Final Day

We decided to drive straight home from the Kilbreaths in Calgary to Abbotsford. It turned out to be quite an easy day for us and it included an hour pit-stop at Lake Louise (we couldn't go thought there without a little slice of its beauty).

We arrived home at approx. 9:30pm local time and we quickly ran around the yard and house to see how everything had held up over the past month. We again are so grateful to our friends and neighbors for their support and upkeep of our place. As we cashed in for the evening, we acknowledged how appreciative we were for our home - especially our beds! On the way home - Toby counted 11 different places that we had stayed (Julius got to 12 cuz of Calvin) and to be able to sleep in our own beds was truly a blessing. In our last few days and hours we also realized that this trip was as much more about the people that we came across, re-acquainted with, or met, as opposed to what we expected - which were the sites along the way.

Our car put 7,000 miles on it during the trip and we are so grateful for the traveling mercies that we enjoyed (including a few narrow misses, a speeding ticket in Washington, and a Wisconsin policeman's graciousness for a full car load that was caught speeding through the small town of Ripon, WI). From everything that we can tell - our car made the trip without any problems and the kids enjoyed noticing all of the different species of bugs and butterflies that our windshield and front bumper had accumulated. Our music of choice was the New Boys and Heidi's made up "12 days of driving song", and the Penderwicks book on tape made it three times through.


The trip didn't completely avoid the pains and sufferings of a month on the road ... but it was quite an exciting ride - one that we will never forget ... the Siebenga Summer Trip of 2011.