Last weekend was a weekend full of firsts for me.
Due to a variety of circumstances, my family found itself double-booked with two out-of-town trips on the same weekend.Because we are not faint-hearted, we said "yes!" to both trips.
Logistically, what that meant was that my husband took the kids to the Lower Mainland to visit his mom and I went to Clearwater for a mini-family reunion and my grandma's 80th birthday (although her birthday is actually in August).
Prior to leaving on the trip, I was devastated that I wouldn't have the kids with me.I have never spent more than two nights without the kids and, really, I only spent two nights without our son when our daughter was being born.
I was initially skeptical about how I was going to handle the time apart until suddenly a universal truth struck me: the parent without the kids would be the parent who got to sleep through the night.
I waved a fond farewell to my husband and my babies and happily went back to the house to sleep in my bed for the whole night, sort of.I had forgotten about the loose bladder of our incredibly old, heavy-breathing, tap-dancing dog so I was only able to sleep until six in the morning.
After a leisurely morning - I had time to make scones! - my brother, accompanied by his not-so-small mastiff, Gus, picked me and my many bags up at the house to head off on our first road trip by ourselves.
My brother and I have not been on a road trip together since we were surly teenagers amusing ourselves by trying to get the dog to jump into the front seat of the car into our mom's lap.
After a minor argument (I lost) about which direction we should drive to Clearwater, we headed off in a big, dumb truck that I almost needed a step stool and an alley-oop boost to get into.That being said, although my brother's truck is ridiculously large and silly, it has functioning air conditioning which more than makes up for any running starts that are necessary for me to get into the cab.
Our minivan's A/C recently blew and my poor husband and children drove to the Lower Mainland in a sweltering, cranky van.
Meanwhile, my brother and I eventually made it to Valemount and my brother tells me that we're going to have a quick look in Valemount to see how it's changed.What he's actually doing is swiftly turning into town because he saw a sign that said "craft beer."
He casually asks me, "Want to go for a pint?" I think about it for no seconds and say "yes."
I highly-recommend a stop at the Three Ranges Brewing Co. in beautiful Valemount.
Carrying on, we are both a bit twitchy in the final hour of the drive.To amuse ourselves after we've reported on our whereabouts to our mother via text for the fourteenth time, we decide to pretend that we've run out of gas 30 km outside of Clearwater and that my brother was hitching a ride with someone to the gas station for fuel.
We both thought that this was a fairly far-fetched scenario and we were not likely to be believed but the utter sincerity of my texts about how I was hanging out in the back of the truck having a beer with Gus (the dog) seemed to have worked. I assured my poor mom that I was perfectly safe and that only one creepy guy stopped by.It was fine, mom. I saw my brother coming back over the hill with a jerry can.On and on we went and, because we are complete jerks, we were laughing hysterically the whole time.
We were actually moments away from the campsite, but we were having a hard time finding out which one it was because mom had given us the wrong name. Upon discovering that the whole out-of-gas scenario was a well-played gag, the campsite erupted with laughter and told us all the bad things they were saying about my brother - i.e. "you can stop for a pint but you don't stop for gas?"
A good time had by all.
Although now my brother and I have created a cry-wolf situation for ourselves and if we actually run out of gas, we will not be believed.It was still worth it. In the event that you have a chance to spend a little time in and around Valemount and Clearwater, make sure you do two things: stop at the brewery and see the waterfalls.
If you are able to also play a practical joke on your mom, it makes the trip just a little more fun.
