The big day finally arrived and we got out of bed at 5:30 am, full of excitement and anticipation. Then we checked the weather conditions and this is what we saw:

For those of you familiar with Montana geography, the shortest way to go is through Marias pass, then on to Browning and Duck Lake. On this one weekend we had hoped for no snow and clear roads. But the road was closed pretty much from our front door to our destination.

Milly was freaking out. I think she thought we should delay till spring (June). Good thing Greybeard was there to calm the troubled waters. My opinion was to go around through Eureka and then on through the Crowsnest Pass. But it wasn’t until I slyly asked Greybeard’s opinion in front of Milly that I gained any traction on leaving, as he agreed with my plan.

We loaded up the truck with a huge amount of help from our floor hockey crew and other close friends. I’d better give them all names:

• Wayne Gretzky – I was on his team for my last game in Kalispell and we won 5-1.
• Gordie Howe – He never misses from his corner shot.
• Ovie – If you know the Capitals’ star player you should figure out who this is.
• Fred and Wilma – Fred moved my stinking piano 3 times over the last 2 months.
• Captain Von Trap, Maria, Fredrick, Louisa – Von Trap was an asset even with the alleged sore back from hockey 4 years ago.
• Ed and Chocolate Thunder – These gentlemen were already mentioned on Who’s who.

Thanks to Wayne’s Tetras skills we somehow fit all the stuff we own in a 26 ft U-Haul (except for a basketball hoop I have stored at Fred and Wilma’s). Absolutely amazing really. I swear we threw out a third of our stuff but somehow we still have an enormous amount of junk remaining.

We headed out around 1:30 pm after finishing the packing and cleaning. It was snowing like crazy and I knew we were in for a long haul. Looking back I think there is no way to deny we are supposed to be in Canada. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

• We had our fourteen hundred pounds of wheat certified for export in the two days before we departed and usually it takes weeks of red tape.
• The route we were supposed to drive was completely closed down. The way we ended up going had fabulous roads, contrary to weather reports. We heard the Crowsnest Pass was closed the day after we came through. I felt like Moses heading through the Red Sea on dry ground.
• When exporting our car we gave the U.S. border officer a title from California, but he said we needed a Montana title. We couldn’t recall having such a document. When Milly opened our file box, the Montana title was in the first folder she opened.
• At the Canadian border they didn’t ask about our wheat but we were stopped for the house plants we were bringing back. Somehow Milly sweet-talked the border guy to let us go. They didn’t even look through any of our stuff. After an hour in the border office I now know all the exporting rules for alcohol and cigarettes.
• I left Milly at the Canadian border to get a head start with the moving truck and I accidently took the car keys with me. The spare set just so happened to be in the console.

Anyway, after six hours in a U-Haul we arrived at our destination in a sobering –33 degree Celsius winter’s night with blowing snow. It wasn’t quite like we had imagined our triumphal entry would be. But as we turned the corner on the home stretch I saw my good friend Noodle jumping up and down, waving and shouting, welcoming us home. Before we even got out of the truck he was up with his daughter to help unpack. We headed into town to unload the U-Haul and Elvis had a whole crew there to help.

Amazing really. Here we are, and I suppose it was meant to be. Now if only we can convince Penelope and her family to join us. We are accepting all recruits.