Oh Canada

I’ve given myself permission to not catch up on every blog day I’ve ever missed. But there are some cool experiences I want to always remember. While we were in Montana I was able to get away for an overnighter in Alberta, Canada. It was so amazing, I can’t even explain it. I was a mom at 17, so I’ve not done a lot of solo traveling in my life. This was only my third night alone in a hotel room, and one of those nights was just because I flew in late and it was snowing. 

I originally was just going to go to the Cardston temple and call it good. But then I saw that the Calgary temple was  just 2.5 hours up the road. And then I saw that Edmonton temple was just 2.5 hours up the road from there. And I couldn’t not do it. 

I worked and reworked my options to be able to do a session at each temple. The Calgary temple had odd times, and Edmonton is so tiny that that one was difficult too. I finally cane up with this plan, that I wrote in the notes section of my phone and cut and pasted here:

*Leave at 1:30am - drive straight to Edmonton temple for 10:30 session

*Leave temple at 12:30, drive to Calgary, either to temple or to hotel for nap, 4:30 or 6:00 session 

*Leave hotel by 6, arrive in cardston for 9:30 session. Leave by 11:30, and straight to GF 

I was soooo excited! It took a lot of juggling and planning. Lexi and Cade were leaving for Oregon, so Laura came up and watched the girls for the night. I was so thankful, she’s such a good friend to me! I had planned to go to bed super early and wake up and leave at 1:30. I did get to bed early, but I was so excited and after  tossing and turning for awhile, decided to hit the road. 

Guys. It was scary to be driving in unchartered territory the middle of the night. And I’ve driven cross country by myself before. I stopped for a drink and even that was dramatic and scary. First stop there were shady looking men outside and I was like, nope. Second stop was still all men at the convenience store, in fact, I saw only men till 8:00 the next morning. It was weird. 

I listened to Mindy Kaling’s funny new book and are and enjoyed the quiet. I love being alone, it was just so awesome. I stopped right before Canada to fill up my gas, and had trouble there too. My cc didn’t work at the pump and I thought it was because I was so close to Canada and hadn’t let my bank know, so then I called them and it turns out it was just that I needed to pay inside. 🤷‍♀️😂 

The customs guy asked where I was going and when I told him I was going to the temple in Edmonton he gave me some serious side eye. Then I explained that I was doing a temple tour and that made more sense to him. 

The whole time I was like “I’m driving by myself in Canada!!!” I’m euchre q country bumpkin, I know, but it was a great adventure for me. 

Alberta is farmland and it was pitch black and I was driving hundreds of miles from Great Falls to Edmonton in the middle of the night and if I had broken drown I would literally have had a heart attack and that would have been the end of it. I did lots of praying and all was well. 

I was beyond thrilled when the sun finally came up!

It’s 7.5 hours from GF to Edmonton, so right around this time I had to stop and fill up too. 

I am my fathers daughter with all my driving pictures. It was just so beautiful and I wanted to remember every second. 

I got a quick Tim Hortons brekkie just outside of Edmonton and hit the temple. I looked longingly at the downtown and wished I had time for sightseeing, but this was a temple tour I was on, so I had to stay focused. 

This temple is tiny! I know tiny temples because I recurved my endowment in Ciudad Juarez, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been to a teeny one. 

And it is right across from the stake cwntwr. And I do mean right across, there’s a one lane road between them. I had to do a panoramic. 

I arrived a few minutes early and got all my pictures taken. It had recently rained and everything was clean and had that just rained smell. 

Standing in front of the temple door looking at the stake center, just to give an idea of how close they are. 

I went to the recommend desk and asked where the restroom, I’m sorry, I was in Canada so I asked where the washroom was so I could change into my dress. The sweet man was like, just go on into the temple changing room and change into your whites, so I went into the temple in my jeans. It was so weird. 

And a happy girl leaving her first Canadian temple. 

No time to lose, and I was on my way to Calgary!