Jim was seen at a mall !!

Trip Start May 29, 2009
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Trip End Oct 03, 2009


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Where I stayed
Discovery Campground, Devon, Alberta
(Edmonton hotels)

Flag of Canada  , Alberta,
Friday, July 10, 2009

Elk Island National Park is located a few miles (whoops, kilometers), east of Edmonton. This park was created as a wildlife refuge for elk, bison, moose, deer, and beavers.  We spent the morning there, but only saw the bison.  This is the first time that we have been truly disappointed in a national park.  The visitor information center was not even open.  We hiked parts of two different trails to where the larger animals were supposed to be, but saw absolutely nothing except for a couple of beaver lodges (well that is not all bad !!).

We spent the afternoon at the West Edmonton Mall.  This shopping mecca is supposed to be larger than the Mall of America in the twin cities.  We only regret that we left the camera in the car.  We started with a nice lunch in the Bourbon Street area of the mall.  After lunch we browsed the shops.  Jim was able to get his glasses repaired with new nose pads.  We watched the ice skaters on the NHL sized ice rink.  Then we walked around the amusement park to see the roller coasters, space drop (about a 300 foot vertical rise and drop), arcades, and other rides.  The deep sea adventure had motorized tubes where you could attack other people with water guns, a sea lion show, and a replica of the Santa Maria (did they get that from St. Louis ?).  The water park was even more spectacular.  There were at least six huge water slides (spiral, straight, etc), all centered around a gigantic wave pool.  The water park seemed to be far more crowded than the amusement park.  There were plenty of shoppers in spite of the economy. 
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