And back to Ontariario

What a wonderful time I had in Edmonton. It was honestly one of the best vacations I have ever had. I will do a photographic diary at a later date when I get internet at home (sometime in August). Some of the highlights include:

• Traveling to Jasper by myself. I've never traveled solo before but I honestly loved it. It was so nice to take my own pace at things and spend a little extra money for one meal and hardly anything for the next and not worry about anybody else. I took the tramway up Whistler Mountain and then hiked to the top (about an hour's hike). The scenery was stunning. Words cannot do it justice. Driving home from Jasper was beautiful too although there were so many bugs I had to stop twice to clean my windshield at the gas station. I also got quite lost coming back into Edmonton and got a nice 45min tour of the outskirts... Whoops :)
• The Edmonton Mall was greeeat. My favourite part was finding the Jacob Outlet where clothes were 50% off what I would normally pay in a Jacob store. To make things even more awesome though, everything in the store was an additional 70% off that! I got 3 dress pants (normally around $80/each), 3 dress shirts, a pair of gloves, and a velvet blazer (normally $70) for all under $80. Take into account that they also do not have the PST and this trip officially becomes my most epic shopping trip ever. Fun times.
• I was staying at Steven's family's home with Mark, another one of the boys in the "boys house." Their family was so awesome at helping me decide which places to visit, providing wonderful food, and keeping me entertained with one of the most difficult puzzles I have ever tried to do.

My flight back also proved to be ethic but sadly, in a more frustrating way. Arriving in sunny Toronto at 6:00pm, I discovered that my flight to "home" was canceled due to Thunderstorms. I had the option of sleeping in the airport and taking a 8:50am flight or paying $50 for a Robert Q bus that was leaving at 11:30pm. I opted for the Robert Q route and thankfully was able to slip onto the 9:30pm bus instead. By this time I was also noticing a sore throat but attributed it to the lack of proper meals. Yesterday, however, it got really sore so today I went into the doctors (I know, gasp!), and sure enough I have strep throat.

Anyhoo, I want to run back home and attempt to eat some lunch before my work shift at 1:30, so off I go. I work quite a bit at the store this week so I should be checking my e-mail / blogging more regularly.