The Journey to Alaska {Days 7-9}

Day #7 brought us from Bozeman, Montana to Kalispell, Montana. On our way to Kalispell, we had a picnic lunch in Helena. {Hooray for a park directly on our route...such a blessing!} We were all very delighted by this location as Helena is a city on the map/board of the game Ticket to Ride that our family plays on the regular. It was fun to get to see something that we've only ever seen in a board game come to life. Another highlight from our pitstop in Helena was that they happened to be demolishing a dilapidated building adjacent to the park we were picnicking at, so it was a lunch with built-in entertainment! 

Once we made it to Kalispell & settled into our hotel, we drove out to Glacier National Park. We didn't have time to see much as the sun was quickly setting, but we were thankful to see what we did!

On our way back to Kalispell from the national park, we picked up Chick-fil-a and Panera to bring back to our hotel for dinner. This was our very last chance to eat at either of these restaurants, and we weren't about to pass up the opportunity! I even got a chicken biscuit for breakfast the next morning before we hit the road!

Day #8 was a big one as we finally crossed the border into Canada! There was a big horned sheep standing on the side of the road as we made our way to the gate, and we joked that that the goat was the send-off party for us. Also, I was really looking forward to a "Welcome to Canada" from the Border Patrol agent, but I received no pleasantries whatsoever. ;) 

Once we were on Canadian soil, "rest areas" were plentiful...but they were essentially just little pull-offs with a few parking spaces & an outhouse. No running water and not even a picnic table. Thankfully we had loaded up on food/snacks at Wal-Mart before leaving Kalispell, so our lunch on this day was eaten on the ground at one of these glamorous rest areas. 

We arrived in Banff that evening. We were so excited to see a Safeway grocery store, which Derek & I shopped at regularly when we lived in Northern Virginia. But we soon discovered that an American Safeway & a Canadian Safeway are not quite the same thing. It was so weird to see products/brands we were accustomed to but with different packaging or other caveats. We were also taken aback by all of the signage in both English and French. Obviously, we knew that some people in Canada spoke French, but we didn't expect the French signage to be so prevalent. The kids were thrilled to see Canadian money!

We stayed at an Airbnb in Banff that was set up like a townhouse, and the kids were so happy to have stairs & feel like they were in a "real house" again {their words!} as opposed to a different hotel every night. And my favorite part of the Airbnb was a washer & dryer in our unit...hallelujah! Another highlight was the kids were all able to sleep in one bedroom, and Derek & I were able to have our own room for the first time since we'd left San Antonio. This felt so luxurious.

Day #9 was our second "down day" without any traveling. We hiked Johnston Canyon, which was beautiful but sooo crowded.  There was a restaurant & ice cream shop right inside the national park near the trailhead, which seemed so bizarre to us. We also tried to visit Lake Louise, but it was so crowded & trafficky that we decided to pass. They had people directing traffic, it was absolutely surreal! After our hike, we explored the town of Banff which was the most quaint, picturesque place you've ever seen!