On Friday February 16, 2018 I flew to the Edmonton airport from Regina, by myself, to stay with some friends, Lori and Ray, for 10 days. Lori picked me up at the airport with one of her granddaughter’s, MacKenzie. After Lori picked me up, we drove to her daughter-in-law, Meagan’s place of employment which is part of the airport, but where the celebrities fly into. While we were there one of Meagan’s co-workers offered to take us into the back to see some private planes and helicopters.

Here is MacKenzie and I beside one of the planes that we saw.

After leaving, Lori, MacKenzie and I went for breakfast at IHOP. It was my first time at an IHOP. MacKenzie and I coloured a picture together.

We then walked over to Toys R Us and bought some shopkins for Lori’s day-home. We then drove to Leduc where Lori lives and I got to meet the rest of her day-home kids as well as her other granddaughter, Riley. After a few hours we went to the Doctor Woods House Museum in Leduc. Lori and I were the only ones there so we got a private tour. There were only two original items that belonged to Doctor Wood. One was the lamp on the piano, and the other was the sewing machine in the kitchen.

Here is Lori and I at the Dr. Woods House Museum.

We then drove over to the Leduc Grain Elevator, and we were able to get a tour of the grain elevator. Before I came to Edmonton I had looked into the Grain Elevator Tour and it was not available in the winter, but the lady from the Dr. Woods House Museum said to go and see, so we did, and one of the ladies that was there said that we could have a tour of the grain elevator.

These seeds in the white buckets will be weighed.

The seeds go through here.

Past this point is where the farmer’s sorted seeds are kept.

The ladies are hoping to making this more available to the public.

Lori then showed me the house that her and Ray first lived in when they got married. She then showed me downtown Leduc, and showed me a corner called “Confusion Corner” and showed me her favourite store as well. We then drove to Edmonton and on the way we stopped to get a picture of the Flaman Man who was wearing an Oil Kings Jersey.

They dress him for the time of year. At Christmas he wears a Santa suit.

We drove to downtown Edmonton and parked underground. Our first stop was the Lee Pavilion at the Citadel Theatre.

This is a waterfall and the water would come from the picture with the boat in it.

We then went to Winston Churchill Square only to find out it was closed for LRT construction for at least 1-2 years. Lori then pointed where the Winspear Centre was, which is where concerts are held. Lori then showed me Hotel Macdonald where the Royal Family will stay when they visit and we also inquired about high tea. We then walked over to the Funicular. It is basically an elevator on a hill. It is made completely out of glass and you can see the River Valley. We went down and then back up and then down again because we discovered there was a walkway with a lookout. From the lookout you could see the Edmonton Queen River Boat on the North Saskatchewan River.

Once you go through those doors you will be on the Funicular

The view from the Funicular. The walkway is to the left where the rectangular lights are.

We then crossed the street to go to the U of A for the “Emerging Artist Concert” There were performers from University’s all over Edmonton.

This is what the stage looked like for the first half of the concert.

After the concert we drove over the Edmonton High Level Bridge, and the lights were on, and the Edmonton Street Car travels on the top of the bridge in the summer. When we got back to Lori’s house Lori showed me some pictures.

On Saturday February 17, 2018, Lori, Ray and I went to the Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market. At one of the booths there were some pictures of Edmonton and so I got the see more Edmonton history through those photographs.

I think we are sampling a waffle.

We then drove on Whyte Avenue. In the summer there is a twins and triplets parade on that street. We then went to Flirt Cupcakes and I bought a cupcake. It has the best rating in Edmonton. We then walked past Cally’s Tea’s, and went inside but decided not to have anything and left, as we were walking back to the car we walked past a Cat Café. We then drove to Little Brick, which is where Lori and Ray’s daughter, Ashley had her wedding reception in 2016. We then drove to the Flat Iron Building. The building is very old.

Lori also pointed out the Shaw Conference Centre that is built into the side of Grierson Hill. We then drove down Jasper Avenue. Lori pointed out the General Hospital which is where she was born. We then drove past St. Joseph’s Basilica which is where Janet and Wayne Gretzky got married. Jasper Avenue turns into 124th Street. Lori lived in that area until she was 10. On 124th Street there is a place called Duchess Bake Shop but the line was over an hour long so we did not stop there. We then drove past the home that Lori lived in until she was 10. We drove past the Brick Warehouse which is now called The Brick, and The Brick began in Edmonton. We then went to Donut Party which is a place Ashley recommended for us to go. The donuts were huge and the line was very long.

Ray and I with the box of donuts.

We then went to Giovanni Music and Fine Art Gallery. Lori and Ray had purchased a piano a long time ago from there for Ashley. I bought some piano books, and Lori bought a drum for her day-home. Next we went to the biggest cowboy boot in the world.

Another boot close by.

The next place we went was West Edmonton Mall. First I got a pressed coin. Then Lori and I went into a photo booth. We then went into the store Build A Bear and from there we spotted a photo wall.

We then walked past the HMV stage area that I had played on during a grade 10 band trip. Lori was telling me about a dragon that was in the mall, and part of it was there, and there was an employee that told us more about it. The next thing we did was glow in the dark mini-golfing.

After mini-golfing Lori and I went to the aquarium in the mall. It is new since the submarine has been removed.

