June 23rd to 25th - Alberta

June 23rd - Mon - Grande Prairie
Terry left early this morning to find an RV service place to do some work on the suspension of our 5th wheel. One tire has been wearing badly on the inside and he figured an axle (or something?) needed attention. After 4 places, he found someone that would have a look at it so we packed up and took it in. The guy was great and took us right in after finishing a truck and picking up some parts. We went to an ATM, had lunch and picked up some baby backs while we were waiting. In 3 hours we were on our way with some worn parts replaced, a bearing repacked as the protective cover had fallen off and the worn tire swapped with the spare.
Did a couple loads of laundry at the RV park and visited with the owners while we waited first for someone else’s laundry and then ours.
The wind blew all day including when Terry was cooking the baby backs. The sun went down at 10:30 and when we went to bed at 11 it was still light enough to be playing golf.

June 24th - Tues - to Morinville AB
We were planning on going to Lesser Slave Lake today but changed our plans when the front jacks gave us a problem. We barely got the rig lifted enough to hook up the truck and figured we wouldn’t get it in anywhere in town as we knew from yesterday that they were all booked up. So we headed for Edmonton. We stopped at a place in Whitecourt but same thing - too busy. We called a place in Edmonton and they were booked until the end of July. They gave us a phone number of a guy in Morinville, just north of Edmonton, and he said he could take a look at it. After seeing what it was doing, he took it apart and found the part that was worn. Didn’t do us much good though as he could not find the part at any Keystone dealer in the area.
We found an RV park in town and phoned the RV dealer in Pasco where we bought the 5th wheel. The service manager was able to tell us that the jack and parts are no longer available - but another company makes a compatible part. Not the little part of course, but the whole leg. We called the guy who worked on the jack and he will call around tomorrow to see if someone has the part for us.
We visited for a while with some neighbors who are also full-timers. The lady had just returned from attending a funeral in Newfoundland and brought lobsters back with her. Some relatives joined them for dinner so we left when their dinner was ready even though they said we should stay. Next thing we knew, they delivered 2 lobsters to our door for our dinner! Yes, they were cooked.

June 25th - Thurs - to Devon AB
We went to the repair shop this morning and the guy couldn’t find the part we needed. So we headed for south of Edmonton thinking we might find something in a different part of the city. When we saw that Wanda was sending us right through town, I decided to take us around the east side and we drove through Fort Saskatchewan to check for another RV service place. Same story - very busy and no part. They sent us to a huge place further south and they were booked up through September but directed us to a place that buys wrecked RVs and stocks used parts - very close to Fort Saskatchewan! The lady there had one used jack leg but it was not the right one. She had ordered a nut for someone else and it was being delivered later in the day so Terry decided to take apart our leg to see if the nut was the same. The nut was not the same but while Terry was with the lady in the used part area, he spotted a jack leg exactly like ours! We bought it, phoned the guy who had taken ours apart and headed right back to where we started to get him to put it back together.
It was 3:30 by the time we were done so we tried the RV park where we stayed last night but they were full. We started driving and phoning but could not find a spot to stay for more than one night as the coming weekend is the long weekend in Canada and parks are full. So we set Wanda for Leduc which is not too far south of Edmonton. Then I saw that we were going through Devon, checked a brochure and found the Lions RV park here. To continue our trying day, when we were driving through the small town of Devon to get to the park, we turned down a road as directed by Wanda and the street a block down where we were to turn was under construction and blocked. Terry had to back out and take another route.
This park is also full for the weekend but the guy said he could give us 2 nights. We said that would be great and if there was any way that he could get us a site for the weekend we would be very willing to move. Even before I had a chance to make dinner, he came to our site and said he had a site for us until Tues or Wed so we will move tomorrow. This is a lovely park right by the North Saskatchewan River - the nicest place we have stayed in for a long time. Devon is at the south-west corner of Edmonton and only 20 minutes from the West Edmonton Mall and no more than 30 minutes from many other Edmonton attractions that the RV manager identified on a big, detailed map.