Canada/West 2022:
Day 14 - Edmonton

	Tuesday, August 23, 2022: We were out of the hotel and at McDonald's for breakfast by 7:45 AM, ...
	... once again passing Canada Olympic Park, which held the men's ski jumping, bobsled, and luge events for the 1988 Winter Olympics.
	Shortly after breakfast, a truck threw a large rock into our windshield, leading to a small bullseye chip. Debbie immediately starting looking for windshield glass repair places, and found several within a few miles of where we were. We settled on Mr. Windshield, which was primarily a mobile repair service, but the technician told us to pull into their service bay and they'd take care of it.
	He told us we could wait in our car while the repair was completed, so we were able to watch the entire process, which was fascinating.
	We watched as he drilled out the chip, added resin, and cured it. Within 20 minutes of pulling up, we were back on the road with the chip fully repaired. The price of $20 CAD was a bargain.
	We left Calgary behind us, as we headed north toward Edmonton on Highway 2, also known as the Queen Elizabeth II Highway.
	We stopped at the Wetaskiwin rest center about half-way between Red Deer and Edmonton. This double-trailer semi had a McDonald's wrap advertising Canadian grown potatoes. We'd had them as both French fries and as part of poutine, and we were fans.
	We reached the outskirts of Edmonton around 11:15 AM.
	We laughed as we drove by this kiosk in a shopping center parking lot. Apparently windshield chips happen a lot in Canada.
	Our first stop of the day was at Cabela's. We were here to buy seam seal to repair our leaking tent, which is the smallest thing in Debbie's armload of loot. We had never visited a Cabela's before, and we were helpless to resist their duffel bags and freeze-dried food selection.
	We left with Grilled Chicken Quattro Formaggi Pasta, Spicy Sausage Pasta, Sweet and Sour Pork, Pasta with Cilantro Lime Rice, and Grilled Chicken and Mushroom Rice Pasta, ...
	... as well as two utility bags, a two pound hammer, an extra large duffel bag, a tarp, and the seam seal that we originally came for.
	Some of the reasons that we came to Edmonton were the nicer weather, the Cabela's, ...
	... and the fact that they had LEGO stores. Our first stop was the LEGO store at Southgate Mall.
	This castle set was displayed in the front window, and we both admired the roof tiles made to look like thatch, as well as the curvy pieces that topped the battlements.
	Tom, of course, had to covet the space-themed sets, ...
	... while Debbie headed straight to the Pick & Build wall.
	Debbie spent time at each store looking through their Build-A-Minifigure parts, hoping to find something unique or interesting.
	We left with one well-packed large LEGO cup and a custom B-A-M pack which contained one fully assembled minifig, and two slots with the allowed number of pieces. Debbie had chosen two brick-costume minifig torsos, and the legs she had selected did not fit with the torsos.
	Debbie saw these cool stocking feet statues as we left the mall.
	It was past lunchtime when we stopped at a nearby McDonald's. This magpie was hanging out in the drive-thru line, ...
	... and we noticed this giant inflatable cup on the roof of the Tim Hortons next door. We might have been tempted by a giant inflatable French fry container, or better yet, poutine, but not a giant coffee cup. Sorry. Wrong target audience.
	Debbie got a Quarter Pounder BLT, which we had never seen before, Tom got a six piece McNuggets with barbeque sauce, and we got poutine, of course. We were keeping our vow to have poutine every day while we were in Canada.
	We could see the Edmonton skyline in the distance, ...
	... and admired their random shiny sculptures on the side of the highway.
	We arrived at our next stop: the West Edmonton Mall. Surely you know why we are here.
	That's right! A LEGO store, and our second LEGO store on the same day.
	Check out the giant pirate at the entrance!
	He's holding the classic LEGO treasure map tile! Nicely done.
	The Pick & Build wall here was huge, ...
	... but Debbie was up to the challenge.
	Check out this display. It would be awesome if you could buy these gigantic displays as sets, wouldn't it?
