happy new year

hey everyone, happy new year. We are currently in Edmonton and it is about -30c or so. Bloody cold. We have had a busy week. We went skiing(I went crashing and El went skiing) up at Marmot basin which is about half an hour out of jasper. It was a beautiful day, no clouds and quite warm but the snow is still cold when you spend most of your time falling. I can ski ok, I just can't stop. We have put job applications in to work at the skifield selling tickets or whatever so hopefully something will come of it. We went walking on wednesday out on some trails surrounding jasper. We saw a deer fall off the ice in to the river and disappear. It got sucked under the ice. We couldn't do much for it though. Saw lots of animal tracks through the snow, but still no bears. We had hot chocolate at Jasper Park lodge and lived the high life on a budget. Got so sore from walking and skiing. Yesterday we walked from where we were staying to the bus station in about -20c weather. It was blowing a gale so it felt really really cold. Snow was getting in our eyes and it was like being at the beach when there is a sandstorm except about 60 degrees colder. It was 6am in the morning and we bolted for a 6:25am bus to Edmonton which was delayed by an hour so we didn't need to rush. We got about an hour out of Jasper when the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. Transmission was stuffed. Waited on the bus with a load of whingers and whiners until a new bus arrived. Eventually got to Edmonton about 2pm, only 2.5hrs late. Got to the hostel and checked in. Pretty yucky, but cheap and ok. Went out to Mexican restaurant for dinner and had beers in Filthy McNasty's irish pub. More like a skatie pub than an irish pub.
Today we are checking out the famous West Edmonton Mall. It is so big- it has a wave pool and is making El homesick for aussie beaches. Also has a theme park and hotels.
Not sure what we are doing for new years tonight. Hope everyone had a good night.
Love Geoff and El