner with grilled peppers. We sat outside playing cards marveling at how quiet the campsite was for 930 until we realized it was 1030 :( and we still had our music and lights going. Rule breakers are not very welcome in this state so off to bed.

More than just potatoes

Had a gorgeous day of driving which took us from Washington through northern Idaho and ended in Dillon Montana. Spectacular scenery throughout the journey. Coeur d'alene is absolutely gorgeous and as home to an Ironman Triathlon :))) I can see this as an awesome destination event for someone planning to really test their mettle.

We passed through Idaho and entered
Montana...say it with me m
mon tan a. We pulled into Missoula set the Gps to find us a park and it did. Right on the Clark Fork River
I made a late lunch while we watched the locals tube down the river.
. We then found a post office and mailed some postcards.
So far we have held off on clothes or gift shopping but Montana is tax free and I just couldn't resist the cowboy hats for the girls.


They remind me of one I used to have which I think I got on a roadtrip across Canada when I was little. A lot of this trip reminds me of that one actually. I have a lot of pictures to post just have to figure out how to post more than one.

Lazy daze....cont.

Day 2 was a nice and easy day with just a short drive. I started the girls off right with a perfect on the go camping breakfast in the form of a fried egg and bacon sandwich and then we headed out on the road.  I had booked a campsite in Spokane but we were unsure if we would stay there given that we had made it farther than we expected the day before.   Finding the booked campsite was not that easy even with the gps.  If you ever stay at riverside state park be warned that there are two different campgrounds that are not very close together.  When we finally arrived at our campsite it was well past lunchtime and we were all famished.  Our campsite was at 9 miles recreation site which is right on the lake.  The sites are very close together but you are steps from the water so with temperatures in the high 20's who is complaining.  We decided it would be a good idea to just have a lake day and that is just what we did.  A very good decision.  Too hot to run and the trails weren't optimal for running alone so I opted for a lake swim instead.

lazy daze

We had a really great day for our first day of the roadtrip. I seriously did not look at my watch all day. I read Harry Potter to the girls when I wasn't at the wheel and before you knew it we were in Osoyoos. We stopped there and parked on the jetty at Haynes Point and had a refreshing swim. We then crossed the border at Oroville where the camper search was a small inconvenience given the fact that had we crossed in Blaine we would have endured at least an hour wait before submitting to same.
After a fun shop in Oroville: red
vines and giant
jawbreakers
for the ladies, chocolate for mom and cheap beer for Dad we drove on. We stopped at Grand Coolee Dam and I made a nice pasta salad and we barbecued steaks at the picnic table with the roar of the dam filling the air. Truly amazing to see and to have as
your backdrop while dining. A marmot came to say hello while we were eating, startling us as he came up from the bank of the dam
under the chain link fence. What's for dinner? he seemed to say. It was cute and the girls were quite excited at their first spotting of the little varmint.
After dinner we pushed off in search of a campsite as this was an unhooked night of our journey. Dad went to pull into the kings cross rv park but I forced us on and wouldn't u know it but a state park just ahead in spring canyon awaited us around the bend. At the top of the canyon over looking beautiful Lake Roosevelt, $10 got us a spot for the night.

breakfast special

cowboys get it

sorry everyone but the ability to blog became next to impossible given that the clearest signal came in the dead of night or 4
km up the road. I did manage my long run on Sunday and survived injury free..that is if you don't count the massive mosquito bite on my ankle that was threatening to cause problems until I benedryl Ed up. Seems better
today and I managed a smaller run yesterday.
The kids had a fantastic time at the lake and we are now on our way to the states. We packed up early and after huge thanks to our host we headed off on our adventure.
We planned to stop in Cache Creek for breakfast but after a short drive we realized that we had lost one of the camper hooks from the chains so we needed to stop in Merritt at the Canadian Tire.
I was dying for a coffee and the kids were getting hungry as we approached Merritt and signs directed us to a great place for breakfast "the hitchin post". We don't eat breakfast out that often as I make a mean waffle :)) but when we do the kids like the fluff i.e. kids menus at ihop or jiffywiffy waffle house ...so they weren't too excited when we stopped but it looked clean and just busy enough.
Well imagine ordering what you think are boring old hotcakes and bacon and getting this....and to top it off they make mean mushroom cheddar omelets...stop in there next time you are in Merritt! Blaze
a trail!