Heading to Whitefish!

In Canada, there is no Memorial Day, but there is May Long Weekend the weekend prior to the United States' unofficial start to summer! We decided to head to Whitefish, MT to get a little taste of the good ole' U.S of A. The main road through Glacier National Park isn't open until mid-June, so we had to head south through Fernie, British Columbia.

We headed out of Calgary a bit later than we were hoping, so we knew it would be a late evening. We stopped halfway through our drive in the town of Fernie to grab a quick bite to eat and got quite the surprise of an overpowering smell of fresh pine and cedar trees. It was such a pleasant surprise! Sort of like smelling the best air freshener possible, so I think their new town motto should be "Fernie... the best smelling town in the world!"

Anyways, once we ate a quick dinner, we jumped back in the car and headed toward the U.S. border as the sun slipped away from the sky. We drove the last few hours in the dark, and I have never seen so many deer perched on the sides of the roads. It was very unnerving, especially because every few minutes you would pass a cross tacked on the side of the road that I'm sure was to memorialize an accident that had happened at that location. Thankfully, Jeff drove like a champ, and we rolled into our hotel just before midnight.

The first day we ventured out for a morning hike in Whitefish. It was fun, and not too taxing, so we enjoyed our time. Boone liked riding in his backpack so much that he even dozed off to sleep for his morning nap in the backpack. Here's a few shots from our hike:

Later in the day, we went to check out the downtown area of Whitefish. It's a small ski town that has so much charm and beauty. It's surrounded by mountains and the people are so friendly. It would be a great place to call home. Plus, one thing Jeff and I love to do when we vacation is check out the local eateries. For a little town, Whitefish had lots of choices! We ate southern barbeque and cajun food, as well as yummy biscuits and gravy (they don't have that up in Canada) but our favorite was a little pizzeria called Jersey Boys Pizza. Jeff found the spot from his tried and true Urban Spoon app, and it did not disappoint! Also, Boone made friends with a few of the little local girls who were eating there that night! Like I said, people in town were very friendly!

Boone hanging out with Dad, while I grabbed a coffee!

The second day, we did a little shopping in Whitefish and Kalispell! On our way back to Canada, we decided to do a side trip to try and find a scenic lookout that I saw on a sign on the side of the road. It was quite an adventure. We drove and drove and drove and drove... and drove and we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere Montana! It was a crazy drive on a
gravel/dirt road, but Jeff was determined to make it to the outlook. The only thing that stopped him, was when we ran into a foot of snow and mud on the gravel road. But, he was bummed, so he said we should try and hike down to the creek since we were all the way in the middle of the woods! And we got a few pictures!

Boone looks horrified to be in the middle of Montana on a hike.

This was a good part of the road

Jeff took this lovely picture!

I'm still catching up with lots of our adventures! We are headed out to check out a part of Canada we've never been next month, so I still have lots to document on here!

Love,

Emily, Jeff + Boone