The first road trip for the mom's and me was definitely an adventure. We left at 18:45 AST on Friday, August, 29th, 2014 and finally returned to Provo at 13:30 MST on Monday, September 1st, 2014. The weather determined our travels quite a bit through Canada. When we arrived in Prince Rupert it was a bit moist but not quite raining. While sitting in line for an hour to get through the border crossing we helped a fellow traveler by jumping their battery. (This helped out much later, as you will see.) Well, when we finally started driving it was 03:00 PST and raining. This coupled with the fact that we were a bit tired after not sleeping sufficiently on the ferry, we decided to stop in Terrace, BC at a cheap motel for the night. We were back on the road at 10:00 and made our way to Prince George.
When in Canada you just have to stop for some Jim Horton's breakfast followed (hours later) by some MCD's & Poutine for lunch.  It was also during this leg that my mother made me name my car. Therefore, she was forever forward be known as Milly--for the millions of miles we will hopefully travel together.
The weather was, of course, gorgeous until we were about 45 minutes out of the Jasper National Forest when it started raining... again. Having done my fair share of driving in the rain of Ketchikan, I'm not usually bothered by it; except for the fact that the Canadian road paint is not the same reflective type that we use in the States. As there were absolutely no vacancies in the hotels of the park, we pulled to the side of the road--with many others--to sleep in the car. Surprisingly, we fit okay in Milly, as shown by the picture above. We slept about six hours and were back on the road at 04:00. Mom drove through the Park (pictures of that will come in another post).
As it was Sunday and we were driving through Calgary, I really wanted to stop by and see the Temple. This was actually relatively easy because we could see it from the Highway. A city on a hill truly cannot be hid, at least from these crazy, determined tourists. We made it through the border not long after and saw the biker with his beloved dog. They had traveled like that for over 50,000 miles already and were on their way to Las Vegas. Super awesome to see.
If you noticed, we were doing pretty good with no major hiccups until.... Only about 60 miles from Helena, Montana Milly got a flat tire. Having helped my father change tires before I knew exactly what to do--however, my mother did not. She is very good at holding lug-nuts though, I'll give her that much! (Love ya, Mom!!) It being Labor day weekend we were kind of freaking out about getting our tired fixed in Helena, but we found an amazing man who was open and helped us in a jiffy! Good deeds do not go unnoticed! I'm positive that helping that couple jump their car in Prince Rupert is why we were so blessed! In all that we only lost one hour of our drive time.
We made it to Jolynda and Zack's in Rexburg, Idaho by 22:30 and went right to bed on the floor of the living room. The next morning we were back on the road about 09:00. We of course had to stop at Chipotle for lunch in Sandy, Utah on the way, so we were home in Provo around 13:30. I went to class Tuesday while my mom did a little shopping. After class we drove to Salt Lake and stayed in a hotel for the night before I brought her to the airport on Wednesday morning where the final picture was taken. We did it safely and didn't kill each other; so all in all it was a great time and I know have so many treasured memories of our mother-daughter adventure. :)
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