The Trip, by numbers

Hours in the car: 38
Provinces visited: 4 (AB, SK, MB, ON)
States visited: 6 (ND, MN, WI, IL, IN, MI)
Different beds slept in: 7
Total amount paid to Chicago toll booths: $5.80 (US)
Total amount to cross the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Winsdor: $4.00 (CDN)
Hours of listening to crazy Evangelical preachers in the Fargo area: way too many.
Scary, scary stops at scary ghetto gas stations outside Chicago where a scary guy who must have been a pimp was driving a scary Snoop Dogg-style car with hydroulics: 1 (and that was enough).
Minutes shopped at the mall of America: 45
Distance in miles from the Mall to our hotel: 0.5 (or 1/2 if you're American)
Number of kilometers in a mile: 1.6 or so.
Number of vicars who were relieved to arrive in Windsor: 1
Number of vicars who are seriously excited about Detroit sporting events such as Lions and Tigers (and Chicago bears, oh my!) :1
Number of vicars who did an awesome job on their first Sunday in Windsor: 1
Square footage of our kitchen countertop: 2'x2'. That's it.
Number of orange cats that are happy to be with their Mommy and Daddy: 1

oooooooo....THE MALL!

This was it - the big day!

We woke up bright and early in Glenboro, hopped in the car and drove for a really, really long time until we got to the place where the mall is. (this is the condensed version, since I told you about the pretty farmland and all that junk earlier.)
We checked into our hotel, dumped off our luggage, and boarded the free shuttle that took us right to the Happiest Place on Earth.
Okay, the Second Happiest Place on Earth.

We only had about 45 minutes of shopping time, so we prioritized carefully. Actually, Murray walked briskly behind me and I prioritized. We checked out the Lego megastore, Camp Snoopy amusement park, Victoria's Secret (I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that...) and Bath&Body Works. And a candy store. And J Crew.

It was all so exciting, I can't really put it into words. After the stores closed, we stayed for a bite to eat at Ruby Tuesdays which, as far as I can tell, is very much like Kelsey's but with a salad bar.

The Mall is 3 storeys high in most places, which makes for easier navigation than say, WEM which is 8 blocks long and takes even the most experienced mall-walker at least 15 minutes to get from end to end. And that's not efficient use of one's time now, is it?

Murray was a good sport through it all, trudging along behind me with a seriously swollen leg from a hornet sting/bite which happened the previous morning on the golf course. What a trooper!

After all the excitement, we re-boarded the shuttle (when really we could have walked because it was about half a mile from the hotel to the mall). We're so lazy.

Interstate Love Blog

I love the Interstate highway system. It is fabulous. Let me back up for a minute and tell you how I came to love it.
After our time in Ft Qu'Appelle, we spent a few days in Glenboro, MB visitng Murray's fam. Glenboro is south of Brandon, and they are known for being close to the desert. We visited with Grandma and Grandpa Wallis and the whole gang, went golfing and generally enjoyed ourselves for a few beautiful, sunny Manitoba summer days. It was really fun for me to see all the places Murray used to hang out when he was younger.
Yesterday we set out for Minneapolis. We left town at about 10am, had a pleasant border-crossing experience (after we assured them that we had no beef in the car), and after a minor navigational blip we were cruising on the interstate. Ahhhh...the interstate. First of all, the speed limit is 75mph. Roughly translated, that's 115-120. nice for me, since I like to drive fast. They have lovely clean, easily accessible rest stops about every 40 miles or so, which make it nice to stop and stretch your legs or go to the bathroom without feeling like you have to buy something! Not many people here drive with their headlights on, which seems strange to me.
The drive through North Dakota was pretty uneventful. Murray slept and I ran over about a million birds that sit on the highway until you're about to drive over them. Some were not as quick as others.
Minnesota is very pretty. Mostly farm land (especially corn), rolling hills, very green, lots of water. They say they are the 'land of 10,000 lakes,' but I demand a re-count since I think some of their "lakes" are just slough-y pools of standing water at the side of the road. Pretty nonetheless. Both of my great-grandparents on my mom's mom's side of the family were born in Minnesota, and although we won't be going to the towns where they were born, I have a pretty good sense of the area. Today we are heading towards Chicago - we won't be staying in Chicago tonight since it is about $300 a night to sleep anywhere there, so we are staying in Hammond, IN. We'll be taking a more scenic route down the Mississippi river till we hit the beloved interstate again in Wisconsin.
I almost forgot - we went to the MALL last night. I have to run, but I'll post the pics next time!

On the Road

Hello faithful readers...sorry it has been a while since I've updated! It certainly hasn't been for lack of things to say, we have been obscenely busy. We left Edmonton on July 30th. I didn't want to leave the house since it was cleaner than it ever has been, but it was the first step on the long road to Windsor.
We arrived in Calgary after a pretty stressful trip. Dixie wasn't having a good time in the car, which was causing us to think about packing her in her kennel and putting her on a plane. The vet had recommended giving her some children's Gavol but when we attemped a dry run at my parents' house, there was much upset-ness and foaming at the mouth. We ended up buying her a new kennel that looks like a fancy space-pod so she wouldn't be able to hurt herself in it.
After spending a couple days in Calgary we drove out to Winfield, BC (just outside Kelowna) to see the sites of my childhood. We had a great time at Auntie Cathy and Uncle Don's place...on the top of a hill with a lake on either side and orchards all the way down. We checked out Cedar Creek, Gray Monk, and Arrowleaf wineries (complete with tastings!) and brought home some momentos to be consumed at a later time. We drove past my Grampa's old house on Okanagan Lake, went to the beach at Ellison Park (where you used to have to walk down a torturously long, twisty path down to the lake, and where there is now a road that takes you safely to the bottom) and tried the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato for the first time.
On the way home we stopped at Craigallachie (sorry to any Scottish people who know I spelled that wrong...) aka The Last Spike of the railroad in 1885. It was really cool since a huge freight train came roaring past just as we got there - a reminder of how the country was united by a 'ribbon of steel' that we still rely on today. Deep.
After a few 'lasts' in Calgary (last visit with my bro and nephew, last BBQ with our parents and all that sappy stuff) the real journey began.
On Thursday (after a long rainy ordeal on Wednesday night) we packed up the newly-windshield-ed and freshly-tire-d car and set out on the Trans-Canada highway, bound for Regina. We made good time stopping in Medicine Hat for gas, and at some rest area just outside of Moose Jaw. We ejoyed a little Huston Pizza with Jimmy and Kari, collected our TV and were back on the road to Ft Qu'Appelle for a couple nights. We're enjoying some time with Mike, Chris, Noah and Naomi until tomorrow after church when we start the 4.5 hour trip to Glenboro, MB to hang out with the Wallis clan for a few days. Hopefully I'll be able to update a little more frequently - Minneapolis and Chicago are coming up next week!