Edmonton-Elk Island NP and Metallica

We drove 326 miles to Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. First we went to Tim Hortons (Dave’s first experience!) to fuel up. The drive north was fairly uneventful and the farmland was endless.

Our first full day we drove to Elk Island national park on the other side of Edmonton. It was our 7th and final national park in Canada, and it definitely was a different environment than the others. It’s a main conservation area for the local flora and fauna including wood bison, plains bison, moose, and of course elk. We saw bison from the road (likely plains bison) before even getting to the visitor center and the helpful ranger guided us to a good trail running route. The wood bison trail would provide us with a fairly well maintained trail with a good chance to see wildlife including bison, moose, and black bears. We saw…nothing. In 10 miles we saw lots of scat including over 100 bison pies, lots of bear scat, and piles of elk pellets but no animals except for squirrels and a beautiful snake. We jogged 1 minute out of every 5 since we haven’t run in months and kept our heads on a swivel while calling our loudly during our running sections. Was definitely a different experience than our usual outings but it was neat to see the different fields and ponds.

Of course we were starving by the time we finished so we grabbed some burgers and made a stop to Canadian Tire (think massive Bed Bath & Beyond plus a tire shop). We finally found a propane fire pit to enjoy since the fire bans likely won’t stop any time soon.

The entire reason we came to Edmonton, and part of what we built this trip around. In November of 2022 we bought tickets to see Metallica play two nights here in Alberta. We had Pantera as an opener the first night, and the energy of the bands and the crowd was very impressive the entire time. Metallica played for over 2 hours without rest and for being in their early 60s it was really neat to see how much they still love what they do. We had almost perfect weather both nights and great people around our seats that we interacted with.

The lines for merchandise at the concert were insane so we decided to go to the pop up shop we knew they had outside of the venue the day between the shows. Just a few thousand people also had the same idea. We stood in line for an hour and some change before getting inside. The designs were very intricate and it was cool to see so many people from different backgrounds and ages excited for the band. We chose our shirts and headed out. What started as a quick quest to find the Metallica brand whisky (blackened) turned into an amazing find of a store. Whisky Drop is owned and run by a retired history teacher who plays guitar in a local band. Graham was an instant favorite of ours, and we could have sat there for hours talking with him and hearing the stories behind the carefully curated bottles he selected. We truly hope to see him again in our travels.

Night two of Metallica Edmonton was with Ice Nine Kills and Five Finger Death Punch as openers, it was an even better night than the first. Our travels to the concert were much smoother as we knew what to expect, and because we arrived at the time we had planned to Friday the line to enter was almost 0. We were able to quickly grab refreshments and enjoy leisurely getting to our seats instead of sprinting everywhere like the first night. Ice Nine Kills showed talent and a lot of theatrics although I wouldn’t say they’re my cup of tea overall. Five Finger was really impressive and did a great cover of House of the Rising Sun. Then Metallica came out and killed it for the second time with no repeat songs from the first. The lighting guy must have been asleep the first night and made up for it the second. Our group around us was mostly the same as the first which was great. The security had been significantly increased to keep people from congregating in the aisles and in front of us which made for a much better experience. Overall, a great end to our time in Edmonton and our 8 weeks in Canada.Weiterlesen