EdMONton

It was a good trip, but boy was I ever relieved to see my lovely tree-lined Vancouver street.

Friday night we went out for dinner at a Greek restaurant on Whyte Ave where we were entertained by a half-naked belly dancer. Although it was evident that we desperately wanted to go up and dance with her, we were never asked. Leave that job to the horny middle-aged men, I suppose. Ate the best moussaka of my life (sorry Iris). Filled whatever space was left with beer. Very very full. Smoking in bars...yuck.

Saturday we went to our cabin/hut 2.5 hours South of Edmonton, stopping on the way to buy groceries in Red Deer. Bit of a hole of a town. I can see why Tyler ran away. Didn't see the Parringtons. Cabin/hut was a one room deal, slightly larger than my room here in Vancouver and definitely smaller than my room at Borden. It held a wood-burning stove, 3 beds and a kitchen table. Went for a hike in the afternoon and quite literally ran into about 2 dozen horses. One minute they were all grazing at the side of the road, the next they were surrounding us, with their faces pressed right up next to ours and nibbling on my fleece jacket. I can't wait to get the run-away pictures back from that experience. A bit nerve-wracking at the time, but now it's actually quite funny. Salsa burgers for dinner, UNO (of course) and the iPod "Patio Mix". Feeling a bit sick so I drank Peach Schnapps and OJ. Melissa and I serenaded Anke (Melissa's Dutch roomate) with our snoring. She seemed really impressed in the morning.

On the way back to Edmonton, we stopped off at Mitchell lake for a little walk about. All was peaceful and serene until Melissa fell down the hill. Yikes...some nasty prickly things and a less than fetching bruise.

Sunday night, very sleepy...rented some movies, ate some popcorn and popsicles.

Monday, hiking around Elk Island National Park. Didn't see any elk, but saw LOTS of bison...mmmm...bison. The bison are obviously oblivious to the fact that they are supposed to stay 3 schoolbus lengths away from us and were wandering onto the trails and the roads. We got some pretty good pictures of our "close encounters". On the way back to Edmonton also snapped a photo of a bumper sticker on the back of a pickup truck that said "Independence: Alberta's only hope"...yeahhhh...good luck with that.

Monday night, very sleepy...learned how to play Canasta, got SMOKED in UNO (I'm still in shock!) and went to bed.

The plane ride back to the 'Couver was actually quite productive. Finished off my homework before the seatbelt sign went off. Read a little Macleans. Took a nap. Having a head-cold while flying is no fun though. I thought my head was going to explode during the descent!

It's time to get my clogged/runny nose back to the grindstone.