Edmonton
Trip Start
May 25, 2008
1
63
72
Trip End
Aug 03, 2008
Where I stayed
Glowing Embers RV Park
Ugh, had to wake up early to take the truck to the Dodge place. It was around 6:00 so we could leave at 6:30 to get to the dodge place by 7:00. Wearily, we got there right on time to get checked in. However, they needed the bikes removed from the top of the truck and we left the keys back in the RV. UGH!!! So we had to drive back the 10 miles to the RV to take the bikes down and take the truck back. What's wrong with the truck? The warning "ding" in the truck keeps going off. But nothing seems wrong with it. So we'll see if these guys can fix the problem. So what to do this morning while we are waiting? Well, you know me; time to go to a museum. So we took the courtesy van to the Royal (it has this added to the title since Queen Elizabeth visited here) Alberta Museum. We arrived 30 min. early so Pooh took a nap on a bench in a nice garden while I did a little reading. At 9 the museum opened and we were the first ones in (after playing a little phone tag with the dodge people). It is divided into 4 sections; animal & flora of Alberta, minerals of Alberta, Native History, & a special section on dragons. First we hit the minerals section since that is a favorite of Pooh. There were so many samples and so much reading that we spent almost an hour just in this section. That is until a man and his daughter came. The man was trying to be Mr. Mom with the loudest voice possible that it echoed all over the place. Pooh tried to shush him but to no avail. Besides rock & minerals in this section, there was an area for dinosaurs and a reptile & insect section. Here were some of the scariest spiders of all; the tarantula & the Black Widow. Thanks God they were behind glass. There were also some Brazilian and African roaches that were beyond huge. Next, we checked out the Native section which went in-depth on the Natives from Alberta. Great dioramas. At the native animal exhibit, we had seen most of these animals everywhere else on this trip so we knew most of it. Pooh was tired after this so she went out while I checked out the dragon exhibit. It was geared more towards kids but it did have some interesting dragon related artifacts from around the world. After 3 hours, we left the Royal Alberta and went back to the Dodge place thanks to the courtesy van. The good news was that the truck was fixed. The bad news was the cost was $260. Most of this was labor. The taillight wires had melted together so they had to replace all of this. I was OK with the repair and the cost since there was nothing I could have done. After this big chunk of money, I treated Pooh and I to and Indian Buffet at the New Asian Restaurant. The buffet did cost more than usual ($13 a pop) but it was one of the best buffets ever. The food was very well prepared and not too spicy where you cannot eat so much. After lunch we went back to the RV to take care of the dogs and take a one hour rest break. Pooh took a nap while I did a little blogging outside (it was a beautiful day weather wise). Then it was time for the most popular tourist attraction here; the West Edmonton Mall. This was the largest mall in the world for around 20 years. What makes it so big is that it has an amusement park, ice rink, & water park inside the mall. As far as shops goes it has a few more than our Mall of Georgia. The mall did have a larger food court with better selections than our malls do, but the stores were just so-so. With the youth fashion here, I felt like it was a blast to the mid-80's. Big hair, lots of loose layers on top, with shorts and boots. Now don't get me wrong, the 80's was the best decade so far, but to have it in 2008 was odd. Pooh did get her hair done and it was quite wild. After several hours at the mall, we were quite tired and started to head out. But finally we found a cool store - an outdoor store like REI. I got the SAGG water bottle I've been looking for and Pooh tried on a few backpacks for the India trip next year. Now we were really tired. Again, we tried to leave the Mall but we looked at one more shop and found a watch for Pooh. It is to replace her "crocki" watch that broke. From the mall we went to Pooh's new aunt and Uncle's condo for some dinner and social time. Now, I just met them yesterday but it already seems like they are like family. We talked and talked until late in the evening. We gave them some cherries as gifts and they gave us back some clothes. Some of the nicest people I have ever met - and a great view of downtown from their 17th floor. We did not leave until 11:30 so we were not back at the RV until after midnight with a long drive tomorrow morning. The dogs were not too happy with us. I did take them to the open field to run around. Queque loved this since there were many gopher holes all over and she had to check out each one.
