Enjoying a Canadian Vacay, eh!

Bob and I are having a lovely Albertan vacation, as we are staying within the province before we head out later this week (already?!) for the UK. However, before we regale you with highly entertaining tidbits of our Tour de Alberta, we need to give one last shout out to our favorite Canadian feline friends — Purrcy and Squeak.  We are adjusting to not having Purrcy sleep curled up on our tummies (after the requisite number of turns), or curled up against our legs (when we sleep on our sides) or in-between us on Bob’s out-stretched arm allowing us to revel in his purrs (one of life’s happiest noises!). We miss his outstretched body on the floor begging for a tummy rub. And I seriously miss my cuddles with Squeak when she would lie up against me and reach her paw up at me.  She is a highly selective cat, so I felt honored by her attention.  However, they are both happily back with their owners, who are also Cool Cats (though not feline).

Since our time in Calgary, we have been flitting around the province in our rental jeep (upgraded for free from our requested economy-size car — pays to be a Hertz Goldmember in a shoulder season, I guess.). First stop was Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, and about a 2 hour drive north of Calgary. This was a full-on urban day with a 3-hour walkabout of the Old Strathcona district and the City Center including a visit to their farmer’s market (held each Saturday year-round) and viewings of the legislature building, Winston Churchhill Square, their award-winning public library, and their gorgeous art gallery. Like Calgary, a river runs through it (the North Saskatchewan), so we got to cross a couple of bridges as well and noted the in-progress construction of a new one. We finished the day at the West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America (was largest in the world until 2004).  It is now the 10th largest (per Wikipedia, I’m not on top of these things), and at only two stories and with mostly surface-level parking, it seemed much smaller than what we were expecting.

We spent just a night in Edmonton before heading onto the town of Jasper which is located in Jasper National Park. To enter the park, you need to buy a pass. Since we were planning to be in the Jasper and Banff National Parks for parts of at least 3 days, we paid $39 C to cover us for both parks. Both parks are home to parts of the Canadian Rockies and are gorgeous. I definitely prefer life with a mountain view, and we have been busy hiking and seeing some of the natural features — including our first real snow of the trip and wildlife!