On this day I always recall lying in a hospital bed all day and all night, trying to give life to my first born son…it was a very long day, but he didn't arrive until the next morning. Happy Birthday, Scott. Tomorrow.

Well, we gained another hour yesterday and that combined with a too-warm hotel room, we were up early and ready to hit the road.   We left at 7:55 and 59 degrees. Brrr.   We began the day driving through more fertile farmland. They call this a scenic highway and it did not disappoint. At first it was very flat with fields of grain and green grass with bales of hay scattered all over the fields. (What are they doing with all of this hay?) I saw a Hay Processing Plant but I had no clue what they do there so I had to do some research. Apparently, they take the big bales and cut them and condense them to reduce their size, make square bales and ship them all over the place. I knew there were not enough animals in these fields to eat all that hay!!

Soon the topography changed from flat fertile land to scrubby prairie peppered with cattle. Yellow wild flowers bordered the roadside. Tall green grass adorned deep pools of water. And rolling hills with alternating light green and yellow fields flowed for miles, decorated with long rows of dark green bushes, small banks of short green trees and a sprinkling of silver sage. And here and there were modest farmhouses surrounded by red barns, trucks, John Deer tractors and reapers, all accessed from dusty dirt roads that wind past the fields from the main highway.

And yes, the rails followed us the whole way, connected only by the many banks of silos and grain elevators that feed the countless train cars for delivery to processing plants where I suppose they end up in someone’s loaf of bread or cereal bowl. And someone along this highway was lucky enough to have a couple of oil wells under his pasture as evidenced by the pounding hammers feeding nearby holding tanks.

We turned south before we got to the Canadian Rockies, much to my dismay. I love the mountains and was hoping to see some today, but it was not to be. But not losing hope, I am looking forward to seeing my share during the next few days in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. I love Colorado!

We arrived in Lethbridge, Alberta early and took a scenic tour of the area. We stumbled upon Henderson Lake Park, of which I took many photos. It is a lovely area by the lakeside, lush and serene. And for the kids, there is a water park…a fenced in area containing green lawns, a large swimming pool and a couple of water slides. I was amazed at the number of people that were inside this facility. It was almost obscene. Everyone was having a wonderful time and the lines to slide through the tubes were very long.

Eventually we checked into our hotel, a brand new Best Western Plus and were surprised when they upgraded us to a suite. We are very comfortable tonight with a living room and a bedroom and the A/C works GREAT! Good sleeping is coming for us tonight. Tomorrow, we head back to the US and down to the east side of Glacier National Park…our third visit. Yes, it has mountains!