Time to swap currencies again and put aside the US dollars and whip out the Canadian loonies again, we were going back to Canada!  We had the best ‘free’ breakfast at our motel with make your own waffles; biscuits and sausage gravy and all the other breakfast regulars.  Today would be just a short day of driving compared to our last 2 days of trekking across North Dakota...

We rose early so we could say farewell to Sandy and the kids as they rushed out the door for work and school again. Some schools in Bismarck had a late start today following Halloween but not in Mandan.  I’m sure teachers hate the day after Halloween as the kids probably can’t focus on anything else but post Halloween talk and how big their candy collections are; speaking...

Today we got off to a healthy start with a swim and gym session at the motel.  I knew the motel in Shelby, where we were spending the night, has closed their pool for renovation so there was no need to hurry there; instead we chose to make use of the facilities we had available to us before driving for the day.  We had a long drive ahead as we were detouring a good distance...

We enjoyed a slow start to our days in Mandan but Sandy and the kids would all rush out the door to work and school.  We’d enjoy breakfast with Steve and Evan and then work out our plans for the day.  On Thursday we headed into downtown Bismarck to see the Capitol Building and to meet Sandy at work.  We took a tour of the Capitol Building and the adjoining Heritage Centre. ...