07 May - Edmonton and onward west...

After making our tea beside the Midden we drove in to Edmonton where I had set an appointment with Speedy Glass to change our windshield. While Speedy was doing its thing we walked over to a Starbucks where we met with a SALTer we worked with in Uganda (1999-2000). Rachel (whose uncle is Bruno we visited in Saskatoon) was excited to connect with us and managed to rearrange her life as a busy mother of 4 boys (two autistic) to meet with us. What a delight to catch up with Rachel and talk about how that time in Uganda was so transformational for her and how different her life is now. 

Speedy was true to its name and finished installing our windshield quicker than we expected. So because Mary Lou had some of her work to do we decided to visit the renowned West Edmonton Mall which boasts a wave pool accompanied by massive water slides, ice sculptures, and every store you can imagine, including a dedicated Lego store! Malls are not really our thing, but it was entertaining to wander through this hub of human activity and entertainment. 

We headed out of Edmonton laughing to John Grisham's book, The Litigators (audible). We checked out a few iOverlander suggested rest stops along the way before we finally settled on a parking lot made available by the large grocery store in Hinton, Freson Bros. They even had signs welcoming overnight stays by RVs! The parking lot was sloped so we were able to make use of our new Tri-Lynx Leveler blocks for the first time and they performed as they were designed.