Alberta

Beaverlodge, Alberta

After my last blog on Thursday I met up with Lorissa and we took her husband and his co-workers some cold drinks. That night we went back to the house they're building and moved some wood and trees that were in the way for when BC Hydro comes to hook up their power.

Charlie Lake

Friday I spent the day with my friend Daniel. We went for lunch at a local restaurant called Mondos and then went back to his place and he showed me pictures from his trip to Ghana. He's an electrical engineer and volunteered there last year to help build a hospital in Accra. We went for a walk in the Fish Creek Community Forest near the college, and then sat at Charlie Lake. It was a pretty warm day and lots of mosquitos around! After I picked up my van I joined Lorissa and Arly at their house and we cooked weiners over a fire and spent the night there. First night sleeping in my van for this trip and it was pretty comfortable.

Sherwood Park, Alberta

Saturday I woke up and spent pretty much the whole day driving. The drive takes about 8 hours from Fort St. John to Edmonton, but I was half an hour out of town at the house and by the time I stopped for gas (and bought a little speaker to listen to music on my Ipod - which I should have done at the beginning of my trip) it was already mid-morning. Most of the drive is 110 once you get into Alberta, but that was somewhat pushing it for my van which only potentially reaches 140. I only stopped a few times, once because I thought there was something wrong with my van (which there isn't... faulty light or something) and then to take a picture of the giant beaver and to take a break from driving. I stopped in Fox Creek hoping if I bought something at the Subway I could fill up my water bottle and charge my phone, but there was no water tab on their pop machine and no outlets. I did finally make it to Sherwood Park, just outside of Edmonton, where Laura lives, but with the hour I lost from the time change, I was on the road almost 12 hours! I seriously considered turning around and coming home after that drive...

Since I arrived we have been busy doing a lot! Saturday we went for dinner at Original Joes and Sunday we woke up and went to this cute place called Cora's for breakfast and shared a raspberry crepe and salmon eggs benny. It was amazing! Definitely worth a visit if you're here.

Laura in the Grekul House

Then we drove east away from Edmonton and went to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Original houses and buildings have been moved from around Alberta to this site and it is set up with people in original outfits representing the people who would have lived and worked in these buildings in the 1930s.

St. Vladimir's Greek Orthodox Church

It was a neat village museum and even though it was about 30 degrees Sunday, (poor people in their period costumes with stockings and long dresses) it was fun to walk around and see the old church and the inside of a grainery. We also got a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and ate home-made perogies.

After, we drove through the Elk Island National Park and checked out the buffalo roaming around. Then we came back to Laura's, got our bathing suits, and spent most of the rest of the day at her friend's place in their swimming pool. It's one of the above ground round ones, but perfect for standing in when it's so hot. Dexter had come with us and the backyard had more dogs than people (about 5). When we reluctantly left the cool confines of the pool we took Dexter for a walk along the Saskatchewan River.

Yesterday we spent most of the day in West Edmonton Mall. It was pretty busy for a weekday but I think everyone was escaping the continued heat wave. I gave myself a budget, which I quickly went over, but there was some pretty good deals, so I bought some more clothes that I don't really need. The mall is pretty cool, though, because it is set up with different areas of the mall representing different places. I think in the four plus hours we were there we made it through about half the mall, but the Chinatown area, with the T and T supermarket was cool to see. And we looked in on the waterpark area, set up like a fake beach, but didn't go in.

For such a big place, almost like a small city in itself, it gets kind of suffocating after a while. We returned to the sweltering heat of the outside and took Dexter for a walk to the grocery store. It was dusk by then so had cooled down a little bit, but was the perfect time for mosquitos - I literally got about 10 bites on my legs. Not fun! Today Laura is at work so I'm hiding from the heat inside and debating whether I'll actually go out... probably not. Tomorrow Saskatchewan!