Spectacular

Friday morning was another very cool morning, but promised to continue with the bright sunny day. We went to the West Edmonton Mall - just to see it. At first, it just seemed another mall, but bigger. But as we walked around it, the differences were apparent. We passed an ice-rink, with people skating around.




Skating in the Mall


And a huge wave pool, with palm trees and bikini-clad swimmers. There is a ship - Columbus's "Santa Maria", in a large pool surrounded by submarine tours of aquatic life. We watched a sea-lion show, and passed a casino, several hotels and gaming areas for kids and adults alike. One wing of the mall is made up like chinatown, another like a street in Paris. And there actually stores in the mall, too - over 800 of them. One of them was a specialty liquor store, which actually carries my favourite kind of rum (Pyrat) - something not seem in the other provinces we've visited (all of them). We managed to kill over 5 hours in the mall, just wandering around. But then it was time to hit the road - so westbound we went, to the Pembina River Provincial Park, about 120 Km. west of Edmonton, and set our camp up alongside the Pembina River.




Pembina River Gorge




Our latest travels had been a lot of driving, and not much exercise - so we decided it was time to get our legs back in gear, and took a short hike to a scenic lookout over the 200 foot gorge carved out of the landscape by the river. Being a Friday, the campground filled up quickly, as campers arrived through the late afternoon and early evening - it was a good thing we'd arrived reasonably early! Once the sun had set, the temps dropped quickly, and we snuggled up in our tent.
Saturday morning was another fine day, and again frosty. We continued on to the west for a couple of hundred kilometres, to the KOA campground, where we had a Kamping Kabin reserved for the Saturday and Sunday. These Kabins were similar to the ones we'd used before, but also had heaters, small refrigerators, and a television - so we were set in luxury for the weekend. We met the couple in the Kabin beside us, who were returning to Victoria after he'd just completed biking across the country from Victoria to Halifax, in a bid to raise funds for diabetes - he being a diabetic himself. Yves Provost (try Googling him - you'll find lots of stuff about his amazing trip) kept us entertained with stories of his trip, and the many trials of dealing with his illness, trying to raise funds, and maintain the energy and will to complete the gruelling trip. His website, if you're interested, is: http://www.oneguyonecanada.com/ The KOA people were also doing a bit of fundraising, and sponsored a hot-dog barbecue/corn roast around the campfire pit....so we joined into that for supper and at the same time helped in their cause for Cancer. The night again was cold and frosty, and we were glad of the heated cabin we had for the night.
Sunday, the fine weather was continuing, and we left our stuff at the cabin, driving out into Jasper and Jasper Park to view the sights. Although a few words might describe the scenery around here, and into the Columbia Icefield Parkway (Rugged, Majestic, Awesome) I think the most appropriate might be spectacular. We'd seen a lot of very impressive scenery across Canada, but this, so far, was the most spectacular.

Athabasca Falls



We spent the day viewing the peaks and waterfalls, the glaciers and icefields, and all the time kept our eyes peeled for the wildlife. The scenery, as I said, we saw in spades.

Athabasca River Valley



The only wildlife, however, was the tourists grazing at the roadside stops, or wandering around the scenic viewpoints - where we joined them. By the end of the day we'd driven over 350 km and hiked hither and yon. We refuelled in Hinton and returned to our Kabin for the evening, this time visiting with new neighbours from Austria and Taiwan who also seemed impressed by the local scenery.
Monday morning found us back on the road. Linda started the driving as I sat in the passenger seat, typing up this section of the Blog for upload tonight (I don't know how I manage to get so far behind, so quickly!). Today we are headed back down the Columbia Icefield Parkway, from Jasper to Banff and Lake Louise, and then westbound again into British Columbia and Revelstoke for the night.
We continued through gorgeous scenery, past Lake Louise, and west, through the Rogers Pass.
We were now back in BC, had crossed into the Pacific Time Zone and over the Continental Divide where now all the water flows into the Pacific. By 1700 we were happily ensconced in our Kabin at Revelstoke. The next couple of days are forecast to remain good, so we may be able to go back to the tent. We'll be on to the Okanagan Valley for a few days, where we have ancestors to find, and friends and relatives to visit.