Road Trip West with Neil

June 7th Neil and I left for a road trip west. We headed north to Grand Forks, ND, and continued north all the way to Pembina, about two miles from Canada. We headed west through the Pembina Gorge. Beautiful country! Big valley with many trees and a river running through.

We continued west to the International Peace Gardens. I very large park that is half in the USA and half in Canada. It is self contained with no access from the park to either country. You drive in and can drive the loop, some in the USA and some in Canada. Unfortunately we were too early for flowers. The were just starting to plant. I recommend that you go later in the summer.

We drove west on Hwy 5 almost to Montana. We spent the night in Crosby, ND. The next day we stopped at our farm in Zahl, ND. The buildings are not maintained so the house is in poor shape. We spent our summers there as kids. There are a lot of memories. It is sad for us to see it disappear. But it is still fun to visit.

We stopped by the cemetery where our Johnson grandparents are. We have other relatives there also. I know most of the names on the stones. Neil brought along some cleaning solution made for grave stones. We applied it to a few stones. We met Ellis Berg at the cemetery. Ellis is one of the people that maintains the grounds. It was fun visiting with him.

Nest we drove to Brush lake. As kids we went swimming in Brush lake, in Montana, the farm is in North Dakota. The lake is less than 20 miles from the farm, crossing the state line. A lot of the water in that area is alkaline. Brush lake is beautiful. I have not seen the lake in over 50 years. How old am I???

We continued west to Lewistown, MT, and spent the night. Then south to Red Lodge, MT. Beautiful! There we met our cousin Debbie and Gary Chandler, from Moses Lake, WA. We spent two days with them. So much fun, so many laughs, so many memories. We drove over the Beartooth Pass, had lunch in Cooke City. Drove back over the pass back to Red Lodge. We stopped many times for pictures and potty breaks. The next day we just visited, talked, walked downtown, just enjoyed the beautiful day.

Neil and I started our trip at 6:15 am from his house on Monday. Now on Friday at 6:15 am we start the trip home. We said our good byes, wishing we could be together longer but life continues. Neil and I drove (he drove it all) about 800 miles in 12 hours and 2 minutes home.

It was a short trip but I love spending time with Neil. We talked most of the time in the car and revisited some great memories. What more could I ask for?

I had to get home because my grandson Oliver graduated for high school and his party was on Saturday. I was not going to miss that! Life marches on and I sure do enjoy the ride!

Photos here.