Leaving For - Day 9

Today was a good traveling day. We got the kids up early to say goodbye to my brothers and dad before they headed to work and school. So by the time we loaded them up in the van, they were ready to go back to sleep. It wasn't sad to say bye to my mom because we will see the family in a few weeks. But it was odd that I felt sad about leaving the house. It's not like I have ever lived in that house; they bought it after I left for college. But we won't ever stay there again and as we left IN THE RAIN I said goodbye to Ikea, farewell to the mountains, cheerio to the Calgary freeways. Who knows when we'll be back now that my parents won't be living there.

I think today it felt normal and natural for us to be heading back to Winnipeg. For the first few days of this move, it felt like all we were doing was leaving Fresno, driving farther and farther away and it was a sad thing. But being in Calgary, like we have so many times before, it feels right to be heading east, just like we've always done. Today was a day heading towards home instead of feeling weird about leaving home.

The morning drive was quiet. Both of the girls slept and Joel quietly read books and chatted with himself. We stopped in Medicine Hat and were hoping to play at the Tourist Centre's playground, but we couldn't because IT WAS RAINING. Joel attempted to swing in the rain, but he gave up after he said the rain blinded his eyes. It was pretty funny to see him running towards the van with his eyes closed.

We managed to eat our picnic hunched over in the van and Asha was happy to be out of her carseat. When we loaded the kids in their seats, she was pretty angry about being trapped again. But she settled soon because she realized she could take off her socks and shoes and suck on her toes.

Okay, so it has been 9 STRAIGHT DAYS OF RAIN and it's getting pretty disgusting. Sure, it's great for driving in so that the transmission doesn't overheat, but be careful you don't get washed off the highway by a current on the road, or blown off by sheets of rain. Has the rain cloud been following us since Oregon? I'm getting a bit frustrated with the rain; I'm not used to this. Fresno has just a few inches of rain a year, and I've seen inches of rain in each and every day of this trek. The kids miss being able to play outside, even if it is for a short while as we stop during our trip. I can see now how weather effects your mood because Carl and I are getting a bit cranky. It's hard not to be bitter now, with all our unworn shorts and tank tops in our bags, when Fresno is having 100F weather and I haven't seen the mercury past 60 for over a week, let alone the sun!

Well, no point in getting too worked up about it. I'm thinking that the clouds have to be emptied anytime now. We stopped in Swift Current for gas and Joel and Kezia announced they would be changing their names. Joel was asking me how to spell Wyatt because that would be his new first name; Super Y would be his last. And Kezia decided her name would be Belle. I asked them why they wanted to have new names, and they both said, oh just for fun. Joel spent the rest of the afternoon writing out his new name in his notebook. Wyatt and Belle...not bad names if you ask me!

At the gas station, the bathrooms were out of order, so we went to the nearest fast food place. My feet were soaked and Asha was huddled in my jacket trying to escape the sideways rain. Kezia was trying to dodge the puddles, and Joel was running, probably with his eyes closed again. I'm not in a happy mood. But, oh what do I see in the bathroom? It's a changing station! The first one I've seen on this entire trip. Such a small thing, but such a huge amount of joy fills my heart. Silly how something so simple can make your day a little brighter. So we may not have those fancy toilet seat covers but we Canadians have changing stations in our bathrooms!

We arrived in Moosejaw SK around 5:30 and checked into our regular hotel. We've stayed here a number of times and have enjoyed each time. Plus, they had a pool and Rhonda had packed a beach ball for the kids. We went to a Chinese buffet for dinner and then headed back to take a dip in the pool. Joel and Kezia were thrilled to show Carl their new swimming skills. Asha wasn't amused about being in the pool but she warmed up to the idea of bobbing in the water. The kids worked out lots of the energy and after baths, fell asleep in a short amount of time.

And so tomorrow will be our last traveling day before we get back to Winnipeg. It's been a long haul, 10 days of driving, TEN DAYS OF RAIN. I really hope the forecast is sunny for Winnipeg for the next few days. I don't know if we can handle being any more clouds, wet, and gloom.