September 13

The first full day of Jen’s 47th year..... off to Whitefish and back to Autumn. We woke up with a bit of a hangover. Only a bit. I know we are on the best road trip ever but the view I woke up to was the Esso gas station- fuel is $1.34/litre so....there’s that......

But off we go (the boys went and picked us up Subway) and heading south. Drove through the beautiful Crowsnest Pass and again encountered winter! Fucking Mother Nature! We cannot lose that bitch! It snowed huge snowflakes but 3 more kilometres and we found blue sky and sun. 

Met the Carnies (Tracy, Ducey, Momsie and Braunski) in Fernie for lunch with them and the lovely Jordy and the Aussie Zac. Had a great lunch in Fernie and adding Fernie to our Travelling Bucket List. What a great little town, and it really highlights Rocky’s failure. Rocky has such a great history, why are we not embracing our history?! Why can we not have great little cafes, gift shops, sidewalk bistros and fully restored buildings. I’m going to give a quick shout out to Caine’s Jewelry- great restoration and a great business. There are great Main Street businesses but I don’t think they get the needed support (Country Basics, Pebble Ridge, Music Shop, Angel Tree - just to name a few) Anyway sidetracked..... Fernie - lunch and then across the border. It never fails - when we get close to the border I start to get anxious and looking for excuses for every early misdemeanour - and I have ALOT of misdemeanours! 

So get to the border and we meet the border crossing guy - officer - Prince - not sure how to address them but we were very nice to him. VERY! His response was, “Are you really going to San Francisco?! It’s the worst place I’ve ever been. 2 homeless people pulled a knife on me and the third pulled a syringe on me. You have to download the Human Feces app so you don’t step in human shit. People will break into your vehicle and break your windows and damage your vehicle” ....so......probably not the best ambassador to Travel USA...... He never asked us any questions, didn’t check the vehicle, just foretold our impending death by Feces Packing Homeless People in San Fran. Pretty excited about our stay.....

Across the border - semi-successfully. And down to Whitefish. Checked into the hotel had a drink with everyone and then off to our supper at Abruzzo ( pretty sure that was the name) but we need 2 trips from the shuttle bus into town. Two buses + 13 people = herding cats. 🙄 Honestly. Honestly. Crazy. But at the restaurant and I have to give a shout out to Jordy’s love Aussie Zac (Jord, in the spirit of complete honesty I have to tell you I want to call him Josh. I think he looks like Josh I knew in a previous life!) so Aussie Zac/Josh is a great kid. He is witty, smart, has a great smile and can hold an intelligent conversation - all traits I look for in a person (and sadly, often, do not find!). Good pick Captain. 

Had a wonderful supper......ready for Day 3.....