Two nights in Edmonton

On Saturday 19th December, we drove to Edmonton, Alberta, to spend two nights with Megan and Justin - their last two nights in the home exchange house they had been living in since July.


(Megan's photo)

We had been planning our Christmas with them for a couple of months - five nights in Canmore (near Banff, in the Rocky Mountains) - so we went via Edmonton to (a) extend the fun, and (b) help with the logistics since they would have lots of luggage and no vehicle. They were flying back to NZ and on to visit Australia two days after Christmas.

We saw lots of beautiful snow-covered pine trees and mountains on the 11 hour drive to Edmonton. You'll see MANY more photos of such things in the upcoming blog entries, but here are a few pics from the drive...







On Sunday, the four of us drove a couple of hours to Rimbey, AB, for special meetings. We were missing ours in Vancouver on the same day, so it was wonderful we could make it to Rimbey!

Back in Edmonton that night, we had Mucho Burritos for tea (M&J's last meal of their favourite takeaway) and then drove around to look at Christmas lights. There's a street that calls itself "Candy Cane Lane", with about 200 houses decorated in Christmas lights and lawn ornaments, and people drive slowly, walk, or hop aboard a horse and cart to see them all. We chose the "drive slowly" option since it was about minus 15 degrees Celsius!

Here are some duelling snowmen that were on one of the front lawns...


(Megan's photo)

After Candy Cane Lane, we drove to Maisie's Magical Christmas House, where we did get out and walk around. Maisie was a lady who decorated her house in an unbelievable array of lights and Christmas decorations each year, and it became a bit of a local attraction. After she passed away a few years ago, her family have continued the tradition.







Despite us being rugged up like this and still cold at -15 degrees, at Maisie's house we actually saw a guy in his 20s who was only wearing a t-shirt (well, and jeans)!!!



More photos at Maisie's...




















(Megan's photo)

The next day, Monday, Megan and Justin finished packing up and cleaning their house, and around lunchtime we set off for Canmore - our winter wonderland!

To be continued...