	This store did not have a Build a Minifigure stand. Instead, they had a Minifigure Factory, which allows you to customize a minifig torso, and then build the rest of the minifig with the parts they have.
	They had the Titanic set on display, which showed the interior details, which was really cool.
	We left the LEGO store and walked through the mall back to our van. The mall was huge, with a river inside the mall, and a pirate ship on the river. Cool!
	The Pick & Build wall was so mighty that Debbie had to fill two cups.
	No, that's not paratroopers invading Edmonton, that's a close up of the windnshield chip we had professionally repaired at a big name glass company in Amarillo last year. It was starting to get bigger and after seeing how simple the process was, Debbie looked for do-it-yourself kits available at auto parts stores, ...
	... and we made a quick detour to get our own self-repair kit at a nearby NAPA Auto Parts store. When we got home, we used it on the chip to help prevent it from getting worse.
	As we headed south and west toward Lake Louise, we stopped at a Tim Hortons ...
	... for more of their delicious chocolate croissants. At this point, we were considering it research as Tom was determined that he would learn how to make these himself.
	As we got nearer to the mountains, we could see the outliers of the storm cell that had been in the Banff area all day.
	We passed a pack of what appeared to be wild horses on the side of the road. They were beautiful, and weren't bothered by the passing cars at all.
	The drive southwest on Highway 11 from Rocky Mountain House toward the mountains was beautiful, with gorgeous blue lakes like Lake Abraham.
	The low clouds seemed to emphasize the height of the surrounding mountains.
	It was stunningly beautiful.
	We crossed the Cline River ...
	... and continued south further inland from the lake,
	... taking in the wonderful scenery, including this perfect rainbow.
	The rainbow persisted as we took in the views of Stan Waters Peak (left) and Rhine Peak (right).
	Along the road were fields of wild flowers and clover.
	As we neared the mountains, the clouds broke and we saw clear sky and the sun.
	To the north side of the road was a field filled with dead trees, interspersed with new tree growth.
	Off in the distance, we could see a glacier high up in the mountains.
	We re-entered Banff National Park as we reached the end of Highway 11.
	We turned south on Highway 93, also known as the Icefields Parkway. We crossed over the North Saskatchewan River, ...
	... and immediately saw how the road got its name. There were three glaciers in a row. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
	This glacier is on Mt. Sarbach, ...
	... this one is on Epaulette Mountain, ...
	... and this one is on White Pyramid.
	We took a quick drive around Silverhorn Creek Campground to see their red chairs. They were set up to view Silverhorn Mountain, of course.
	On the way out of the campground, we saw this Escape campervan.
	Further south, we passed the beautiful Bow Lake, ...
	... and continued to be amazed by the mountain views with their cool rock layers.
	As we arrived in the Lake Louise area, we saw our first sign saying that parking at the lake was limited.
	A little after 8:00 PM, we arrived at the campground and entered the very long queue to check in.
	We passed the time by eating our dinner: Old Dutch Ridgies potato chips and Jack Link's Bacon Jerky.
	When we reached the head of the line, we were informed that the fire ban had been lifted due to the recent heavy rains. We proceeded toward our campsite, crossing the bridge on the Bow River, ...
	... and through the electrified fence surrounding the soft-sided campground. There are so many bears in the area that they have to take extra precautions for people who aren't in RVs or trailers. We had seen a small black bear near the road as we approached the Lake Louise area so we appreciated the security.
	Check out the tent on top of this Escape campervan.
	We parked the van at our campsite, and headed toward the bathrooms. This is not the bathroom, ...
	... this is a sheltered community room with picnic tables and a stove.
	With the tent having leaked the previous night, and supplies to fix the leak purchased but not yet applied to the tent, we decided to spend the night sleeping in the van.
	We had configured the van specifically for this eventuality, assuming that it would be cold temperatures and not rain that would make it necessary. We put in the window shades, set up our sleeping areas, talked about the day and played on our phones until we were good and sleepy, and then went to bed. Day 15 >