June 29, 2014 (69th Day)

We woke to a very gloomy/damp morning.  It must have rained all night while we slept. Both of us were up at 6, but snoozed few times.

In Hinton, Alberta (AB) we wanted to check out Beaver Boardwalk, saw two adult beavers and a young one.  There were several beaver lodges.  It was drizzling when we walked on the loop boardwalk.  A lovely walk through the wetlands and the area is funded by a private organization.  We also saw a pair of ducks ( Edith was not able to identify them.)  Some songbirds were around.

We did not have breakfast when we left the campground, so we stopped somewhere in Hinton, AB to eat breakfast. Erwin wanted to make a pot of coffee, we could do that thanks to the inverter in our camper van.

We saw a herd of horses on Yellowhead Highway E/AB-16

We made a sudden right turn to a dirt road as soon as we saw this old abandoned barn near Niton Junction, AB.  This is why we like to be on the backroad or country road and we see things that we don't normally see if we stay on interstates or main highways. Besides if you  were on the interstates, you would not be able to stop any where you want to, safely that is.

THE RAIN HAS STOPPED. Finally...

We toured Wabamun and it has the world's largest dragonfly display.

It rained again!

There were a lot of RVs turning left to Route 43 from Yellowhead Highway E/AB-16 and we were so so tempted to follow them to Alaska, but no no... Another time...Another time definitely! It is on our bucket list!

Rain stopped again

Before getting to Edmonton we stopped in Stony Plain to have lunch at Lithos Restaurant. Stony Plain is a town with a painted past and has lots of wall murals all over the area.

After leaving Stony Plain we get back on 16A, arrived the suburb of Edmonton, then to the west side of the city where there is a very large mall.  It is the largest shopping mall in North America. We were not able to park the camper van in a covered parking garage because of height restriction, but there is an overflow parking lot for RVs and trucks outside of the mall. Because it was Sunday the amusement area and the mall were very crowded. Edith started to feel overwhelmed and told Erwin to come back the next day.  We did not stay in the mall long, got out and went elsewhere.

After surveying the area we decided it was safe to spend the night at Walmart that is right across the street from Lowe's Hardware store