Aug 2- HOME!

Despite the early hour of rising this am (530), the excitement of going home got everyone moving. We ate breakfast at the hotel- the Pomeroy Inn and Suites had a great breakfast spread. We were on the road by 645! 

We were really testing our ability and driving- going from Grand Prairie to Whitehorse. That is 1544km in one day. But we were up for the challenge. The kids were sure we could do it and were most helpful. They made sure when we stopped, they went to the bathroom, they requested getting food to go for meals. And when we stopped for gas, everyone helped clean windows, get snacks, go the bathroom and with pumping gas.

The road was pretty empty, although we noticed there were a lot of big rigs going south!

We made it to Pink Mountain at 11am. We went to use the washroom and found out their water had turned off. Too bad we found this out after Cassel and Paul went in to use them! But it seemed it was just the women's that didn't work so Hannah and Kerri used the men's. We grabbed some sandwiches to go and were on our way.

We stopped in Ft Nelson and then Watson Lake for gas. The van was getting good mileage after so many kilometres in the road- something like 8.8litres per 100 kms. 

We arrived in Watson Lake at 6pmish. Filled the gas tank, emptied the holding tanks and were on our way. Paul was tired so Cassel drove. He drove for about 2.5 hours and then was tired and Paul took over again. Paul felt refreshed after a short nap. 

There were lots of bugs hitting our window on the way from Teslin- so many they sounded like rain!

We rolled into our driveway, after getting milk and bread at a convenience store, at 11pm, putting on 9790kms during our trip! 

Thanks for following our adventure! Until next time!

Aug 1- the visit with the Dumonts!

Today was beautiful! We woke up in Edmonton and the sun was shinning and the sky was blue. By 830am, it was already 18 out!

Our plan was to grab breakfast at one fast food place on our way out of Edmonton. The Fantasyland hotel did not have the free breakfast and we figured, to save time, we'd grab breakfast and go. This proved harder than we had thought. Firstly, our GPS in the van was not as up to date on the new roads so we ended up going towards St. Albert. If you aren't familiar with the area, St. Albert is to the northeast of Edmonton and we were trying to go west. Our next problem was, there were absolutely NO restaurants along our route- fast food or otherwise. We spent an hour getting out of Edmonton and getting gas and breakfast in Spruce Grove. At 930, we were on our way!

The drive was pretty boring. There was some construction. At Valleyview Esso, the gas pumps were out of order so we just stopped and used the washrooms.

We arrived in Grand Prairie just after 130 and drove to the mall. We found Melanie, Chris, Fraser and Tanner in the food court. We hadn't seen them in over 2 years and the boys had grown so much! 

We spent a couple of hours shopping in the mall with the Dumonts. And then we headed to the hotel about 430. Our room was really nice at the Pomeroy Inn and Suites.

Everyone but Melanie and Kerri went swimming as soon as they got to the hotel. While everyone was swimming, Kerri and Melanie caught up on what had been happening. They also realised they had been friends for 31 years- long time to know each other for. They also ordered pizza and wings for dinner.

The rest of the evening was spent eating pizza, chatting, laughing and having fun! At 11pm, it was time for us to say goodbye as the Scholz Family was going to leave very early in the am. Big hugs all around.