May 1st, 2011 - the long version

What an awesome May day morning! 35 degrees (F) with a bright sun shining! Yes, i am back in the Peace River Country of Alberta.
We left PEM, El Mirage last Monday (April 25th) at about 11 oclock. We had hoped to leave earlier, but we were waiting for a parcel Peter & Karen had sent over 3 weeks ago, but it still didn't come. We started the day out with picking up Aunt Agnes Loewen and going to IHOP on Bell Road for breakfast. i fueled up at Costco, dropped Aunt Agnes off at her home and headed to PEM. There we said our last goodbyes for the season and went north to Arizona 60. We went the new road by Hoover Dam, but you can't see anything over the bridge walls! Was a lovely road, but then it should be as it is new. i took the smaller road going through LV. i've done it before, and it is less stressful, the speed limits are lower and there are more places to pull off than the main road through. it is also neat that we go past the raceway on the east side and come out by Ritchie Brothers Auction site.
The Virgin River gorge was beautiful - and the river was running at high capacity. Not as high as last fall, but still impressive. We made it to Beaver, Utah for our first night.

We were definitely getting into cooler weather by now. Still hadn't dug out my shoes or heavier jacket, but ran into snow and slush before we got to Salt Lake City, Utah. Traveled through with just stops for fuel, bathroom breaks and snacks, and made it to Helena, Montana for the next night. This day saw less traffic when we finally got north of SLC, but we did have rain and snow for some of the day. Clear weather to go the bottom route through Dillon, Twin Bridges, etc. to Boulder, Montana. Always a lovely drive through the farming country. Not many fields being worked yet.
The third day meant Sweetgrass/Coutts crossing and that went off without a hitch. Lots of other snowbirds (at least rvers) going through, too, so we had a 20 minute wait, not bad for the line up. (Did i get into trouble in the U.S.? maybe some of you could answer that one better than i did!) We got to Linden around 3, meeting Mom's brother Bert and Aunt Vina for coffee. We visited around going to see Dad's sister Anna at the nursing home, and Mom's aunt Helen (who turned 99 yo. in February) at her home on the acreage. We met Heather and her mom Jo at the Chinese restaurant for supper, and took a room in the condos. for night.
We met Heather for breakfast Thursday morning...and were priviledged that Karen's mom and sisters came too. We watched humongous snow flakes drifting down while we ate and visited. The snow lasted about 50 miles, and though we had rain on and off the rest of the travels, we didn't see slush after that! and it hadn't snowed or rained at home. Peter & Karen had business in Valleyview, so we met them and had a light supper. They went on home and we stopped to see Mom's sister Laverna at Crooked Creek.
We got home around 7 that night. No snow or rain here. i unloaded the pickup (we didn't have much) and soon after Peter & Karen stopped in to welcome us home officially. Sadie and Shadow (our non-descript stray dogs) were happy to see us, and a few of the faithful cats showed up as well. It felt so good to be home again. Thanks for listening...and have a great day. i will continue the script later!