You know it ain't easy runnin' out of thrills

Hmm, so I had intended to put in a nice travelog of our trip, but I found it much more relaxing just to ignore the Internet completely. Except for once-a-day email checking to see if I got any sales on Etsy (just 1, thanks for asking.)

We're spending the night in a somewhat sketchy motel in Barriere, British Columbia, which is about 5-6 hours from home. We made some amazing progress today - left my friend Alice's house in Bonnyville, Alberta this morning around 6:45 our time, and TJ drove 12 hours straight, with minimal stops for gas and food and puppy-walking.

We did have a lovely stop in Mt. Robson, at a rest area. It was about 70 degrees out, gorgeous and sunny, and an amazing view of the mountains. The Canadian Rockies, and really, most of BC, are *so* pretty. We'll definitely be back.

The pups have been really great travelers, Spike especially. We set up his dog bed in the back seat, and he just curls up there and sleeps nearly the whole time. He hasn't once tried to come up to the front seats while we're moving, though he does get up there if we leave the dogs in the car to get some food. I guess he wants to watch us through the window to make sure we haven't abandoned him.

Neither dog has fussed about needing to get out of the car, though around the 11th hour today, Peanut got up and paced around the back of the Nitro, alternately staring at us and barking at the giant tractor-trailer truck behind us. I think he was just done with the car today, and so were we, so here we are, in bed at the motel, in a huge dogpile.

Oh! And today we saw wildebeests. Ok, not really, but we did see wild mountain goats - a whole flock (herd? gaggle?) of them crossing the highway in Jasper Natl Park. I got some pictures before I had to shut the window to prevent Spike from jumping out to get them. Peanut DID NOT like them and told them in no uncertain terms, to stay the heck away from him. Very loud. Fortunately the wildebeests didn't notice the Peanut at all.

We had a lovely time with Alice and Randy, eating, playing with dogs (they have 2 awesome pups), and crafting. I think TJ snuck in some football and napping while Alice and I went to some garage sales and did our crafty stuff. I made some good progress on my cross-stitch kit that I bought several weeks ago. I also figured out that cross-stitching in the car *is* possible, but a bit unwieldy and also has the danger of someone getting their eye poked out with the needle in case of an accident.

This past week has been a lot of fun, but I'm looking forward to getting home too. Wish us luck that the border crossing line is short!