June 4, 2017 - Cochrane, AB to Edmonton, AB Canada

It was an overcast morning. You can stare at the sun without squinting your eyes.  It was cool at 43 degrees.

We checked out of Bow RiversEdge Campground at 8:35 am. (we were hoping to leave at 8 am).  We took AB 22 in Cochrane and continued on this route for 71 km. Beautiful scenery. There were lots of farmland.

Diesel fill-up at Petro-Canada in Cremona, AB off AB 22

In Red Deer, AB we took Alberta Highway 2 North from AB 22.  The roads were rough and patchy most of the way.

We can see blue sky in the West, but it was still overcast in the East. There were no rest areas, but we managed to find a small pullout. However there are "No Stop" signs posted on the guardrail.  There was already one RV in front of us, so we went ahead and parked here.  We had not had breakfast, so we prepared light snacks. We rested a bit before resuming our journey.  

The sun finally broke through the clouds after noon.  Still thin clouds, but not as much as it was this morning.

 

While on the highway a Newmar Ventana rig passed us by and a female passenger, with a big smile, was waving at us.  We waved back at her and wondered if she was going to the same campground we are going to.

We arrived Edmonton City limit at 1 pm, took 16A West to go to Acheson, AB. 

We pulled into Glowing Embers RV Park at 1:45 pm.  There was another Newmar rig parked next to us before we went to the office to register.  We were not sure if the couple was going on the Alaska Caravan with us.

We got site #161 in an area that was reserved for the Alaska/Yukon Caravan members.  The front office informed us that Steve and Karen, the wagonmasters for the Caravan, had already checked in.  Registration was fast and it took less than 5 minutes.  The staff was very friendly and courteous. 

Our site was back in, so we unhooked the Jeep from the Lil' Home before heading to the site.

There were few Newmar rigs already parked nearby.  After we parked our Lil' Home (LH) we walked over to meet Steve and Karen.  Steve came out to greet us, explained briefly about the plan for rest of the week.  Steve introduced us to Gary, who will be our tailgunner.

Steve and Karen, our Caravan wagonmasters welcoming
Newmar RV owners

While we were still at the campground I texted Angela, a friend whom I had not seen since college days at Gallaudet to see if we could meet for mid afternoon or supper.  She suggested to meet at the pirate ship area in the west end of the West Edmonton Mall (the largest shopping mall in North America and the tenth largest in the world). 

It took less than 15 minutes to get to the mall from the campground.  Finding parking at West side of the mall was not that hard.  We went in the mall on the 2nd floor, then texted Angela to let her know where we were.

The West Edmonton Mall, founded by the Ghermezian brothers, has over 800 stores, has parking spaces for 20,000 vehicles.  It has an indoor pool, a movie theater, amusement park and ice skating rink.

It was so wonderful to see Angela again.  It had been 48 years since we last saw each other.  She and I belonged to the same sorority, Phi Kappa Zeta. Angela led us to the food court where there are so many to choose from. I decided to get strawberry custard crepes and Erwin had pepperoni and artichoke personal size pizza.  My crepes was very good and hearty (I forgot to take a picture of it).  Erwin was satisfied with his pizza.

 

We and Angela spent over an hour and half catching up on news.  Angela had a plan for this evening and had to leave at 4:30 pm.  We will see her in Phoenix, AZ this coming winter when we all will spend winter months there.

After Angela left we strolled around the mall for a while. We visited the mall three years ago, not much has changed since. 

Pirate Ship

Food Court

No, we did not buy the ticket :-(

Ice rink inside the mall

World Waterpark inside the Mall

Yes, there is a seal at the mall

After getting back to the campground there were two more Newmar rigs arriving.  We met three couples who are from Florida.  The female passenger, who waved at us when her rig went past us on the highway, was here!  The couple, who was next to us at the campground front office, joined in with us all.  

We decided to clean up the front panel of our LH for there were lots of bug splatters.  While we were doing it Gary, the tailgunner, came over and wanted to check the slideout motors to be sure the bolts are tightened.  The four bolts on the motor on driver's side were loose, and Gary showed Erwin how to tighten them. We did not know about this simple maintenance.  On the passenger's side only one out of four bolts was loose.

Gary then showed Erwin how to properly operate Atwood leveling jacks and air bag.  Gary also checked the hitch in the back of the LH and said it is all good.

Tomorrow night we the Newmar troop will meet for pizza. Tuesday night is when we will be briefed on Alaska/Yukon trip plan.

During suppertime the clouds started to get dark and at 7:30 pm the rain came!

 

~Edith