Oh, Canada!: April 2009

We are now down to 9 weeks left of our time here in Jasper. In a lot of ways it feels like it has gone by so very slowly, but in other ways it seems to have flown by us. I can't believe we've been here for over 6 months now. Stu and I are both looking forward to leaving, we have enjoyed so many things here in Jasper, but the time to move is fast approaching, and we are excited for the change.

In March we took a trip to Edmonton for our combined birthday present. We saved up and took a bus charter to Edmonton very early on Thursday the 12th March, arriving in Edmonton just after lunch time. We were dropped off at the West Edmonton Mall. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's quite possibly the biggest mall in North America. It is 8kms of shops, restaurants and amusement parks, (ice rink, waterpark, golf courses) and hotels in one building.

We spent Thursday perusing (read: Stu dragging my tired feet) the shops WEM has to offer. We

walked around for about 5 hours and didn't even manage to cover half the mall. So we decided to pace ourselves over the following days. We spent Friday shopping in a smaller mall in downtown Edmonton, not too far from where we were staying. Then on Friday night, we went to Red Lobster. AMAZING.

We had to wait in line for 30 minutes, there was a

big line and we got there just in time to avoid an hour's wait. I was so excited, they advertise Red Lobster on tv a lot in Jasper and I was dying for some good seafood. I was not disappointed! I ordered the ultimate platter which included lobster tail, crabs legs, and 2 different kinds of shrimp/prawns. mmmm...

On Saturday morning we headed back to WEM for some more shopping. Stu and I had tickets to see the Edmonton Oilers play that night, and we decided to show our support by purchasing some Oiler's shirts to wear to the game. Stu got a jersey and I got a vintage t-shirt... after about 2 days of exploring all the options for said shirts and jerseys!! We were happy to be back in civilization where they have malls at all, but the clothing choices for guys were not too exciting and Stu didn't end up finding much that he liked. I on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed shopping in "winners" which is like an op-shop for designer clothes. Everything is brand new, but the prices are slashed massively. I got one cardigan for $40 that was marked down from $180. I also found myself some very hot stilletos.

Saturday night we took the light rail train to the Edmonton Oiler's game. It took all of 10 minutes to get there, and we entered rexall place excited to watch our team play. The Oilers are a great team to watch, I have a bit of a massive crush on Dwayne Roloson, the Oiler's goalie! Stu has a man crush on Sam Gagner, and even has the shirt to prove it :oP

Stu at the train station, in his Oiler's jersey.

We watched the pre-game skate, the players warming up by shooting dozens of pucks at an empty goal while Roly the goalie stretches out and warms up. These guys are fast skaters! I even managed to get a birthday message on the big screen for Stu's birthday, which was that day.

"Happy birthday stuart."

"ILU always, Beth. x"

They played the Colorado Avalanche, and lost in overtime.

The Edmonton Oiler's pre-game skate

It was so exciting though, as they came from behind to equalize the score before going into overtime. It was disappointing that they lost, but it was such a great experience to see a game.

Rexall place is the loudest stadium in the entire NHL, with the fans supposedly being the loudest out of any teams. So the atmosphere when they scored the equalizing goal was awesome.

Anyway, Sunday we dragged ourselves back to the mall, well and truly over the crowds there. On Saturday there was a cheerleading competition on, so there would have been about 20,000 people there. No thanks. We also caught the sea lion's show on Saturday. It was very cool.
We begrudgingly left Edmonton and went back to Jasper, but the countdown til our New York trip is now on!
b. x

Enjoy the pics from our Edmonton break!