Day 206 Stony Plain to Edson, Alberta

Day 206, time to get out of Dodge! (I mean Edmonton). Looking down to the restaurant after the last relay team member has finished breakfast, after ten days, that was one well used table!

Back in the Activation 3, on the events team today, one last look at the downtown Edmonton skyline.

Leaving town, cruisin past the Edmonton Oilers head office.

and the old Edmonton municipal airport. I remember when 737's landed here some 20 odd years ago. It is just used for small aircraft today.

It is also home to the Alberta Aviation Museum

making my way west to the Yellowhead Highway

the outskirts of Edmonton

Jasper, that's day 208

neither

another few kilometres past Jasper, and we're at the B.C. border!

back to some rural farmland, only a few of those dairy cows are outstanding in their field!

highball Stony Plain!

perfect cruisin weather

light traffic no matter which way you look

keep on truckin

as I head west, the landscape is slowly starting to change

starting to see a lot of evergreens

1. not so sure about this grove of sticks.

Heading into Edson, population about 8,500

The end of day celebration for day 206 was at the Edson Leisure Centre

the town is ready for us!

 A poster inside inside the arena, those are wise words.

look at retro trucker! actually, as I mentioned in a blog a long time ago, 25 years ago when Rick Hansen did his original man in motion tour, he was given a lot of gifts as he went along the route, including many ball caps. At the start of this relay he autographed one for all of us, and mine just happens to be from the town of Edson, sooooooooo I wore it today in honour of the town and the original tour

The celebration was outdoors today, a rarity this winter, and the weather co-operated.

The community had local entertainment, these young guys were full of energy, (although ear plugs were optional, lol!)

Marilyn looks like the pied-piper leading the final medal bearer of the day, Braeden, and the rest of the town's difference makers into the end of day site.

A lot of people were on hand to cheer on Braden, an incredible young man with an incredible story.

I have a story about Braden, sent to the relay by Kayla, who was his host for the medal bearer meeting that day:

Braden was our end of day medal bearer in the community of Edson on Day 206. Braden has undergone four brain surgeries in attempts to remove and treat multiple brain tumours. Braden is currently finishing his high school diploma, before heading to Grant MacEwan where he wants to continue his studies in business specializing in not-for-profit organizations. What was truly special about Braden was that while in the hospital, he felt he could do more for the other kids that were undergoing treatment. Braden began fundraising and to date has raised over $700,000, and has an annual fundraising barbeque, where he hosts live and silent auctions.  On top of his philanthropy, Braden has a fantastic sense of humour - he told me about one of his silent auction items falling through at the last minute in a previous year at his fundraiser, so he offered up a date with himself for the bidding. An older woman won the bid for a mere $7000.00 and he reassured me he brought along a friend “just in case things got weird, and he had to make a quick escape.”   He had our entire meeting point laughing and feeling inspired. I look forward to following his story, as I am sure he will continue to do amazing work in his community. (and, just to add to the story, Braden gave a $100 donation to the Foundation upon the completion of the day)

A very well spoken young man.

The medal bearers share a nervous laugh having just been told by Billy, our emcee, that they will be leading the crowd in our warm-up dance. Here is a link on the dance moves.

Another successful celebration, although it looks like it was never even here.

The only clue it the activation 3 driver (me) tying down all of the equipment and merchandise used for the end of day celebration.

Home for one night in Edson

Wow, of all the views outside of my hotel room window on 206 days on this relay, this is the worst, (I would even take the mall view in Edmonton over this)

Tonight, a few of us decided to just by some groceries at the store and have a little picnic back at the hotel. Marilyn is showing off her dessert, these cocoa covered almonds, (no, they were not deer droppings)

A nice change from all that rich restaurant food, and good company.

I love the zoom on this little camera, when I aimed it at the toaster, I got a great shot of Wendy and Hank. Time to reflect on the day.