East Bound – Edmonton

June 11,2019

It was time to leave Jasper and continue east.  We had planned to travel north toward Wood Buffalo National Park and then onto to Yellowknife. The active wildfires north of Grande Prairie and north had caused evacuations and road closures, which would affect us if we were in the area.  We decided not to tempt fate, so we made the decision not to turn left after Hinton and continue east to Edmonton and stop in to see my sister, Aukje and her husband Brendan. 

We packed up our campsite and left Jasper National Park. I have been in Jasper many times, however my impression of the park this time is quite different.  I got the impression that the National Parks are in a fiscal crisis, as there seems to be a general rundown in the condition of the roads, rough with pot holes, signage that require upkeep and painting, washrooms that are dirty and in need of cleaning, campsites that require grooming and upkeep.  There are lots of signs of human wear and tear on the trails and around points of interest. 

The drive to Edmonton was pleasant and I felt sad as I watched the mountains disappear in the rear view mirror.  We talked about our future adventures and places that we wanted to see and it gave us inspiration.  We are looking forward to new sights in this great land.

Just outside of Edson, we stopped at a rest stop to make lunch.   We had just arrived when right next to us a white Ford Explorer towing a white and blue Trillium trailer parked besides us.  We had a great discussion with the owners about the similarity of the trailers. Their 1976 Trillium was in beautiful condition and they were enjoying their trailer as much as we were ours.   

We arrived in Edmonton and to my sister’s home by 4:00 and it was great to see them again as we had not seen them in three years.  We had lots of catching up to do, and we were going to spend two nights and one day in order to do that.  We went out to a nearby pizzeria for supper and enjoyed a delicious pizza.