Day 7 started us in Lake Charlie, BC and led us through our second time zone change across the Alberta border. After a decent, but rainy, travel day, we landed in Fox Creek, AB, where the rain had pretty much subsided. Since we had yet to have a proper campfire, we decided that since this joint offered us free firewood, and we landed pretty early for the day, that now would be a good time to get that going.

We lit the fire and roasted our Lil' Smokies (thanks, Chad), and enjoyed a beer while tossing around the frisbee in a game of beersbee. Char and Carol kept goaltending, which was frustrating my awesome frisbee tosses. Anyway, we keep the necessary supplies for beersbee in the camper so that we're ready at a moment's notice.

I don't think I've yet talked about our (and the rest of Canada's) unhealthy obsession with Tim Horton's. This donut and coffee shop has good coffee and delicious donuts and muffins. We've probably seen 15 locations since we've been here, and we've yet to see one, at any time of day, without a line around the building. Anyway, we like their coffee and have frequented a few times at various hours.

All that to say that Fox Creek doesn't have a Tim Horton's, so we ended up getting some (not bad) gas station coffee and heading for Edmonton the next morning. Somehow, it turns out, that during the Coffee Incident of 2010, we lost a crucial part of the coffee maker (thrown in the trash??) and have been having to stop for coffee ever since. Not a bad venture, except for the roadhouse in Toad River, where the coffee was about as strong as tap water.

Anyhow, as I have mentioned, we made it into Edmonton safely yesterday (Day 8) and had a fun time poking around the city. Today, we went out for breakfast (Happy Birthday Carol!!) at an amazing place (voted #2 for Best Breakfast in Edmonton 2009) called "Barb & Ernie's", owned by a German couple who came to Edmonton in the mid-1970s. We all had amazing breakfasts that consisted, in one way or another, of German bacon pancakes, crepes, schnitzel, eggs benedict, and Eli had the kid's plate of dollar pancakes. Ernie greeted every woman who came into the restaurant in the manner of, "Hallloo Gorgeeous! How Meeany?" all in a thick German accent. Wonderful!

So I will probably update you again with an Edmonton recap in a couple of days. We're dropping Carol at the airport on Tuesday and we will either depart after that or stay one more night. --Mike

Ernie told me I could only put this picture on the internet if I informed everyone that this is "The Sexiest Man in Edmonton!" -- there you have it!