Canada Trip: Day 1- Minot AFB, ND to Havre, MT

So happy!  Still in the driveway. 

Well, we survived so I have lived to blog about our 2015 Great Canadian Kehs Adventure!  On day 11 I decided that I should have just "vlogged" about these experiences and they you wouldn't have to wait for my posts (sorry GG)!  Anyways, here we go-hope you will enjoy!

Goodbye sunflowers of ND.

So...this is a fairly boring first day post since it was essentially driving.

When I realized the night before that we'd be passing through Stanley, ND I was really excited, because Dakota Drug Co. has a Whila-whip machine and it's supposed to be "a thing" to try in ND.  Apparently the Whirla-Whip was a predecessor to DQ and one of the only machines left is here in ND.  The kids split a chocolate brownie one and I gave Chocolate Peanut Butter a go.  It was pretty good, but not life shattering.  I was glad I didn't make a separate trip with the kids for it, but glad we tried it on the way.  (Mason held out for Famous Dave's BBQ in Williston).      

Who keeps feeding this kid melty, sticky things in the car?!

I decided that we should stop again in Havre, MT for the night.  It's really a good in-between spot on these Western vacations we've been taking, because the town is pretty small, but there's at least a stoplight, and some amenities, and we aren't quite at 12+ hour driving days with the kiddos. 

I was pretty impressed that we managed a decent load with us this trip, but didn't need the roof top carrier, like last year, and that we weren't so over stuffed that things were falling out any time we opened a door.  I'm sure Mason thought that I brought too many kid activities and snacks...but darn it we used them all! 

The kids have definitely caught on to the fact that electronics are fun, and so the LeapPad, Kids Kindle, and iPad were used frequently!  I forgot to upload new movies on the iPad, so they watched Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo about 15 times each on the trip.  Fortunately they weren't complaining.  There were also lots of books and coloring activities too (that reminds me, I have some scrubbing to do on the inside of the car). 

Plug em in, plug em in

He's mastered eating the Meat and Rib combo in the car

I selected the Best Western Plus: Great Northern Inn to stay at again and this worked really well.  We've worked out a good system of packing a overnight bag for our quick stops so we don't need to take in tons of luggage, and this hotel had a pack n play available.  One of the hard things about Woodrow's age is that he's still mostly a pack-n-play sleeper but hotels can't guarantee they have one, so we have to pack it, but fortunately we didn't have to use it.  The last night we attempted a pull out couch for Woodrow...more on that later.  

We had pizza from a small take-out place called Nalivka's Original Pizza Kitchen.  I thought it was really good and the kids ate it up.  Mason wasn't too impressed but I liked the buttery crust and lots of cheese.  Mason took the kids to the park to play while I waited for the pizza, but we went to the hotel to eat because it was hot out and there were lots of bees. 

Brother snuggles

No time for swimming, and the kids passed out fairly quickly.  Day one in the books!