Hooper Family Canada Vacation Part 1

I decided that I need to do our vacation in parts because we did so much and I took notes this time so I could remember. So here it is

Friday may 27th: We got up and going Friday morning a bit early so we could do a few things without Libby’s help. I had her packed on Wednesday. I was half packed and Marshall had nothing packed. I thought it would be a good idea to pack a small overnight bag for the 1 night stays in the hotel. I should have looked better at my vacation plan. We would be staying at everyone’s house 1 night. So my pack light ended up being packed an extra bag for no reason. Marshall had to mow the lawn and pack the car I cleaned the house.

The plan was to leave at 12 noon. We pulled out of the garage at 12 noon and then fueled up, ate lunch and got Marshalls mug filled. While sitting the sonic parking lot Libby says to us “Ok, I’m ready to go home” Not even 2 miles from home if only she understood that it would be another 3200 miles before she would see home again.

We got her a nice chicken strip meal and we had onion rings she wanted one and to make her happy I obliged she took a bite and said “I love my cheese sticks” she was eating an onion ring and we just laughed at her.

Marshall and I sat in the front and opted to see how far we could get before having to turn on the DVD player for her. We spent the next 2 hours watching her baby “Blast off” and fly into the air. I was glad she was being creative.

We were glad to be on our way the plan was to be to butte MT at about7:30-8:00 I was sure that we would be just fine. As we came to Tremonton Marshall asked me if we were supposed to exit. We didn’t remember that if we wanted to stay on I-15 we exited toward Pocatello. So we stayed on the freeway…. And hour later I looked at the GPS and realized that we were way off course. We were headed west toward twin falls and we were not happy campers because now we had to find a road to get us back to I-15 After driving for 15 more min we found an exit….It was closed so we drove another 5 miles and found a place to turn around. Marshall was mad I was frustrated because I was navigating, and it was getting close to dinner time and we were an hour from Pocatello (where there was food). So when we reached Pocatello we decided that we were going to eat at Texas Roadhouse because we deserved it. My question is why is it men don’t worry what they look like but it is always when I look like crap that they want to eat at a nice place. So I went in looking like a scrounge. Good thing I fit in.

So to the story of our vacation experiences, we can’t go anywhere without getting lost!!!

We took a nice car break and ran around Lowes; they tried to sell us a bathroom sink that was crystal blue. It was only $400 it was discounted from $3200. To bad ;-)

When we finally made it to butte, it was 10:00 Libby had yet to nap and she didn’t want to settle down. So our long day ended with a whining child and us playing words with friends until we fell asleep.

Saturday may 28th: We got up and Libby went to breakfast in her PJ, all the patrons of the breakfast café said she looked cute. We tried to swim in the indoor pool but it was freezing and the hot tub wasn’t that warm. She was scared of the bubbles. So we hopped in the car and drove out of town. We left at about 10:30-11. We stopped for lunch in Helena. I had no clue where we were and while sitting in a subway asked a couple what town we were in. They looked irritated and disgusted that we didn’t know where we were. OHHHHH WELL. So then we drove and drove some more. And made it to the boarder at about 4:00 our drive should have been 737 miles we made it in 827 only 100 miles out of the way the night before.

We planned to spend the evening with Greg Erin, nelson, Joanne, Andrea, John and were so glad when we finally made it to Lethbridge. What a nice time we hade. My vacation plan was to see my extended family and then do some fun activities for Libby. Their home did both of those things. We stayed the first 2 nights in Lethbridge with my cousin Greg and his wife Erin. They had a nice BBQ with all our family in the area. So Nelson and Joanne, Andrea and John came and we all enjoyed seeing each other and talking. The kids ran around and played. there were 5 little girls under 5 running around.

It was really glad that we got to see my family. Some days I wish that we could have more opportunities to spend time with them. It makes me a bit sad to say that we don’t know when we will be able to go up again. But I am grateful for the time we got to spend with each of them.

That night we stayed up way to late talking with Greg and Erin after everyone left. I always like my conversations with Erin she always says it the way I wish I could. I never know how to say things just right and Erin always does and I am grateful.

When we went to bed we found that our little munchkin was still awake…..OHHHHHHH that was the start of our not sleeping 10 day trip.

Sunday May 29th: We woke up nice and early thanks to the sun coming up at about 5:00am and it went down after 10:00pm. We had a nice breakfast with Greg and Erin. They have a whipped cream maker (a cool kitchen toy). The kids all got whipped cream sprayed in their mouths. All except our little chicken, Libby.

After Breakfast we headed to cardston to see Loya and Andrea.

We went to Andrea’s ward for sacrament meeting. Ever tried taking a 2 ½ year old, who has been sitting in a car for 2 days, and try to get them to be reverent for 1 hour? I don’t suggest trying. After pretending like we got anything out of that meeting we headed to see Loya across town.

Loya is wheeler chair bound and we haven’t seen her in a while. It was nice to see her. The last time Libby saw Loya was 2 years ago. It does however make me a bit sad for my dad because he has something similar and I know we pray often that it will go away. And that he won’t get as bad as Loya.

She gave Libby a little stuffed animal named Millie the Moose. She also let us play with the laughing dog.

(if i can get the video to upload I will put it here)

After spending time with Loya we headed to Andrea's for lunch. She has a beautiful home that her husband has done a great job renovating. I want her Kitchen BAD. It was large and wonderful. Lunch was great and having a great conversation with Andrea was nice. Andrea has 3 little girls and Libby is between the 2 older girls. It was nice to have little friends that Libby could play with. Andrea is also a great photographer. She took some wonderful pictures of Libby as soon as Libby started smiling.

After lunch we headed back to Lethbridge and had dinner with Erin’s family. After dinner Nelsons daughter and her husband stopped in from Rexburg. So we had unexpected family, that is always nice.

While driving between Lethbridge and Cardston there was a calf (baby cow) walking on the wrong side of the fence and down the road. Libby Saw it a ways off and said in a growly voice “Cows Get out” she was not happy to see it wasn’t where it should be.

Libby did take a nap in these 3 days she fell aslep at 10am sunday morning 15 min from Cardston.  so yes in the 16 hours of driving she took a 15 min nap on the shortest drive we had.

Trip (hour) Talley:

Utah-Butte 1:00-9:50 pm -9 hours

 Butte-Lethbridge 11-4:30- 5.5 hours

Lethbridge-Cardston 45-45 – 1.5 hours

dont worry this was only the first 3 days of our trip You will get to see lots more!!