So about 3 weeks ago our family embarked on our first vacation out of the country in quite sometime. We decided to drive from Missouri to Southern Alberta. Looonnnggg haul and with a 2 yr old and 2 teenagers in tow. First day we travelled about 11 1/2 hours to Nebraska and to save money on our trip knowing that gas is so expensive now we decided to camp our way up.
First stop, Niobrara State Park. Although it's beautiful with rolling hills and a river there is also a highway beside the tenting rv campsites and it was never really quiet, I'm guessing due to the casino just a few miles away. Still a very beautiful campground. They have a pool, quite a few cabins and a large house to be rented also called the ranch house and horseback riding. If you are tenting it they have showers you pay for with quarters that despite their harsh water sure felt good and a vending machine with cold beverages which if you were tenting as we were is a nice thing to have since we save our ice in the cooler for things like milk and fruit. My kids made fast friends almost instantly with nearby campers and enjoyed the large playground near the laundry room and washrooms. I think we set up camp completely without our kids and having traveled very well her first day our 2 yo daughter was in heaven playing outside before dinner and bedtime. Was a bit cold at night I remember hubby grabbing his towel as an extra blanket lol. I highly recommend doing this with youngsters. Suck it up, get an air mattress and a sleeping bag and go camping with them they will do better than you think. Other than the traffic and the coyotes yelping in the background a bit was overall a very nice stay would do it again in a heartbeat!
Morning came and we had ourselves some cereal, some "extra" playtime at the playground aka we packed up while the kids were distracted lol. Everything basically fit neatly into a canvas bag that strapped to the top of our van. We brought our own grill although note to people who stop here do NOT go to the local Walmart off of I-29 meat was terrible tasted like soap we ate buns with veggies and condiments instead for dinner the night before.
Day two was a little harder on us. Daddy was determined to get as far as he could with minimal stops on the second day which didn't fly well with our little miss at all. Even a 5-10 min stop at a gas station to gas up and use washrooms long enough to change her was enough to keep her going another 2-3 hours without complaint. It got so bad on that second day when we crossed into Wyoming that I literally yelled at hubby to let me out of the car because I couldn't take anymore of baby girl's screaming at me and I had tried everything I could think of. We had plenty of snacks and juice and toys and DVDs but she had been in the car almost 5 hours straight at this point, something I'm sure neither of us will ever do again! When we finally did stop in Sheridan we were less than an hour from our next camp spot in the Big Horn Foothills 10 miles south of the Wyoming Montana border. Dayton Wyoming.
It looked um questionable when we got there lots of junky looking stuff in, by and around the office. You could see that the people owning and running this campground were fairly old so complaining wasn't gonna happen. We chose a spot right beside the river, ahhhhhh have you ever camped right beside a river?? Like a lullabye to a baby I could have slept there a lot longer trust me! After we set up camp and ate our McDonalds ( yes we were scared of buying food after that soap meat experience), we decided to use the facilities. On their site it looked "authentic" camping beside a huuugggee playground and soccer field lots of trees and plumbing. Always good for me that flushable toilet. Until I went in. Ew ew ew ew!! Spiders and webs everywhere, old doors that don't shut all the way in the stalls, and ceiling that looks like it needs to be completely rebuilt. We were scared. I know, I'm a tough girl and can go through a lot but it was so icky in their and taking a shower to get rid of it was out of the question after looking at them no no. But the dirt was clean outside where my tent and bed were and the river sang me to sleep and drowned out any traffic and I love love loved it!! So despite the health hazard of a washroom which the health dept needs to burn down and force them to rebuild, I still liked it there.
We woke up quite early the next day I think mostly because of my bladder and the excitement that we were almost there! When you grow up near the rocky mountains and hit that part of Wyoming where you can see mountains galore for me it's like a kid in a candy store with a charge account! They are my love, my heart, my home I miss them terribly here in Missouri. After using the "facilities" and cringing all the way ( ew ew) we packed up and headed to the local store to seek donuts or any fruit we could eat ended up grabbing corn chips. Ah close enough right? We were now on our way to Billings for a quick stop and then to Great Falls, MT. My 2nd home away from home on the US side, besides Kalispell. Once we got there we realized we were over an hour ahead of schedule so we decided to grab a bit at Sonic and head to the 'duck pond'. Miss baby girl once again enjoying being outside running around.
Our family has this great ability in close proximity of each other over days to stick together. Which I truly appreciate! I really enjoyed listening to the whispering and giggling in the tent next to us housing our two oldest kids. I remember having memories like that and it was a great feeling to give my children memories like that as well.
I was warned that they had changed the US border buildings on the Canadian/US border but to be honest with you, it reminded me a little bit of East Germany. I'm not saying I don't understand it I do and I really appreciate the border patrol who work hard at what they do and are courteous and respectful to anyone entering the country whilst keeping it safe from criminal activity. Hard job that is. But I did have to giggle when I saw the facility. Had to be done. We enjoyed our Canadian patrol guard who welcomed us with a smile and some chit chat was a great experience. And then............we were in Canada and 45 minutes from my hometown and my parents home. Ahhhhhh my home. To be cont...
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