Homeward Bound

The best I could do with a picture of the four kids was as follows....  Oh well.  Cole just wasn't in the mood.

But we did manage a picture with all of us - Tara and Jeff were both working, otherwise I am sure they would have loved to strike a pose with the rest of us.

A lot of good-byes and see you laters lately.  I had a terrific send off dinner with Joel, Trista, and the family.  An awesome roasted chicken with all of the fix'ns.  But there was a catch; they loaded up the truck with some unused and unnecessary gear which can be sent back to Ontario.  No problem guys.  Enjoy the rest of your time out west.

I also said my good-byes to Tara, Trevor, and the boys.  Hanging out with them really did supercede the sum of everything else.  Cole and Grayson are very sharp, but they won't really remember their time with Uncle Awesome after a few weeks pass.  But I will think of them often with very fond memories.  I won't forget.  And hopefully we can all do it again in a few years.  Take care you animals!  I'll be back!

So I am 1,200km into the trip home - Probably more like 1,300km.  I am in Sheridan, Wyoming.  It is along I-90, past Billings, Montana by 200 miles or so.  I left Rossland super early this morning.  I was just keen to get going.  I don't want to have regrets, but I pulled the plug on a mini journey up to Golden, BC for a stopover and visit with Jay and Tiffany and their families which I am a bit regretful of....  Sorry guys if you are reading this.  I hyped it up a bit to them, but when the time came, I changed my mind wanting to cover some mileage more directly home instead. 

The first 300km this morning was awful.  Terrible border guards, it was very dark, cold, icy roads, deer, construction, then slushy roads with lots of traffic, and so on.  But after that it was mostly blue skies and sun in my face.  I pulled over at 8:00 local time.  Another thing that got me going = My fm transmitter for the IPOD isn't working!  It is like the heated grips situation from the fall all over again.  It has worked all winter, and today, nothing.  I have 400 songs on that thing, a dozen Stuart MacLean stories, and a few novels to listen to.   The radio has been terrific though.  Southern Montana on I-90 is a heck of a lot nicer to travel across then northern Montana on HWY 2......

Anyhow - I have many more pictures of the past few days and I will post them.  I will have a few less stories to write about I am sure.  Mostly I am just concerned about getting home safe.  Oh my god - Deliverance just started on CMT = That might be a bad sign.