140. Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Alberta

In Alberta, not all playgrounds are outside - it gets pretty cold in the winter!  We took a drive out to Edmonton to check out the way-OTT West Edmonton Mall.  If we lived here, I imagine we would spend many a winter afternoon in Galaxyland, though I bet it's crazy busy on the weekends.  It was pretty busy even on a Tuesday afternoon during the school year.  The playground here is several storeys high (!) and I just don't know how any small child could ever get bored here!  The mall is located at N 53.31.279 W 113.37.214 and is point no. 140 on the map at the bottom of home page.

139. Kinsmen Park, Edson, Alberta

Lucky Uncle Andrew lives just around the corner from an awesome playground!  We walked over shortly after arriving in Edson to check it out.  Not only is there a playground, there's also a spray park and a fitness circuit for adults that differs from the usual outdoor fitness equipment in that it's actually in good shape (no pun intended) and quite fun to use!  So while Charlotte was playing, we were also having fun playing too.  Charlotte loved after Uncle Andrew push her on the swings; I guess it was a change from mum and dad!  The playground is located at N 53.35.279 W 116.25.700 and is point no. 139 on the map at the bottom of home page.

138. Mt. Robson Visitor Centre

Heading a little further north and east, we came to the visitor centre at Mount Robson.  We found a playground here too, one to get future mountain climbers in the mood!  Pete had fun climbing on it, though it was a bit big for Charlotte.  Still, she had fun making a house for herself underneath it!  I was disappointed that there were no geocaches very close by - we didn't have much time to go for a walk to find the one further along the trail.  The playground is located at N 53.02.143 W 119.13.765 and is point no 138 on the map at the bottom of home page.

137. Valemount and Area Museum, Valemount

On our way up to Edson to visit Andrew and Lannie, we stopped in Valemount to see the caboose outside the local museum.  I had stopped here on my way to Edson with Charlotte when she was just six-months-old to find a geocache - I had remembered the caboose and wanted to show it to Charlotte again, now that she's old enough to be into such things.  What I hadn't remembered was the small playground here - Charlotte wasn't into them yet back then!  There was quite a chilly wind blowing, but that didn't stop Charlotte from having a fun time, ringing bells and riding the rails, while Owlie hung on behind her, riding in her hood.  The geocache was still there: "I'll take the train".  The playground is located at N 52.50.172 W 119.15.728 and is point no. 137 on the map at the bottom of home page.

136. Rotary Park, Merritt

For the last half of the Labour Day long weekend, Charlotte, Theo and I headed up to do a little camping at Lundbom Lake near Merritt.  After caching and splashing our way up the Coquihalla, we stopped at the Rotary Park in Merritt for a little playground time.  Charlotte made another friend there - a little boy who was also from Vancouver and in town to see the rodeo.  They rode the car together and chased each other all over the grassy field.  We skipped out on getting any nearby geocaches as we had already found quite a few - and I didn't want to push my luck with Charlotte!  The playground is located at N 50.07.025 W 120.47.334 and is point no. 136 on the map at the bottom of home page.

135. Evil Birds Park, Richmond

I had come across this playground while geocaching alone a couple of months ago; I chose not to go after the cache back then, preferring to wait until Charlotte was with me.  After all, there's nothing that makes me happier than a geocache and nothing that makes Charlotte happier than a playground, so if you put the two of them together...!  As far as I know, this tiny park doesn't have a name, so I have unofficially named it after the geocache, "Watch Out for Evil Birds", so named because of all the bird houses that hang from the park's trees.  We didn't see any evil birds, but we did see a little nuthatch creeping about on the tree trunks in search of food.  The playground was quite old school - wooden splinters and all.  Charlotte had fun swinging on the tire and loved going through the geocache, finally choosing a little toy squirrel to take with her and leaving behind one of her previously-treasured Easter eggs.  The playground is located at N 49.10.057 W 123.10.097 (which also happens to be the coordinates of the geocache!) and is point no. 135 on the map at the bottom of home page.

134. Memorial Park, Hope

We are going camping!!!  We set off today for the Fraser Canyon to work on our 49 degree challenge a little bit, swim in Nehatlatch Lake and spend a couple of nights under the stars.  We stopped in Hope along the way to visit a new playground.  It was a hot day and the ever-present winds of Hope were blowing, but blowing hot this time.  Charlotte had a great time in the yellow tunnel in the picture and made lots of new friends.  There was a zip line to play on - nothing like the one at Terra Nova, but she still had fun with it!  I didn't much like it - there was nothing for her to sit on like the one at Terra Nova, so I was supporting her weight the whole time because she couldn't hang on by herself!  There was an elderly couple sitting on the bench next to mine, watching the kids.  They were pointing out the antics of this one and that, commenting when a less brave kid summoned up the courage to take on the slide.  They seemed to be taking so much pleasure in watching the kids play - it was really quite sweet.  There is a little Japanese garden in the park, adjacent to the playground.  We stopped to have a look and Charlotte loved playing on the rocks around the pond.  The start of a multi-cache called "Tashme" is hidden there - but I happen to know that the final is to be found on the way to Manning Park and we were not going that way today.  The playground is located at N 49.22.817 W 121.26.499 and is point no. 134 on the map at the bottom of home page.