The West Edmonton Mall - Is it just for kids, or can broke adults enjoy it too?

So the last few weeks I have been driving across the country (Canada) from Ontario to Vancouver BC. This is actually part 2 of a vacation which I had done the first part of back in June/July, that being driving across the other side of the country, Ontario to Newfoundland. Why am I just starting a blog now? I don't know. I am bad at planning things. But, I like writing, and need a way to vent certain feelings so let's get into it.

Currently, I am in Edmonton, the capitol city of Alberta. One of the main reasons, apart from trying to visit every major city in the country, that I was excited about seeing Edmonton was the West Edmonton Mall. The WEM is the biggest mall in the country and the second biggest in the continent. It has not only hundreds of stores, but attractions as well. This includes go-carts, an aquarium, multiple arcades and mini-golf courses, a water park, and a full on theme park, "Galaxyland." The mall was also heavily influencial to the fictional mall that the characters from the animated series 6Teen hang out in. I love rollercoasters, and the connection to the cartoon from my childhood was more than enough to peak my interest. However, I quickly discovered two major problems with this venture.

First of all, I am doing this whole vacation/road trip solo. Which means that if I were to do any of the major attractions, I would be doing them by myself. And theme parks, are kind of designed to be best enjoyed with a partner or with a group. Most of the rides at Galaxyland are also marketed towards children, so I think it would feel extra sad if I were to do these rides alone. It would be theoretically less lame to do the waterpark alone, as most waterslides are one at a time anyways, and there's nothing wrong with chilling in a pool by yourself, but it definitely isn't as fun as doing it with your friends.

Secondly, I was running out of money. I spent a lot of my money that I had saved up over the years on my vehicle, a shitty Grand Caravan that I through a mattress in the back of in order to begin my road trip journey. A sort of test-drive at #vanlife, and desperate attempt to get out of my parents house after being stuck inside for the last two years. So most of my money went to purchasing my van and then was used on the first half of my trip. In August I got to spend more of my money on my brother's wedding. And that lead me to September, where I had the least amount of money and somehow less of a plan. But against my better judgement I decided to make like Fievel, and go west. So I could tell my wallet would be really mad at me if I started spending lots of money at a theme park. Especially when I still had a good amount of journey left to go, not to mention the return journey.

I haven't yet determined a solution to this conundrum, because like, why go all this way only to not even try out any of the rides or attractions? I've had a lot of fun window shopping at the WEM, and getting photos and video of the various attractions. But is that enough?

That's all for now. I'm not sure if I will do more of these. I guess we'll have to see if I have more travel stories in the future.