Blog Post #1 -- Spring Break 2009

Alright, so the blogging thing is new to me. I don't know what to put here. I know I've been asked to do it, and I want it to look cool.

The most recent thing of note I've done was just last week. I drove 12 hours north from school to Lethbridge, Alberta Canada.

The roads on the way up were pretty nice. The final destination being so far away, I didn't really pay attention to the ugly, flat, dead landscapes of Idaho and Southern Montana.  

By the time Butte came around, I was smiling. Having seen nothing resembling civilization in hours, Butte seemed a thriving oasis of gas stations complete with little boy's rooms.  Wonderful.  No break was to be longer than 5 minutes. I was eager to get to Canada.

What's 5 minutes to such a long drive? I don't know. Just five minutes less driving. I wanted to get there.

The drive AFTER Butte was spectacular. Two long, winding mountain passes had me giggling and tooting through the funnest driving experience I'd ever had.  P

articularly enjoyable was the stretch from Helena to Great Falls.

 Following the Missouri River, the mountain pass has been dramatically eroded away. A meandering highway set in the canyon weaves its way through deep, sheer cut cliffs and through small "villages" of vacation homes set along the river.

After Great Falls, the drive gets flat and boring again, and it was nearly dark. So, I picked up the pace and found the speed at which my car's acceleration slows. Didn't shoot for its top speed though. Scary. I WAS however, going fast enough after my crossing over to Canada that a friendly officer wanted to welcome me to the country.  He told me my speed was a little too fast, but let me off without a ticket since I was an alien. Phew.  After 12 Hours (including my rule-breaking 30 minute stop in Great Falls at a Taco Bell to visit a friend from BYU-I), I arrived in Lethbridge.

Things looked good. Temperatures in Lethbridge had been about 5 degrees C warmer than Logan, and I was looking forward to a warm spring break in the "Great White North."

Boy was I in for a surprise! After a fine weekend in Lethbridge where I was wined and dined and in all ways pampered by my hosts Jared and Lyndi, the cold came in (as though they saw it coming;) ) The snow was light, the winds were... light by Alberta standards, and the temperatures... Just not nice. I was expecting 10-15 degrees C and got -24!

What's a boy to do with -24 outside while his hosts are at school and work? Go running, of course. Ha! I made it about a half mile before I decided there were microscopic knives in the cold air hitting my lungs. Wow it hurt.  I thought I liked the feeling of "cold" air in my lungs while running. Hard, yes, but somehow rewarding.  There was no time to break through -- or even meet the runners wall this day. Too cold. Far t

oo cold.

The cold shut the door on my 15 degree trip to Waterton, but I took heart in being able to go later in the week. Illness and work/school schedules wouldn't permit it in the time I had left. Darn. Guess I'll just have to go back.

The drive back was less exciting (see pictures). I was not happy to leave, so starting the day with ugly flat death was no fun. The mountain passes were slower and a little scarier (and WAY more patrolled, may I add). I did pick up a "friend", Jesus  who was walking along the side of I-90 between Missoula and Butte.  Curse that I was ever on that road! I missed the turn to stay on the highway and ended up a ways towards Missoula before kicking myself and turning around (saved by GoogleMaps on my iPhone), only to meet up with thick-accented Jesus.  He kept me company all the way to Ogden, Utah where I dropped him off by the temple with all the food I had. It was a long, bizarre missionary moment during that long drive. Noteworthy at least.