The Big Trip - Heading East

After three days in Prince George it was time for us to continue our journey and our next destination was Edmonton. Although both Kerry and I have done the trip before this was uncharted territory for us as a family. This leg was a similar distance as Surrey to Prince George so we knew we could do it but it was still going to be a long day. I've now realized that the kids are fairly good travelers however the first hour is typically horrendous. I think it takes them a while to realize we're not on a regular short car ride but once they figure out they're stuck for the long haul they settle down. The DVD player has also been an absolute saviour as it typically occupies them for at least 60-90 minutes. (Until we have to pick the next DVD and the arguement between 'Barbie and a Mermaid Tail' vs 'Max and Ruby' ensues.)

Although this trip was the same distance as Surrey to PG we found it much more enjoyable. Possibly because we've made the other trip 30+ times now and this was a pleasant change. This road is also a bit more remote with less local vehicles turning onto and off the highway. We made it to Jasper in great time where we stopped for breakfast and checked out some wildlife. Kerry was thrilled to see Mountain Goats as there are several signs near Spences Bridge yet we never seem to see any.

We managed to make it to Edmonton by 4:00p local time where we checked into the hotel and immediately made our way to Red Lobster. Kerry is a bit of a Shrimp lover and her mouth waters everytime she sees the Red Lobster commercials yet we don't have one in the Lower Mainland. The food was good however it wasn't amazing. This probably isn't surprising as it's a seafood place 1500 km away from the sea.

After dinner we headed to the West Edmonton mall. We only had a few hours before closing but we'd decided Kerry (I suppose the whole family really) would get an iPad for her Birthday and Alberta has no sales tax. We'd borrowed one from Kerry's school and Steve Jobs has now convinced us that we need a device we didn't know we needed. (Based on the picture above he appears to have hold of my children as well.)  We've managed to find several reasonable uses for it including;
1) A second computer means less fighting over the one we have.
2) We've signed up for Netflix and now we can stream all sorts of programs to our TV.
3) Angry Birds is addictive.
There are also a number of applications that the kids will probably enjoy including a constellation finding one that Callie and I use.
Our next leg is Edmonton to Kindersley to visit with my Aunt Rose.