Day 30 - Wednesday, October 16

Sadly, all good things must end and it's time for us to leave Alberta. The Hampton Inn and Suites may have other thoughts...you see, I had a bit of an issue with the desk chairs, yes chairs, not one but three. The first one was so loose I felt my using it would end in a trip to the hospital. We called and they replaced it. The replacement was so tight that the next day I leaned back and it exploded; screws and washers all over the place. Called again and the same good-natured maintenance man found me another one. This one was somewhere between the first two but was making loud noises any time I moved at all. I decided it was best to say nothing and bear with it. We left with the chair and me intact.  😂

The whole return flight process was seamless and almost enjoyable. For once our boarding gate was only half way down the long line of options and surprisingly was not changed. It was raining when we left Edmonton right on time. Rain, what's that? It cleared as we progressed. We flew over the Soo as the sun reached that golden hour that photographers love so much, so I had to participate.

Landing was the standard over the warehouses of Mississauga. However, just before that we got a nice view of the Absolute Towers, a Mississauga landmark.

We landed 20 minutes early, just under a 4 hour flight time. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the jetway to be put in place but the bottom line is our luggage was actually there on the carousel whet we got to baggage claim. That never happens in Toronto.

Our ride home was a fitting end to our trip (except for the horrendous traffic). As the moon rose...

...the sun set.     We arrived home around 7:30 in time to scrounge up some dinner and watch TV to pass the two extra hours away we had so we wouldn't go to bed at 8:30.

Even if you have not visited Alberta you probably know there are mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and Albertans are very proud of that feature. Those who hail from and live in British Columbia share the same pride for the same reason. Canada's Rocky Mountains are the essence of majestic – there's no denying that. 

This was our fifth visit to Alberta so we deliberately stayed away from the Banff/Jasper corridor. We did pass through Jasper but did not spend any appreciable time there. Had we done so it would have been too sad. We saw first hand the devastation suffered and how they were struggling to rebuild after the summer wildfires. I was particularly moved by the sight of a lone elk at the roadside rummaging through the ashes that were once trees and grasslands desperately looking for something to graze upon.

It's just as well we made that decision. Some of the spectacular highlights along the route no longer allow you to drive to the location. You have to leave your car in a central parking area and take a shuttle to the site/sight. I know that's better for the environment (not appreciably so unless they are using electric buses and shuttles) but in my mind it just accentuates the crowds bringing more things I hate to the table. The sign I saw in the hotel in the ghost town of Wayne near Drumheller best exemplified my feelings...I used to be a people person but people ruined that for me.

This trip was to concentrate on areas we had not previously see. That took us on a 5000+ kilometre road trip that was simply amazing. I knew there were prairie lands in Alberta but had no idea there was so much of it or so many areas that indeed looked just like Saskatchewan. Another oddity (due to my sheer ignorance of such things) was the existence of far more natural gas fields and plants than oil. The almost total lack of wildlife sightings did not surprise me – that's standard fare on a Whitehead road trip.

We had phenomenal weather almost every day. The predominant colour was most certainly blue in the clear or only slightly cloudy skies. Having said that, the beautiful fall colour, primarily yellow in this province, competed with the sky for top honours. I don't see how this trip could have been better.

Once again, we thank you all so very much for tagging along. In a lot of ways it made us feel like you were with us. Stay well and keep smiling. I'm sure we'll do this again soon.  

😎