5:56 PM Alberta, Canada time

We have been so lucky on this trip! We have met very friendly Canadian gas attendants and citizens, really representing this country well. I want to give Sierra shout-out because she was super helpful at our first stop (basically outside of the Hampton Inn we slept at last night).

I have been so long away from the Northeast that I forgot to buy windshield wiper fluid for below freezing so it immediately froze once we crossed the Canadian Border yesterday. I walked into the gas station and with the same humility I have been speaking of during these last few days. I admitted my error and asked Sierra if she had any ideas or products that may help.

We were not successful in thawing it out but Sierra was nonjudgmental with her suggestions of steaming hot water, provided for free and reassurances that even Canadians make the same mistake. So kind. She preferred not to be photographed but I snapped some shots of the friendly bathrooms and store.

Jeanette has done most of the driving today. I have been a little sad today, feeling all the very normal big feelings of leaving all my loved ones behind. As a child of divorce, especially one who had parents in different states (Maine and North Carolina), I am very use to goodbyes and missing folx (my step momma, Anita wanted me to explain that to y’all that ‘folx ‘ is a new term that is being used, similarly to Latinx, to be a genderless word to refer to a group people). It does not make it any easier when one must walk away. It has led to a perpetual feeling of FOMA (for all those born before the 2000s, that is ‘fear of missing out’). Luckily, I have tools today and let myself cry, had Jeannette to talk about it and made sure to do all the self care things I have learned which includes exercise, eating foods that are nourishing, staying hydrated and lots and lots of Nina snuggles. Thank goodness she is coming with me!

The scenery has been unreal, as you will see. One of the things we have noticed are lots of casinos, oil rigs, and homes that are on large parcels of land and trees planted thickly around the house in a circle with crops on the outside of the trees and house. It is like they think nature is a good thing or something,

The skies have been pastel blues and pinks with soft thin, clouds, almost smoky. The temperature has dipped to -3 degrees Fahrenheit but then now is at 30 degrees, strangely since the sun has gone down. Geography and climate is weird y’all. Ha! I keep realizing more and more how horrible our educational system is. I am lucky I at least learned how to read maps well because of all the roadtrips my parents let me take as a teenager from Maine to NC and back.

Speaking of maps…remember the cute itinerary Nikki created for us? And the message about the British Columbia maps? Well, Jeanette and I are fine with taking suggestions and were stopped at a Walmart and got some maps and also stocked up on our snacks. We purchased supplies for the attempted hack of unfreezing the windshield reservoir and hoses wit rainX, wd40 and rubbing alcohol (not all at the same time), but it didn’t work.

The most recent rest stop had inclusive bathrooms.. And please notice the name of the gas station. We have about 3 more hours and cannot wait to bring in the New Year, snuggled up in our hotel, asleep before midnight. We may be on the road during the east coast ball drop but we will see… Stay tuned…