From Our Departure of Jasper to Devil's Lake, North Dakota

Hey guys! It's Spencer, blogging from Devil's Lake, North Dakota, about our long days of driving since we left Jasper National Park.

We were all sad to leave Jasper, as we had seen so many awesome things around there, such as Whistlers Mountain, Mt. Robson, the Jasper Park Lodge, and other things as well. However, all things must come to an end at some point. Anyway, we slept late on the day we left the Jasper Park Lodge, and took our time readying the camper. We got out around noon, but we still had a big drive ahead of us. Driving back through the Columbia Icefields on route 93, we encountered scenery we had previously viewed, but it was beautiful nonetheless. That night, we camped very close to our previous campsite in Banff National Park. We kept the truck hitched to the camper (as we would do for the rest of the nights between then and now), so we could shorten up the morning breakdown as much as possible. That night, we slept in the shadow of true mountains for the last time (presumably) on the trip.

Next morning, we broke down very quickly, and very early, and managed to exit the campground at approximately 8:20. Our last glimpse of the mountains stayed in Canada, and in our minds. That day, we crossed the border of Canada and returned to the state of Montana (when we crossed the border, we weren't even 100 miles from our previous stay near Glacier National Park). However, we couldn't celebrate JUST yet, as we still had a bunch of driving left to do. We finally reached our campground in Havre, Montana just as the light was beginning to dim. However, the light was very close to being gone by the time we were done with setting up, as we were in a terrible spot at first, and had to get a new one. We had driven 400 miles that day, and the stress caused by it showed. Nevertheless, once we were all set up, we settled down, and slept comfortably for the next day's drive.

Yesterday morning, we got up around 8:00 or so, and worked at a normal pace as we closed up shop around the camper. We had 300 miles to drive, but it was all on empty rural road with a high speed limit. Therefore, we didn't have as much need to hurry as the day before. Once on the road, we rolled through miles and miles of empty plainsland and Indian Reservation. It seemed as if the scenery's playback was skipping. "Hayfield, hayfield, plains, plains, plains, *REWIND*... hayfield, hayfield, plains, plains, plains." Yeah, the scenery wasn't too exciting, but it certainly is characteristic of the American Midwest, so we appreciated it anyway. We pulled into our campsite in Williston, North Dakota around six-ish, and set up as quickly as we could in the blazing, dry heat of the Great Plains, then got inside the camper to eat, watch a movie, and get to sleep. None of us wanted to be out in the unmerciful sun any longer than we needed to.

This morning, we got up at 9:00, and broke camp just as quickly as we had set up - the sun had risen and had already begun to heat up the air. We've encountered very similar scenery to what we had encountered yesterday and afternoon on the day before, so it's gone by fairly fast. I'm currently sitting in the truck, in the parking lot of a Walmart, watching my mom and brother returning with a shopping cart chock full of stuff to put away in the camper. We are less than five miles from the campsite, so I'm going to publish and sign off now, as I'll have to set up camp once we get there. Thanks for your attention, guys. Cheerio!