The day started at 8:30 am with 57,465 miles on the odometer. I've had my doubts about whether I could stay on the road and living miserably, but happily, for this long- 18 days so far.
It's a windy cool night in nothern Alberta as I tried to make campfire. Almost 11:00 pm Alberta time, and there's a light blue faint glow over the sky.
I'm sitting in my truck alone here at Condy Meadows Golf and Recreation Park in Hookton, Alberta. When I drove up, the guy who runs this place was leaving, and said it was okay for me to camp out tonight. It's too windy, and the night will become sub-zero; therefore, I may as well sleep in the Rodeo and not set up the tent. I even got to set up at one of the sites with electricity. When I asked the man how much it cost to camp, he didn't answer, and asked if I was from Texas. I confirmed, and he said it was okay to camp here. (He sported a goatee and was wearing glasses and a cap. He drove a blue Chevrolet truck and had a husky in the bed.)
Last night the temperature did drop below 0 degrees Celcius at the campsite in Athabasca; I had to jump into the Rodeo to spend the rest of the night. The sleeping bag wasn't made for the low temperature.
In the morning, I decided to head off to Edmonton, about 100 miles south of Athabasca. Once in Edmonton, I stopped by the park near downtown and hiked for a couple of hours. It was a pleasant surprise to stop at the pleasant park because I hadn't intended on it- I had a small bag of garbage I had to throw away.
Then I headed over to West Edmonton Mall off Mayfair Street. It's reputedly the biggest mall in the world, but sure didn't seem like it. Over a week ago, I visited the Mall of Americas in Minnesota, and it was about the same size. West Edmonton Mall did have a theme park, ice skating rink, ship park, as well as a small beach inside of it. In terms of area, it didn't seem like the largest. There was an ad somewhere which stated that West Edmonton Mall had over 800 shops.
Basically, after spending 4 hours in Edmonton, it was off northwest towards the Northwest Territories, Canada. After 400 miles of driving, I arrived at this resort.
I did stop momentarily at a campsite in Ducanville, and it was a nice campsite. There was one other camper there, but something inside me told me to fly from the town of mobile homes. I'm not sure whether it's scarier to camp alone or have one other camper...I start thinking bad thoughts about who the camper may be. But I have something good to say about the campsite: It was inexpensive at $5 Canadian/night and had clean restrooms with coin operated showers. Also, firewood was freely available whether camping or not. I just wished there were a few other campers there, then I would have had no doubts about staying.