Oh Canada!

Tuesday and Wednesday I made a whirlwind trip to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I needed to go check in on my Grandmother. I knew she probably wouldn't know who I was but it's good for family members to be there so the nursing home staff knows someone is checking on her. I was up at 3:30 am and headed to the airport for the flight to Edmonton via San Francisco. I got my rental car and drove straight to the nursing home. She looked really good!She seemed pretty lucid for the first while but then things degenerated. Still, I think she was happy to have company. I listened quite a bit.

After a few hours, I said goodbye and headed to the temple. It is under some sort of construction so the outside isn't quite picture perfect. I believe the layout is the same as the Spokane Temple.

After the temple I was on my way to the hotel when I passed the West Edmonton Mall. My curiosity was up since I'd seen signs EVERYWHERE for the mall and my hotel boasted its proximity to the mall. I needed to eat anyways so I decided to check it out. OH MY GOSH!

Let me repeat - OH MY GOSH! I've never been to the Mall of America so I don't know how this compares but it was pretty incredible! However, first things first - I needed food. The extent of my eating for the day had been a bagel, a candy bar, and the tomato juice served on the plane. I walked into one of the mall's food courts and noticed this:Yes - POUTINE! It caught my eye because on the flight there I was reading a novel where much of the action takes place in Canada. The main character eats Poutine a couple of times and describes it quite well and even mentions it is only a Canadian thing. So, when I saw it in the mall I just HAD to try it (even though I am really not much of a fry fan). Poutine is fries sprinkled with cheese curds and topped with gravy. It was pretty good (high praise indeed coming from a non-fry person). I will also admit to having a nanaimo bar (chocolate coconut crust, cream cheese/pudding filling, and ganache topping). It was NOT a good diet day (most unhealthy eating I've had since New Year's). But YUMMY!

Then I set out to explore the mall. Let's just say - I got lost! To those who don't know me that may not be of interest but I have an excellent sense of direction and can get around well. Not so in this mall. I explored for a while and then couldn't find my way back out - I had to go to the information desk and get a map to get myself out of there.

The mall was huge - containing over 860 stores. But that's not all. It contained a waterpark with slides, a ropes course, a miniature golf course, an indoor skate park, an ice rink, an amusement park, a shooting range where you could rent guns and practice, a dinner theater, bumper boats, an aquarium, movie theaters, and this replica of Christopher's Columbus' ship that you could explore. I've probably left something out.

After about an hour of wandering around I finally left for my hotel. I checked in about 7 pm and immediately headed to the fitness room to ride the exercise bike (an injury sustained running on Monday prevented me from using the treadmill - still haven't been able to run since). After a workout and a shower, I was ready to turn in by 9:30 so I could be up by 4:20 to catch my flight back home.

Whirlwind trip but mission accomplished with a bit of fun on the side.