Lack of wi-fi has me quite behind on blog posts…. this is from the day I arrived in Canada on August 19!
After an incredible day in Bryce and another night of sleep at Cedar Breaks, we headed north to Salt Lake City where Cat had to fly home.
We of course, had to find a yarn shop along the way, and chose Blazing Needles. It was a great shop with some of the most friendly staff I’ve ever encountered in a yarn shop. And their selection of fine yarns was top-notch. Brooklyn Tweed, Quince and Company… neither of which I’d never seen it in a store, Malbrigo, and other high-end yarns. I was a little disappointed in their sock yarn selection and “local”yarn choices, but overall, you couldn’t ask for a nicer shop. I got a hank of Quince and Company to knit a hat, and a cute knitting bag, because you can never have too many!
After dropping Cat off at the airport many hours before her flight, I headed north. I had about 14 hours to go until reaching Calgary. I spent the night in Idaho (state number 44!) at a rest stop with wi-fi, and got started early the next morning to get to Montana (state number 45!)
Montana and Idao were beautiful – the rolling hills and mountains and the rivers that snaked through the landscape. After I got to Great Falls, Montana’s scenery was less scenic, but I knew what was on the other side of the border once I crossed into Canada.
Interesting towns and sights I saw in my “new” states:
-Shelby, Montana has an “authentic” Mexican restaurant that shares a space with the “Dixie Inn Tavern and Casino.” The Chile rellenos were quite good, but the salsa needed more heat. Honestly, unless you need gas, this town is hardly worth stopping in!
-Sunburst, Montana is a place I would have liked to explore (though likely it would have only taken an hour!). It consists of an un-staffed gas station connected to their small refinery, a tiny store and what looked like a former church turned into a café and bar. I really wanted to check out that bar, but it was 9am and that seemed like a bit of a stretch.
The border crossing at Sweetgrass was easy, and I continued north to Calgary through Lethbridge (WHL hockey home of a number of present and past Checkers when they were members of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, including but not limited to Zach Boyhuk and Brody Sutter), and number of other tiny farming communities before making it to Calgary and my first indoor hotel experience of the trip. My room wasn’t ready so I killed time visiting a LUSH and stocking up on supplies. Canadian LUSH stores are so much better than the ones in America!!!
After checking into a hotel (a real bed and wifi!), I headed to a brewery, which was definitely the highlight of my trip to Calgary.
Teardrops & Ales 