09/11/2024
Stop #5: The Journey Home
Crossing the border this time was so much easier. Turns out, I was the problem (sorta) when we crossed into Canada. Apparently, you need to be really careful with your wording. And don’t say things like, “Oh yeah, this is my friend, I met her in Canada” when you meant, “We’re longtime friends, she flew in, I drove, and we met up in Banff for our trip.” Oops! 😅
Our first stop back in the U.S. was Montana, where we stayed two nights: one in a hotel to catch up on laundry and one camping on a beautiful mountain.
From there, we passed through Idaho (still a little sad I didn’t find a giant potato statue). Next: Wyoming, where we planned to camp in the Grand Tetons, but a little mishap with our campground turned into a frantic hotel search—no luck. After three failed attempts to book a hotel, we ended up camping in the car at a Safeway parking lot.
I enjoyed a breakfast of champions and a view of Safeway parking lot, while Amber slept in.
Amber took the wheel for most of the drive home while I worked. We made a pit stop in South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. I didn’t think it’d be that impressive, but honestly? It was kinda cool.
The real highlight? Making dinner in the Badlands while watching a bison graze. A $2 meal with a million-dollar view!
Next: Minnesota (which, fun fact, is the bacon capital of the U.S.—who knew?!). We grabbed a burger at Edie’s, a cute diner with a… questionable bathroom. After that, we headed to Wisconsin, purely for cheese, where we got an education on cheese aging. Final stop: Chicago, for the famous Pequod’s pizza. The sausage? 10/10. The pizza as a whole? Meh. We stayed in a fancy hotel that surprisingly didn’t charge a pet fee AND gave George a goodie bag!
