Fun Family Visits in Edmonton...

Monday's drive from the west coast to the city of Edmonton, Alberta, took 12 hours.  Jeanette and I left our home @ 5:15 am. Twelve hours later, we were at our son and daughter in law's home.  

The early morning sun rising over the mountains in the eastern Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

The weather was great. Sun and blue skies offered us an endless variety of beautiful scenics during the entire drive.  It's like an endless film reel of virtual reality.  This reel though is real.

The Thompson River - along Highway 5 - north of Kamloops, BC

Traffic was relatively light for a Monday drive through the Rockey Mountains.  It was a pleasant surprise.  

The Rocky Mountains are well covered in snow....but the melt is on!

Mount Robson in all of its glory.

As often as we have driven this route, these past 35 years, Mount Robson seldom offers complete clarity.  Its high peak is often shrouded in cloud.  Not this time though.   Bonus!

A wider view of Mount Robson as we entered the park on the Yellowhead Highway #16

Captured shortly after we entered Jasper National Park, in the Province of Alberta.

We chose to keep rolling, rather than stopping for a brief visit in the town of Jasper.  As much as we love to take a break in that pretty mountain resort town, our goal was to get to Deni and Coutrney's home  with enough time to cuddle and play with Owen before his bed time.  We succeeded on that front!

Part way through Jasper National Park

The rivers are beginning to swell with mountain runoff.  The snow is still prominent but the warm temperatures offered several roadside waterfalls.

One last view before leaving Jasper National Park

After leaving the park, we stopped into the town of Hinton, Alberta.  We topped off our fuel with cheaper Alberta gas, topped up our coffee mugs with some Tim Horton's coffee and continued west through forested foothills before entering the prairie farming areas west of the city of Edmonton.

From Groat Road and on to the Edmonton river valley.

With a population topping over 1 million, Edmonton is the Provincial Capital city and also serves as the gateway to Fort McMurray, Grand Prairie and other oil and gas fields to the far north.  It is a young city; age wise.  I read some time back that the average age of an Edmontonian was in the mid to high 30's.  Compare that to Vancouver, BC, where the average age is in the mid-50's. People in Edmonton clearly have money to spend and it is evident everywhere we go and everywhere we drive.   The oil and gas boom is evident.

The 'piece de résistence' was to have some quality visiting time with Owen before his bed time.

Owen never complained about being held, hugged and passed between Jeanette and I.  He rolled with it like a trooper.  

Deni, Jeanette and Owen

We were so caught up with Owen that no photos were taken with his mom, Courtney.  Why?  Well, shortly after our arrival, Courtney was running out the door to drive to a local lake for their first Dragon Boating rowing practice of the year. They normally row the North Saskatchewan River in the downtown core of Edmonton but the waters are raging from snow melt.  So...their teams practice on a local lake till the river waters calm for them to challenge it soon. 

So....with Courtney was driving off to the lake, we engaged Owen in all sort of playful activities.

Almost time for bedtime.....but Deni and I (Owen listening in too) got engaged in some topic....and that delayed bed time.  Good delaying tactic, say I.

We did convince Deni to take one last pre-bedtime photo before clearing the room and letting Owen have a good night's rest.

Saying good night to our cheerful little Owen.

Oh....but.....there must be a bed time story before bed time? Deni read Owen a story as his Nana looks in.

Once he was down, Owen slept till his first night time feeding, near midnight.

By midnight, we were all in bed - other than Courtney who was handling Owen's feeding time.  Tired from our early morning wake up call, our 12 hour drive and fun with our Edmonton family, we were quick for lights out and some much needed sleep.

Today (Tuesday) was also packed with activities and a visit with a special niece and her little family. I'll report on that and more in the next day or so.  We head out of Edmonton tomorrow (Wednesday) for points east and visits with Jeanette's mom, her siblings and my siblings too.

Thanks for dropping by.