News of the days

It has been a couple of days since I have written.  We have seen some beautiful country!! 

After leaving Hot Springs, South Dakota we crossed into Wyoming.  We were trying to make it to Sheridan Wyoming to sleep for the night.  We were coming across the Big Horn Mountain range.  When we were about 30 miles from Sheridan the wind began to blow very fiercely.  The RV was rocking back and forth.  Dad was forced to hold the steering wheel at a 45 degree angle into the wind just to keep us on the road.  There was probably twice that we were bracing in preparation of the RV flipping over.  We found out the next day that the winds were blowing at 25 miles per hour and gusting between 50 and 55 miles per hour.  Being at the top of the mountain range we were taking the brunt of the wind storm.  I was so thankful to be in Sheridan where we were able to park the RV into the wind and avoid rocking.  After getting there, Dad and I went outside and I can honestly say I have NEVER heard the wind Howl like it was that night, nor have I been in a wind so forceful.  It will forever be a sound and feeling stuck in my memory.

The next morning (Thursday, I think) we got up and headed for Shelby Montana.  Once again we were greeted by 25 mile an hour winds, but luckily there were not the gusts so we did well.  The drive was amazingly beautiful.  The land is so flat and the sky is huge, hence the name for Montana “big sky country”.  We could see snow capped mountains in the distance but seemed we could never get close to them.  We drove for hours and never reached them. 

Along the way we saw the huge white windmills.  It seems that you could say they are windmill farms.  They were perfectly situated in the high wind areas grabbing as much of the wind as they could.  In one of the towns they had one of the blades on display and we stopped to look at it.  The individual blade is about 20 feet long.  There are 3 blades per windmill.  I would say that they stand about 100 feet tall.

We then proceeded on toward Shelby.  We got to Shelby and hunkered down for the night.  When we awoke the next morning the field in front of us was filled with Mule Deer and rabbits.  It was God’s way of saying good morning!!  After seeing that, the kids and I played some soccer and then headed for the Canadian Border.

At the border check in we were delayed about an hour because I did not have a notarized note from John saying that I could cross the border with the children.  They questioned us and finally let us go.  Then, because dad is carrying a gun with us we had to stop and get that registered prior to them letting us pass through.

After crossing the border (which is our half way point), we began to see snow all over the ground.  The kids were excited about that.  We managed to stop at a couple of places to play.  We stopped over in Edmonton last night where there was about 3 to 4 feet of snow on the ground.  I have included some pictures of the camp site.  The snow was huge!!! We were told that the road ahead was good and that there was no snow expected until tonight (Saturday.) So we should make it to Dawson Creek tonight which is the start of the Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway).  At that point we will be 1,488 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska.  It is so good to see all the towns that we have been plotting on a map for months!! 

Thanks for all your support !!  I enjoy sharing with you all!!