Dave, Kari, Ralph and I lived in Edmonton from 1979 to 1987. We all have memories from those years and this trip Ralph and I decided to reminisce a bit.
We visited my cousins Jim and his friend Esther and Jon and Sharon. Memories galore!
Ralph and I always say it took two ministers to marry us! Well 46 years later we still like and love each other so it must have been a great start to our marriage. Beatrice, the widow of Herb one of the ministers, is always a pleasure to visit. At 90 she is still very sharp and loves company.
We lived in two different townhouse units in Mill Village. We were pleased to see that the complex has been well maintained.
Our next home was a geodesic dome. In the mid 80s we planted the Mountain Ash Tree in the front yard. Now it blocks much of the view of the house.
Subsequent owners have moved the front door from beside the driveway to the front of the house and redone the roof with grey shingles. Again it’s good to see the house being well maintained.
We went to K Days (formerly The Edmonton Exhibition, then Klondike Days). It is fun to watch people of all ages in the Petting Zoo.
We were so intrigued with the four horns on these animals we forgot to see whether they are sheep with goat horns OR goats with sheep horns.
We enjoyed an Aboriginal Pow Wow with all the colourful regalia and drums.
There were hundreds of participants.
At the Calgary Stampede and the PNE we have always enjoyed the “Superdogs” but the show was very similar each year. “Waterbark” has replaced the “Superdogs”. The show was outside with very limited seating.
Before the show started there were some antics with a rubber duck in the water and teasing the audience.
From ground level we could not see much of the dogs as they performed from the stage into the water. We could see some acrobatics but overall disappointing.
When West Edmonton Mall opened in 1981 it was the talk of the Mall World. We checked out the Wave Pool which was very unique at the time.
The Skating rink had a few people taking July skating lessons.
The Pirate Ship Santa Maria looked about the same as decades ago.
Europa Boulevard and Brbn Street did not look much like the real places we have seen since then.
West Ed has new attractions but the mall is so huge that we didn't explore further.
The North Saskatchewan River is still beautiful.
Our next stop was Wainwright where I grew up.
Some of our readers may remember the buffalo and the Bio Vista Motel beside it.
As in many small towns the train station is now a museum with some items on display outside.
The last house I lived in growing up has not changed much. Again the trees have grown tremendously since 1965 when we moved in.
We have no people to visit in town but we did stop at the cemetery and remember.
