Come Fly With Me

As you wait to hear about Bingi ja Ryanni and the ferocious Karhu there is another tale that must be told. That of Ryanni ja Emilie and their adventures in the Sandstone City.
Yes, mon ami Emilie made a visit out west to see her old friend, The Bearded Backpacker. What fun we had in such a short time. We travelled to Edmonton and back and then took our road trip west to Banff and Lake Louise and where we even had a chance to stop in British Columbia for a touch. Wow. It was a whirlwind week that just never seemed to stop.

Em arrived in Calgary on February 24th, if my math is right. She arrived in the afternoon and we took it easy that first day because we were heading for West Edmonton Mall bright and early the next morning. We had to visit the world's first largest mall in the world. It would seem to be a waste to come all the way to Alberta and allow a mere three hour drive keep you from visiting the Mecca of commercialism. So we went there and checked out the great expanse of retail space and checked out some weird peg throwing tournament and even had a chance to catch the seal show. The seals were quite entertaining with their dance moves, dives and their friend the penguin. Good wholesome family fun. We hit a few stores, but window shopping was more the order of the day for us. We spent 6 hours in a mall and only had a couple pair of shoes to show for it. Alas it was a grand ole time. The trip home though would be where the real adventure would begin.

In between Edmonton and Calgary there is a small city known as Red Deer. Home to the world's biggest teapot or at least that's their claim. It is at this teapot that you will find Glenn's Restaurant. Now Glenn's has 150 varieties of teas from all over the world ready to serve and purchase. So Em and I stood around smelling tea for awhile and then bought some and then took time to sample Glenn's cuisine and more of their tea. A super happy fun time was had. I think the worst part was when we walked out of Glenn's to find that it was snowing and hard. That would make the next hour of driving quite fun. The highway between RD and Cowtown is quite open so there are many wind gusts and combined with the snow, it made for one heck of a drive. Headlights on low or high were of no use and the only reason I knew where I was going is that the road is quite straight and I could see the tail lights of the car in front of me. The winds also put a little slick on the roads and it was fun as the car swayed back and forth. I had to pretend that everything was fine so that Em wouldn't go into some sort of shock, but luckily we returned to my place without incident. Terrific.

So that was the trip to West Edmonton. Anyone else who happens to visit me out here in the west will have a similar opportunity. Does this entice you? No? Well maybe a professional sports game will sweetin' the deal. I thought so. So yeah that's day 1 and 2. As I enjoy some of the White tea I bought during the stop in Red Deer I am reminded about the day after West Ed where we would see the Calgary Flames actually win a game.

White tea is supposed to be good for you. Even better than Green Tea. So on February 26th I would show Em some of the sights in Calgary, such as the local Ikea. Its a top tourist attraction. We also saw some back roads of Calgary and a taste of the local hobo population. The highlight though would be taking Em to her first NHL game in person. I had fun, the Flames scored a bunch and we were toasted by the Enmax flame everytime the good guys scored. I don't recall the final score, but I am sure the Flames put up 5 and I even scored a free program. Wow it was one of my best hockey going experiences ever. Did Em have? I dunno? Em did you enjoy the hockey game? I think she was looking forward to the Rockies. Camore, Banff, Lake Louise and Yoho National Park are coming up so enjoy this read and I promise to continue the story shortly.