#236 Nomad Diary. 26 April- 2 May 2025. Calgary House Sit Wrap-Up. Drive to Edson, Alberta Canada. Jasper National Park. Weeklong Airbnb in Edson.

Doing Hot Tub Maintenence at Our Calgary House Sit

Enjoying House Sit Cat Birdie in Calgary

 

Picture at Northside Church of Christ in Calgary. A Nice Friendly Mix of People with Several Immigrant Nationalities Represented.

Saturday. 26. Booked Darrell an acupuncture appointment today at the student clinic. Did a little housekeeping and laundry. The weather is gorgeous today! Bright, sunny and 60 degrees. 

Sunday. 27. Went to church in the morning, and in the evening there was singing. 

Big Horn Sheep on Mountain Across From Banff Town.

More Big Horn Sheep Near Banff Town.

View of Banff.

Loads of Snow in Jasper National Park. North of Banff.

Exhilarating Scenery in Jasper National Park, Alberta

Hours of Gobsmacking Scenery in Jasper National Park, Alberta

The Picture Doesn't Do It Justice! Jasper Park, Alberta

Monday. 28. Today we cleaned up our Calgary house. Took care of the cats: Tank and Birdie. Packed and left to drive north to Edson. We took the scenic route up to Banff and then on through Jasper National Park. The drive through Jasper included a lot of picture stops. The snowy mountains were astounding! It was quite a long day of driving with overload on beautiful scenery. We ate a picnic lunch on the back of our truck. We had dinner in the tourist town of Jasper. We stopped at a Safeway grocery to get a few items, and arrived at our airbnb around 9pm. Our host met us and showed us in and upstairs. The apartment is clean and spacious in a passive solar house that the couple built. They have a lot of acreage and it’s a quiet and comfortable spot. Darrell carried in the luggage and hauled it up the stairs. I carried the smaller bags. We settled in and slept well. 

View From Edson, Alberta Airbnb Looks Like a Painting.

Restaurant in Edson, Alberta Appetizers We Shared. Salad and Hot Crab Stuffed Mushrooms.

Us At The Edson Steakhouse.

Tuesday. 29. This is our recovery day from driving a long day yesterday. We enjoyed getting up early and exercising as is our daily practice. Darrell made oatmeal-barley pancakes that we put nuts, fruit and yogurt on for breakfast. We had lunch at our house and went out for dinner. We drove about 10 minutes into the small town of Edson. The roads are wide and gravel making it a dusty drive on a dry day. We went to Mountain Pizza and Steakhouse. We had a wonderful dinner. Our appetizer was Crab and Artichoke stuffed mushrooms. I decided that I could mimic this recipe and make it with less calories and more protein! Lol. After dinner we went to the town’s Walmart. As we were getting a couple of items for our week, I wanted to look at the canned crab for my idea of mimicking the appetizer mushrooms. There was no canned crab! Shopping for other things is also very different from what I expected. I thought that shopping in Canada would be equal to the US, but it’s not exactly. There are some quirky things that change with the region and the local tastes. Like here there’s no canned crab at Wal-mart. Also here and the Safeway we went to last night on our drive here were unable to supply me a simple can or small jar of sauerkraut! This seems so funny to me that they have huge jars of the stuff. Also here in Edson Walmart there are only 2 choices of unsweetened sauerkraut, but both have white wine added. One is from Germany and one is from Poland. I usually get plain sauerkraut, and I have no idea about the taste for me of the wine added. The jars are just way too large for me to buy for a taste test! I’ll pass for now and continue to look at stores as I have opportunity. Darrell tried to hook up our Roku to the tv and turn on our British Channel subscription. The channel doesn’t work for us in Canada. It is a monthly subscription and he was able to cancel it easily enough.

