Regina, Saskatchewan to Edmonton, Alberta

782 kms, 11 hours

It’s 9:42pm New Years Eve, I’ve had a couple paper motel cups of sparkling wine and will be turning in soon. It’s not the flashiest New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had but maybe the most meaningful. Tomorrow is a new year and really are starting fresh.

The drive today was fairly uneventful but when we arrived in Edmonton we met with an old family friend, Randy McDonald, who lives in Edmonton and was kind enough to treat us to dinner at the West Edmonton Mall. It was a quick visit but nice to connect with someone we know. We learned you can buy alcohol at a number of different liquor stores (because we’re in “the west” now), Randy doesn’t like sushi and he is great with kids, volunteering to chase after our freedom-drunk child. Also, he reads this blog so I can only say nice things although I can’t imagine anyone saying anything bad about Randy.

We spent the evening sipping the afore mentioned sparkling wine, eating Christmas chocolate and watching the National Geographic channel which was particularly relevant tonight. First we watched a show about tow truck drivers in mountain snow (we may need one of those soon) and then a show about Canadian Border Security (which made me realize we shouldn’t worry so much since we are never crossing the border with weapons, drugs or illegal intentions.) Reality TV is a favourite hotel indulgence for us.

Happy New Years everyone, if you are reading this tonight I’m guessing your New Years is about as exciting as ours is and I salut you.