Biggest Mall of All

OK, let's back up to Edmonton, Alberta, our first stop in Canada. Scot was going to be there on business about the same time, so we timed it so we could meet him there. In case we got there early, he said the world's largest mall is there. Well, that was enough encouragement to get us there plenty early! I should say "I" rather than "we" since Ian had no desire to see the world's biggest mall. I'll never understand him! So, I warned him the night before that I would be gone many hours, so don't be looking for me at 2:00 in the afternoon. Somehow, he didn't seem too bothered by that; and in fact, he said he'd put his free time to good use, watching "Deadwood" on the DVDs that our god-daughter gave us in Omaha. (Now, really, weigh Deadwood in one hand and the world's largest mall in the other - who wins? Shouldn't even be a question.)

Anyway, I set out about 9:30 and found my way to the mall with no problem. Isn't it funny, the first place I found was a very unique bakery. The windows displayed exquisite wedding cakes of all sizes, shapes, colors, and toppers ranging from the traditional wedding couples to spraklers. Inside, it was cafeteria style, with individual pieces of cakes, pies, cookies, all kinds of goodies, wrapped and set out on trays. After getting your empty tray at the start of the line, you pile on all you want, pay at the end, and sit outside the store, watching the other shoppers envy your table as they pass by. Now, some of the desserts were so special, that they were behind the glass and the cashier had to get it for you, like my very yummy mango-berry cheesecake. I've never thought of tht combination, but believe me, it's a good one. Even Cheesecake Factory hasn't come up with that one yet.

Leaving the bakery behind, I started my exploration of this wonderland. Store after store after store after store. The mall seemed to be made up of arms reaching in all directions from the center circle. Each arm was in a different decor, such as New Orleans or Italian, featuring restaurants and store fronts from those areas. To be honest, the stores at the mall didn't impress me much, as they're pretty much the same all over. But, my first "wow" moment came when I happened upon the ice skating rink right in the middle of the whole mall. Oh, what a surprise! It happened to be the time set aside for seniors, so I watched from above as elderly people of all ages glided both forward and backward, old couples skating in tandem, arms entwined, chatting in their own little world. One older lady actually was doing twirls and another one was skating so fast I couldn't imagine her daring. As I watched these seniors having such a gentle, romantic, energizing time to themselves, I envied their lack of self-consciousness and wondered at what a wonderful means of low impact exercise is offered the seniors of Edmonton.

I saw an IMAX theater and thought what fun it would be to watch a movie there. Unfortunately, they were only showing a rock & roll film, and after watching the iceskating, I was so relaxed that I didn't want to spoil my mood, so opted out of the IMAX. Good thing, as I strolled away, I saw that a sea lion show was getting read to start. I sat on a bench overlooking the small pool and watched as the two female trainers ran a couple sea lions through their routine. I learned these particular sea lions were from Scotland! The show rivaled any I've seen , so I was impressed once again - who'd have thought that Sea World had come to a mall in Edmonton, Canada?

When I thought there couldn't possibly be any more to this mall, I happened upon the beach!! Now, I'm a beach person, so I was enthralled. Oh, how I wish I'd brought my bathing suit! The place was huge, had sand (or cement made to look like sand), beach chairs, palm trees, waves in the water that started out shallow and gradually got deep, just like the ocean. There were families riding the waves and just having a great time pretending they were somewhere a couple thousand miles south. I imagined what it must be like in December when there are three feet of snow outside, temperatures hovering around zero, to be able to go to Florida without ever buying an airline ticket.

The Edmonton mall is a secret - it's a treasure just north of our border. I've heard we have something similar in Minnesota, but who in the world wants to go to Minnesota? I think we should start a movement in the U.S. to make it madatory to have a mall in every state that provides options other than shopping. What a wonderful thing!

Well, the next day we spent getting ready for Scot and his sales rep from Seattle joining us for dinner. I made Scot's favorite cake, German Chocolate from scratch, thawed the steaks, made the salad dressing and got the taters ready. It was so surreal, but so wonderful to see him in a place we'd never been before. We had a great evening talking travel and old times. The next morning Scot returned to have breakfast with us before going to his sales meeting. After he left we did our routine for hitting the road, and got on our way, still heading north.

More next time! (Today Ian went back to Whitehorse to get the new hitch installed. Hopefully, he won't have any problems getting that done. I spoke with State Farm today, and of course our insurance doesn't cover the hitch since it wasn't caused by an accident. I told the woman, it WAS the accident, but that doesn't count. Sometimes I really wonder why we pay vehicle insurance! Ian should be back this evening, and then we'll be on our way in the morning again. As the other RVs have been pulling out the last couple mornings, we've felt like we were being left behind, out of the parade. It's time we catch up!