Wednesday. 30. Today feels good. We have got a schedule of travel that we have agreed on. It’s not too much driving and we like the stays (from the pictures and descriptions) that we have selected. We are staying inside most of the day today. We got up early and exercised. The sun is up for long summer days. We have a beautiful view from our sunny apartment ‘office’ and dining room. Darrell has his computer playing classical music from Sirius radio. We made a few more adjustments to our calendar this morning after breakfast. Darrell’s mom is in the hospital with a croup and in need of extra care. She is 91 and fragile.

Phone Call with Owen, Eric and Esther (not pictured)

Kitchenette in Edson, Alberta Airbnb. 

Outside the Edson House Where Our Airbnb is.

Road Near Edson Going to Our Airbnb.

Thursday. 1. I found a massage therapist in town who scheduled me after lunch. She did so well on my massage, I offered to trade with her for my second massage. She was happy to book a trade with me on Saturday morning. I haven’t given regular massages for almost 10 years!! (I was a therapist for 16 years and then stopped my massage and went full-time into Emotional Polarity Technique work for my final years of working. I stopped work at the end of 2021. I have occasionally done some EPT sessions along my travels and with former clients who are close friends. EPT is up close and personal and every session has the potential to bond the worker and the receiver closer together. I also respect the moments of EPT together as opening the heart and strengthening it to move forward with greater trust and encouragement. There is no control to be held between the two within or outside the session. It is a time of awe and healing shared with gratitude when fully understood.) Today we had lunch at an Asian place. We made chili for dinner with extra lean ground beef and our house made black beans. I need a new battery in my pc mouse! Looking tomorrow in our truck stock. lol.

Friday. 2. We are home all day. I’m working on my blog. Darrell is getting a 5pm massage. I’m planning to do laundry at a laundry-mat and also go grocery shopping. We may go out to dinner, or not. Darrell called his Mom who has spent 2 nights in the hospital and will continue for a while longer. While on the phone, she felt better to talk and listen. She calmed down during the call, and that was nice to hear. Cyndy, Darrell’s sister, had left work to sit with her and give her supportive care. 

Nomad Notes: This week we have spent some discussion sessions together and separately looking at our calendar from May 6-19. We’ve come up with a couple of ways to explore once we check out of our Edson airbnb. We are finding it difficult to agree on where to travel and stay. We have 3 locations with churches listed for Sunday worship, a couple of Canadian highways, and a date to arrive in Penticton for our next house sit. We have each looked at a variety of stays that are mostly very rural small towns. I look at airbnb’s and Darrell looks at properties through Booking.com and also on USAA Perks. Some properties are listed on multiple booking sites. The amenities don’t always agree on the same property on different booking sites. The best prices for these comparisons so far are on USAA Perks. Also the properties of comparison vary widely. There are a few with a private bathroom, full kitchen and laundry. Next level is a private bathroom and mini-kitchen. Next level is a shared bathroom. Some serve breakfast.

April 29. We were able to map our stays with a few personal ideas in mind. 1. Limit our daily drive to a new place to 3-5 hours. 2. Stay more nights in one location. 3-7 nights. 3. Note where a church is to worship on Sunday. We have now got our calendar stays built out through July 13th with only a few nights to book later in the schedule.

Our current Canada-Alaska-Washington-Idaho outlook for the next few weeks:

Week in Edson. Check out airbnb May 6th. 

Valemount, B.C. Airbnb May 6-10.

Vernon, B.C. Airbnb May 10-18.

Penticton, B.C. Housesit May 18-Jun 12.

White Rock, B.C. Airbnb Jun 12-17.

Cruise Alaska. Roundtrip Vancouver, B.C. Jun 17-24.

Sequim (pronounced Squim), WA. Housesit Jun 25-July 5.

Boise, Idaho. Housesit July 9-13.

Talking to our Edson host, Cameron about our ‘game’ of moving around as nomads. Cameron is interested to talk with us about some of the travel and retirement concepts and how he and Diana can consider their own retirement plans. Each of us have different opportunities and different ways of living. This makes up our life experience that Darrell and I call our game. We are playing our game with a lot of intention and thought and realization of our spiritual reality of our existence. 

“Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.“ Ephesians 5: 15-17