BACK TO CIVILIZATION




TOAD RIVER


We are now making our way to visit family and friends in Alberta. We tossed around the idea of visiting the NWT at the beginning of our trip when we were not able to go to Haida Gwaii, but since the fire there is bigger than the size of the PEI, and all of Yellowknife is getting evacuated we did not entertain going anywhere near there now. We drove 2.5 hours from Liard and are now in Toad River for a couple of nights. The drive is a beautiful and full of wildlife. We saw so many Moose and Caribou, also 1 small grizzly bear. Adam, trying to make his moose calls from the car, only served as entertainment and made us all laugh. It still makes me giggle, as the moose did not make any type of reaction.







Upon arriving we found a great campground. The kids did not help this time, as they needed time apart. Wyatt lost his emotions over not being able to put his hammock where he wanted (basically in the neighbouring campsite).  Oh the joys of close quarters.


Whoa the wind here is incredible. I felt like our tent was going to be blown away. And the weather changes so fast, sunny and relaxing, to windy and cold, to rain - light then intense, then gone.  I think we will attempt some fishing and road hunting today and tomorrow before heading out on our long journey to Alberta.


This campground has a trampoline. This was a big plus. The boys used it constantly, but not always to jump. Wrestling was the main attraction on this trampoline. And according to Gibson, he was undefeated! I don’t really like wrestling, but they were both my kids, so I let them go. At least they wouldn’t hurt anyone else. They needed to take some frustrations out on one another, and boy did they ever wrestle!

 





So the weather did not cooperate with us in Toad River. We had to pack up in the rain and everything was wet. Boo! It makes it such a grumpy experience to know everything is wet and you’re wet trying to pack. Plus we can’t seem to get up early enough to get on the road when we want. We wanted to leave before 9, but we actually left for our 9.5 hour drive to Valleyview AB around 9:45am. We wanted to get to Edmonton but felt that 13.5 hours was not manageable with kids. Once we got some good cell service I booked a room in Valleyview AB. 

For the kids, and us adults, it was a day filled with lots of Harry Potter (via audio book/CD’s), tablet time, stuffy make-believe play, and music. When we arrived at the hotel we found it was fully booked with evacuees from Yellowknife. The entire town has been evacuated due to fires. The hotel was shabby to be honest. Clean sheets and towels, but the rest of the place was dingy with ancient, dirty floors and windows. I never thought I would prefer tent camping over hotels, but in this case (and the one night in Whitehorse) I think I just might! Looking forward to staying with family tomorrow.


FAMILY AND FRIENDS


We arrived in Edmonton and stayed with Adam’s Aunt and Uncle for two nights. It was glorious to be with family and enjoy the fruits of civilization. We dried out our tents and other wet supplies, did 5 loads of laundry and had Chinese food ordered in! Delish! Adam’s cousins came over too and it was so fun! Thank you Rolly, Betty, Justin, Mickey, Lauren and your kids. Our family has so much fun with you guys. 

Next day, we did the WEM (West Edmonton Mall) waterpark and we stayed 6 hrs! It was epic and well worth the high price tag. Wyatt managed to work himself up to do the large yellow drop slide. However, once was enough. No repeats on that one. I was too scared to do the drop one, but did the purple ones (that you caught some air on) to the right in the picture. I ended up losing my glasses and they had to stop the slide so our kids, with borrowed googles, could find them at the bottom of the pool.  



Now that we were in civilization we needed to buy a few house keeping items, so the next day was spent shopping. I never thought I’d say this, but I actually missed a bit of shopping! I did Ikea and thrift stores, while Adam and the boys looked for hiking boots and hit up hunting and fishing stores like Cabelas. 

We left Edmonton, after two days, for a short drive to my friends in Red Deer. They have a family of 4 kids, which is great for all the kids to play together. We hit up another pool,  played video games, jumped on a trampoline, and became updated on new pop culture movies. We haven’t really gotten into much of the superhero/marvel/DC movies, but the new Spiderman cartoon/movie is actually pretty awesome. If you loved Mitchells VS the Machines, these Spiderman movies are funny and on point! Miles Morales for the win!


Adam and I mentioned to the kids that I would buy them a gaming system once our trip was over and we had a permanent home. That might have been a mistake on our part as this is something they are already looking forward to and mention often. They tell me that they need to try all types of systems to know which one they want. Jeri had an Oculus system, so they played a Star Wars game in 3D.  Malcoms family is Nintendo orientated and they  played lots with the switch. Uncle Shawn has an Xbox. When ever I give them trouble about playing for too long, they tell me they are just doing research!  Really?!



From there we ventured a short ways to Calgary to visit another awesome cousin of Adam’s, Jeri and her family. From there we headed to the famous Drumheller! Tyrell museum was pretty epic. However, with all the visiting late into the nights and short stays everywhere, we were all exhausted and felt like we did not really appreciate the coolness of this museum. We will have to come back another time. Our friends from Red Deer came along and were super helpful as they knew what to point out and see.


From there we ventured to Brooks AB for the night. So thankful for amazing and caring family. Auntie Christine and Uncle Jim put us up for the night and we got to visit my cousin and her family too. The boys wanted to spend more time at each place, as we really missed family/friends. However, with us trying to get home sooner than our original plan (so Wyatt can be home for youth hunting season) we had to keep moving. We left the next morning for Fernie.

Thank you so much to everyone for treating us so well and making us feel at home. Loved the warm showers and great meals. Love you.


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