Yesterday was another beautifully, cool (60 degrees) Canada morning. The weather report called for a high of only 70 degrees; how delightful and how different from our steamy and humid Florida summer days. Yesterday was the last day of the 1st leg of our roadtrip… we will be staying for a long weekend in Edmonton for rest, relaxation and to do some exploring around the capital city of Alberta. I know for one that I’m looking forward to being out the car and seeing what kind of fun stuff we can get into. Some attractions that we have our eyes on are the Edmonton Zoo and the West Edmonton Mall (largest mall in all of North America – includes 800 stores, 2 waterparks and 100s of restaurants)… surely we can find some fun there as well as many other local places. For Brian, I know he is looking forward to NOT loading/unloading the truck for several days. We will have a chance to sleep in (hopefully), do some laundry and just have a fun time with the kids outside of the traveling we have done.
I know my former IB Senior students will find this funny and maybe even a little ironic, but here I am traveling through Canada and I hardly know any Canadian history and I’m wishing I did. They know what this means and may even laugh at me for this. I am vowing to learn as much as I can in the coming week as well as the 3 years I am living in Alaska.
So far, I’ve noticed in Canada that:
• There are Subways and McDonald restaurants everywhere… even in the smallest towns.
• Many people here say, “For sure,” when we like to say, “OK!” I can’t help but smile each time I hear it. I’ve even been tempted to repeat it back to them.
• There are many, many, many Co-Op businesses. If I understand this correctly, Co-Ops are when the employees have a stake in the company they work for and earn small profits quarterly/annually + their salary/wages. I’ve seen gas stations, food stores, and restaurants that are Co-Ops. Interesting.
• Major economic activities include the RR industry, the Oil industry, and farming.
• I don’t think too many people wash their vehicles; they all look dirty from flooding/mud, snow (in the winter), dirt roads, construction, etc.
• Near the major cities there seems to constantly be construction on the roads. We heard/read that during the summer months the roads are “fixed” from all the snow & ice during the long winter months. Seems awfully redundant, but I guess it is a necessity.
• Everything is much more expensive than in the US. *Sigh*
I will give an update from our Edmonton Weekend stay later. My hopes are that we are refreshed and rejuvenated for the second part of our journey to Alaska as we travel through western Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon Territories of Canada. There will certainly be some very remote places along the way, but I'm sure it will be overlooked by the beauty of the mountains, wildlife and frontier that we are sure to see next week.
Day 8 = 335 miles
Total Trip = 2,425 miles
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