Toronto to Calgary by Automobile

My Dad and I made a four day driving trip from Toronto to Calgary.  

It was a sad event to leave Toronto and the home I was living in, 

but the drive was quite a success, and very enjoyable time spent with my Dad.  

The car was packed, carefully without leaving any spaces in between, 

and we just fit up in the front with a map book and great conversation.  

We never even turned on the radio.

The route chosen was somewhat arbitrary and spur-of-the-moment, however the general idea was to drive mostly through the United States because the weather further south was bound to be better and the price of gas is much less than in Canada.

Day1 - We packed up in the morning and left later than we'd hoped.  We drove off in the storm, Sandy, in the pelting rain and driving wind. We crossed into The US by way of Sarnia, Ontario and drove through Lansing and Kalamazoo on our way through Michigan, Michigan City and Gary in Indiana, Chicago in Illinois and all the way to Madison, Wisconsin where we stopped for the night. 

We enjoyed Chicago's Specialty, which lasted us for a few days.

And yes, the pizza is at least as big as it looks!

YUMMYYYYY!!!!

Day 2 - This was a shorter day, happily for us both.  Around eight hours of driving versus 

the eleven on the first day.  We thought of Laura Ingalls Wilder while traveling 

at speeds much faster than a covered wagon on a dirt road...  

Here are some interesting rock outcroppings we admired on this beautiful morning.

We made it to the edge of North Dakota, to Fargo, where we spent the night.  

The hotel was a lodge style place decorated with lots of wood and green and wild animals.  

Day 3 - We were looking forward to viewing the badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, however it was extremely foggy and this was the only descent photo:

In order to angle off toward Canada, we had to leave the main highway on this day, 

but the pace was still good.  We ate an excellent steak dinner in a tiny little cowboy town

 and carried on the Havre where we spent the night.  

Apparently American's don't really do this French name justice... It made us giggle!

 I tried to get some knitting done but, despite my best intensions, 

we mostly chatted and of course I had to do at least half the driving.

 Day 4 - Entry back into Canada via the tiniest boarder control crossing in the middle of literally no where.  The agents were very nice - we figured they were pretty happy to get some company.  

The weather was an erie fog that hung over the rolling tree-less land.  

Perhaps it was a fore shaddow of the Cypress Hills ahead, 

where we thought of our sweet Georgianna still missing in our hearts.  

The area there, though is very pretty and would surprise most people to think it is in the Prairies. 

 We made it to Calgary!