43.   Three AM came early on Thursday, well for me it was late since I'm a night owl and I opted to just stay up all night. Sandra and I headed to St. John's International this morning for our 5am flight to Edmonton where we would be meeting up with our partners in crime - my brother Steve & his wife Kailee for 8 days of adventures!

42.   Including a quick stopover in Montreal we arrived 8 or 9 hours later at 10:30am local time.

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40.   It's a 45 minute run from the Airport to downtown but I found driving in Edmonton surprisingly decent, even with heavy traffic. Steve and Kailee have their new Toyota 4Runner with them while Sandra found us a smoking deal on a Toyota Corolla rental for the week.

39.   Steve and Kailee are staying at Valour House during their time in Edmonton which is a fantastic facility serving military, RCMP and first responders. It features 12 individual very well appointed suites, beautiful common areas, and a full commercial kitchen for all patrons to use.

38.   Kick ass feed of Chicken Nachos!

37.   Friday evening Steve and Kailee had prior obligations and Sandra wanted to check out a local bingo hall. I found one on Fort Road which was conveniently just down the road from Cabela's and a huge brand new Canadian Tire! Needless to say I had no trouble passing time while waiting to pick her up later.

36.   Saturday evening happened to be my 40th (gulp) birthday so the four of us celebrated by grabbing supper at Moxie's near the Kingsway mall. Our meals were fantastic, I tried the Steak and an amazing soup while everyone else enjoyed ribs.

35.   After dinner Steve and Kailee had another surprise in store, an evening at an Escape Room! It was an awesome experience, none of us had been to one before so it was new and very exciting! This location had a wizard theme and was rated 4 out of 5 in difficulty, which presented a challenge to us newbie's.

34.   However after a couple of hints from the gamekeeper in the first room we understood how the clues worked and made a lot of progress though the dungeons getting all the way to the 3rd and final room. The puzzles were very intricate involving multiple steps and a lot of creative thinking. The puzzles provided clues which are then entered into combination padlocks which would usually reveal the next puzzle or an important clue. The game would have you unlock many different padlocks to eventually escape each room. Some padlocks used digits, while others used words, colours, directions and occasionally a key. It was a lot of fun, we timed out very close to the finish but can't wait to try another location. We would highly recommend an Escape Room as a fun night out.

33.   After the Escape Room we toured around Old Strathcona grabbing a coffee and checking out a cool old bookstore.

32.   The bookstore even had its own in house guard kitty!

31.   Sunday Sandra and I prepared a full on cooked dinner complete with Salt Beef & Peas Pudding which we brought from home to go with chicken and fresh vegetables purchased locally.

30.   The kitchen in Valour Place is absolutely beautiful and opens to a beautiful sitting area with couches & a TV. There is another beautiful big living room and a large dining room directly across the hall.

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27.   Everyone said (as usual) there was no way I was eating everything on my plate and I once again proved them wrong! It was a truly awesome meal, Sandra did an amazing job once again!

26.  On Monday while the girls were hanging out Steve and I headed out to the West Edmonton Mall to pick up a few things. I desperately needed new jeans so we took advantage of the Labour Day weekend sales and hit the shops!

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22.   Later that evening Sandra checked out another local Bingo hall and really enjoyed the different style of games they have in Edmonton!

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20.   On Tuesday we all decided to hit up the new Outlet Mall which is way out near the Airport. Steve and Kailee had a couple things to take care of in the morning, so Sandra and I headed out early stopping first at the South Commons shopping area. Sandra snagged a couple great sales at the Tommy Store and we also made our first trip to IKEA! It's an awesome store, we managed to see most but definitely not all before Steve called to say they were on the road.

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17.   The Premium Outlet Collection in Edmonton is a new indoor mall located right next to the Edmonton International Airport. Although not fully leased there were still lots of stores to choose from. Some stores like the Under Armour Outlet were disappointing as the prices were not cheap and selection very slim, but I did find a smoking deal on a new fall jacket at the Columbia Outlet.

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15.   Mountain Warehouse is a great store if your looking at getting into camping, particularly if you want to try camping without dumping a ton of money on premium quality products. It's a great place to pick up some fantastically priced equipment which you can later upgrade if you enjoy the sport.

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13.   One thing I love about Alberta is the abundance of reasonably priced epic Beef, and the fact that they have them cut nice and thick right on the store shelves!

12.  On Wednesday Steve and Kailee were tied up so Sandra and I headed to the West Edmonton Mall, it was Sandra's first time there. When I'm driving I always take a pic of the entrance I use to make exiting the mall much easier later especially if I were to forget which door we came in through LoL

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9.   After the mall we headed to Manning Town Centre where we checked out Cabala's, a few other shops, but most importantly grabbed supper at Five Guys Burgers. As usual it was absolutely fantastic, I had an amazing uncomplicated cheeseburger, fresh home cut fries, and a bottomless drink.

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7.   After supper I joined Sandra for her last night of Edmonton Bingo at the Fort Road Bingo hall. It's a nice (large) facility with full service hot canteen, electronic bingo machines and the option to also play old fashioned paper cards.

6.  As out-of-towners we were even treated to a small gift from the hall!

5.   Although we didn't have much luck with the bingo games (hitched all night) I excitedly pulled open the top $250 prize on the Nevada's, so we did alright for the evening!

4.   Quick midnight snack after a long day of activities! Salad, and leftover burger and sausages! Steve said it was a meal, but it was midnight so it's a snack! LoL

3.   On Thursday we all did some touring around town stopping at a new Cinnaholic location to try their gourmet cinnamon buns! I have to say it was pretty awesome!

2.   Friday came all to soon and we had to say goodbye to our partners in crime and head to the airport to catch our 1pm flight home. We did manage one stop along the way in Leduc to pick up a bag of the honest-to-god best Beef Jerky known to man!!! If you're ever anywhere near Edmonton, this place is absolutely worth a visit.

1.   A week sounds like a long time until we get to spend it with our absolute best friends. Although distance keeps us from seeing them often we truly enjoy these adventures with Steve and Kailee, and we cant wait until the next one!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith