Pat & Walter

Jason & Chrissy's Wedding

Pat's sister's (Cindy) oldest son, Jason, was getting married January 21st this year in Edmonton. We were graciously invited to attend so we decided to make a small vacation out of it. We booked a flight to Calgary with a return flight from Edmonton. The plan was to drive from Calgary to Lake Louise to do some snowboarding, and then drive to Edmonton.

We flew WestJet to Calgary. They have individual TVs in each headrest so it was actually an enjoyable flight. However, flying into Calgary looked bad for snowboarding. Everything was brown. Calgary had no snow.

We got our bags and tried to cram all our stuff (2 suitcases and 2 snowboard bags) into the "intermediate" rental car Avis had supplied us. A Chrysler PT Cruiser. That wasn't gonna happen. So after the attendant searched the lot for a car that might be big enough, he pointed us to a Sebring. With everything finally in the car, we headed for Banff.

Things started looking better in Banff. They actually had a bit of snow. And since we like wandering around Banff, we stopped by the Bow River Falls (which were covered in ice), and had a fancy coffee at the main street StarBucks.

Once we got close to Lake Louise, things were really looking better. There was a lot of snow. Everything looked great covered in a thick blanket of the fluffy white stuff. After a quick buzz by the Chateau Lake Louise, we arrived at our hotel.

When we booked the trip, Pat was quite concerned about my choice in hotels. I found a very good price on the hotel and Pat was worried that I might have cheaped out too much. Actually, the hotel was great. It was a small place just a stones throw from the Chateau called the Deer Lodge. Very (!) small rooms with no TV, but everything else was great. Good food, great atmosphere, strong showers, and down pillows and douvets. They had a pool table in the basement and satellite TV. So we were able to watch our Toronto Maple Leafs lose even when we were on vacation!

After a great evening meal, about 12 hours of sleep, and an awesome breakfast, we were ready to do some snowboarding. Remember that this would be Pat's first time snowboarding since "the accident". Plus she had a whole new set of equipment. The first run started a bit shakey. I mistakenly took Pat down part of a black diamond run, and her board was not quite setup to her liking. But after adjusting her bindings, we road the rest of the day with no problems. We made sure to call it a day well before either of us were tired!

The next day we packed up the car and headed for Edmonton. Once we started heading East, the roads cleared up and the snow disappeared. So we put the pedal down and made it to Edmonton in about 5 hours.

Once in Edmonton we met up with the rest of Pat's family and started helping out with the wedding preparations. The wedding was held in a carriage house (barn) inside Fort Edmonton Park. The carriage house was called Egge's Barn. It was a nice quaint place to hold a wedding and reception. Although the washrooms were in a separate building, which would make for some cold trips in the middle of January in Edmonton.

The wedding was standing room only and went off without any real hitches. The only real issue was the chairs used for the wedding had to be moved upstairs for the reception. But we formed a human chain up the stairs and the chairs made their way upstairs very quickly. Good food and lots of dancing to "western" music. Rumours are that I even did the chicken dance although I wouldn't admit to that. Next day was for opening wedding presents. Some unique gifts including bundles of board games, and some hermit crabs!

The last day we spent at the West Edmonton Mall. Although they don't call it the largest mall in the world anymore, there is still plenty to do. Full size ice rink in the centre, huge water park including wave pool and slides, and a theatre that houses a dragon that shoots flames every 20 minutes. Lots of fun.

No trouble flying back to Toronto. Was a fun trip overall!

-Walter