Ft George, UFO, and Edmonton

7/24/2019

Showered and relaxed because we planned to visit nearby Fort George which didn’t open until 10 am.  We walked the trail to the historic site of the fort before the museum opened. Turned out to be a good decision because it started raining just after 10.

Officially called Fort George and Buckingham House, the fort part is more of a "this is where the fort was" part of the experience. There were a few stockades and informative signage.

There were teepees on the perimeter that needed new coverings. The museum proper, was indoors with a few exhibits explaining the fur trade history in the area.

Heading west again, we had time to stop at a Dodge Dealer in St Paul. They fit us in for an oil change and tire rotation at noon. At $141.65, it was about twice what we pay at home. With about 45 minutes until noon, we couldn't resist driving down the street to visit the UFO landing pad at the town Visitors Center.

The Republic of St. Paul is welcoming to visitors from anywhere.

An anonymous author expressed sentiments regarding what we need to remember before heading out into the universe.

Here we are on the elevated landing pad. The flags represent the Canadian Provinces.

The landing zone was a fun, and free, way to spend half an hour.

The Dodge dealer had our van finished up in less than an hour and we were back on the road before 1300.

A little way down the road Beth wondered if they changed the tire pressures when they rotated the tires. Front tires should be 65 while the rears need to be 80. We pulled over at a gas station and, sure enough, the front and rear pressures were reversed. Went to air up the rears using the service station’s hose, but their circuit breaker kept popping. After resetting it twice, I pulled out our inflator. It ran for a little over two minutes and something inside popped and it died. We were glad there weren't any high speed roads on the remainder of today's route.
Even with a few side trips and stops we arrived in Edmonton at  1623 for a visit with Rhonda and Dan.

We had met them at Waterton Lakes where they kindly invited us to camp in their driveway if we ever found ourselves near Edmonton. Despite the rain, Dan took us on a pleasant driving tour of Edmonton.

Afterwards we helped him paint a few dozen aztec tiki statutes for an upcoming play. It is so much fun to hear about the talents and experiences of new found friends.

Today's westing trip to Edmonton.