Another Time on the ALCAN - 4. Whitecourt & Edmonton

Monday, September 28 - 289 Miles Today. The checkout time at most RV parks is usually 11AM - more rarely at noon. We usually get our money’s worth by leaving at near the posted limit, but made an exception by leaving just after 10AM from the Mile “0” RV Park in Dawson Creek.

I can’t help but think of Dawson Creek as being the start of the civilized grid. The signs begin here. We headed toward Edmonton passing fenced fields, tracing power lines pole to pole, and feeling the sensation of being reconnected. The town of Grande Prairie is the largest. It has an attractive college with beautifully designed campus buildings (smooth curves, no sharp corners), a Costco, etc - all the attributes of a modern town. It is unrecognizable from forty years ago. We left Grande Prairie on a dual highway with traffic getting ever heavier the further south we went.

The radio predicted winds of up to 50 MPH so we decided to stop in Whitecourt instead of driving onto Edmonton. Stayed at Sagitawh RV Park on the outskirts. Made a fire, roasted hotdogs and checked the email. Moonshine made friends with the donkey resident of the Park. There were also two pigs, a goat, a couple sheep, a llama, chickens and geese - all living peacefully in the same area.
Tuesday, September 29 - 104 Miles Today. Dual highway till just outside of Edmonton. We stopped at the Glowing Embers RV Park at the very western edge Edmonton as it was only a few miles from the West Edmonton Mall. We had been stopping there since 1987, right after it opened as the largest in the world. Mary thought she might want to go shopping, and we have always gone to the Water Park. It has a pool that generates waves and numerous waterslides. Mary had a lot of fun in the wave pool the last time we went, but could not get inspired this time. She slid down one of the more gentle slides, I did a couple of the extremes. We decided the Mall no longer has the magnetic attraction for us that it once possessed.

GO TO: Part 5