The Big Trip - The Journey Home via Oliver

It's been a long trip so far so it was good to start our journey home. Our total trip was over 4000 km and we still had over 1500 km to go. We left the farm in the rain and within the first few kilometers you almost couldn't tell what colour our car was anymore. We were headed to Calgary for the evening but we decided to make a short stop in Drumheller to give Carter a chance to see the dinosaurs. As much as he's a huge fan, as soon as they get larger than him he doesn't want to have anything to do with them. There were statues like the one on the right everwhere as well as the largest T-Rex in the world. It's several stories high and you can climb the inside to an observation post.

Our trip went smoothly and we arrived in Calgary in time for dinner. Kerry had arranged to meet her Aunt and Cousin at Jack Astors where we were promised the best chicken fingers ever. We weren't disappointed which was a good thing since we all ordered them. The kids meals had as many chicken fingers as the adult meals so we should have employed our money saving techniques of ordering three meals and sharing it between the four of us. We were on day 11 of our trip and the kids finally decided to break down. We eventually had to leave early and head to the hotel for Kerry to finish her visit.

We awoke early on Thursday and headed to Oliver where we planned on staying a day with Kerry's parents. We didn't expect this particular leg to be very difficult but with torrential rain, traffic and construction it took us almost 11 hours for 711 km. We arrived in time for dinner and went about our typical Oliver events.

1) A couple of trips to Tu El Nuit Lake where Callie tried out her new floatie.
2) Hester's Creek Winery for a picnic and wine tasting.
3) We checked out the Home Hardware Street Dance in Osoyoos. This is apparently the number one Home  Hardware in the world with great local ownership.
4) We hit the Penticton Street Market on Saturday which has some very high quality food and merchandise.
5) We had delicious Surf and Turf for dinner.

Finally on Saturday morning we headed home. We've done this leg several times now so it was pretty routine. We did come a cross a very friendly bear who was grazing on the side of the road.

After two weeks and 4000 km we arrived home. It was a great trip though it was very tiring. As the kids grow older all future trips will seem routine in comparison. Next up is a trip of a different sort. A Disney Alaska cruise just before school. Thankfully we don't have to do the driving.