Penguins

A big turtle.

Earlier in the day Lori had mentioned to me that she wanted me to see the menu at Crepe Works.

Here is the menu board.

Lori had also been telling me about a whale that was in the mall and as we were leaving we saw the whale.

Jonah 1:17

For supper we went to the Chessecake Café and found out it was closing on Monday. For dessert we bought some cheesecake and had it boxed up. Lori showed me some more pictures.

On Sunday February 18, 2018 we went to Lori and Ray’s home church, Eaglemont Christian Church in Beaumont. I meet some of Lori and Ray’s friends, Fran and Glen, their lead Pastor and a few other people as well. After church Lori and I went to Long and McQuade while Ray got gas. I also bought some piano books from there as well. For lunch we went to Red Robin and I think a few booths away there was a huge Rubik’s Cube. After lunch we drove past the “Joey” mural on the side building. He was very important to the Edmonton Oilers. We then went to the Muttart Conservatory. There was a tropical, arid, temperate and season pyramids that we could see. We were able to get tours of the tropical, arid, and temperate pyramid. The seasonal section was decorated for Chinese New Year.

At the Muttart Conservatory.

Next we saw the largest aluminum baseball bat in the world.

We then drove past the new Roger’s Place Arena, the Stollery Children’s Hospital, and the University Area. We drove to the Alberta Legislature. The building was closed that day so we could not go inside.

After seeing the Legislature we drove across the newest bridge in Edmonton. Lori was telling me beside it is a building that has really big stacks on it and a man wants to make the building look like the Titanic. But doesn’t know if that will happen for sure.

The newest bridge in Edmonton.

We drove across the High Level Bridge again and this time it was lit up with blue lights. Ashley had mentioned to us that we should go to The End of The World. We couldn’t go to the very edge because it was too icy.

At the End of The World. You have to go past the red pole to see more.

After the End of The World we went to Talus Dome.

Lori and Ray then took me to a place on a hill where a number of houses fell down the embankment a few years ago. We also drove past some footbridges, one of the Footbridge was the Fort Edmonton Footbridge. but we decided it was too cold to go for a walk on them. We went back to Lori and Ray’s house and watched a movie called Me Again.

On Monday February 19, 2018 it was a holiday, so Lori didn’t have to work but MacKenzie and Riley still came over. Justin, Lori and Ray’s son came over later in the morning. It was nice to meet him. On Saturday Lori had received a message on Facebook if she could pick someone up from the airport and if they could sleep at her house. Lori picked up Emma from the airport around Midnight on Monday. Emma had been on a missions trip to New York, and she is the same age as me. I loved meeting her! Lori, Ray, Emma, and I played some games. We played Anomia, Apples to Apples, and the Train Game. Emma’s brother TJ came to pick her up around supper and had supper with us and then left to go home. After supper Lori, MacKenzie and I went swimming. We then drove MacKenzie home and I got to see Justin’s car and his two dogs, Gunner and Shelby, and one of the dogs just had 10 puppies a few weeks ago. After leaving Justin and Meagan’s house Lori showed me the church where she and Ray gave their hearts too Jesus. We went back to Lori’s house and watched some TV. We watched Olympic curling and skating. We ate the cheesecake we had bought at The Cheesecake Café. We also looked through some pictures and we found a picture of when Emma, and two of her brothers were babies. (She is a triplet), I thought that was cool that we found that picture.

On Tuesday February 20, 2018 in the evening we watch a movie called Letters To God.

On Wednesday February 21, 2018 in the evening we went to Sherwood Park to Lori’s friend, Linda’s church, to do a craft. We painted glass and then waited for it to dry and then we wrote lies we tell ourselves on it, and then the lady demonstrating tried to break the glass with a hammer but it wouldn’t brake so then she put the glass on top of a bible and then when she tried breaking it with the hammer it broke, and then from the broken pieces we made a cross out of it. I also met Lori’s friend Carol.

Mine and Lori’s glass painting. We forgot to take a picture together of the finished product of the cross.

On Thursday February 22, 2018 in the evening Lori and I went to the Ice Castles. They were amazing!! It is 250,000,000 pounds, and it is the only one in Canada. There was even a controlled fire in the middle. While we were there Lori commented that if parents had young kids, and were dressed for the weather you could easily spend a few hours there. We spent about 45 minutes there. It is located in Hawrelak Park.

Before entering.

Just about to go in.

There were 3 slides you could go down. I only went down one. There was a much larger one than this, and another just for kids.

The huge slide you could go down.

On Friday February 23, 2018 in the evening we went to Pizza Hut for supper and saw the sunset. We then went to Lori and Ray’s friends, Fran and Glen’s house to play games.

On Saturday February 24, 2018 we started the day off with going to the Telus World of Science. There was an exhibit called POPnology and it had the car, the DeLorean, that they filmed with from the movie back to the future.

There was also a Terry Fox exhibit.

Here is a picture of the van Terry Fox travelled in.

After the Telus World of Science we went to Southgate Mall, and I bought some Kernels popcorn. For supper we were planning to go to the downtown location of The Old Spaghetti Factory, but there was a game at Roger’s Place Arena and there was no parking so we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory at West Edmonton Mall instead.

On Sunday February 25, 2018 in the morning I left to go home.

Me waving goodbye.