I'm holding up the Starship
We departed our cousins in Calgary after seeing David off to a cab to the airport for another trip, and the kids off to school. Then it was east, and south, to visit Vulcan, Alberta. The town is named after the Roman God of Fire, but have capitalized on the name following the success of Star Trek. Being Trekkers from way back, we had to check it out. The town has developed a Trek Centre, with a replica starship out front, and a walking tour around Trek-based murals and dedications. I'm a "glass half-full" kind of guy, so I guess I was expecting a bit more from it......but the starship was kind of small and hokey, the trek centre full of cardboard cutouts and otherwise ho-hum memorabilia, and the staff less than knowledgeable about the series. The interactive game which was hyped in the blurbs was not working.......so we left, and found a lovely picnic area on the Little Bow River, just a few km south of there, and had lunch. Then on to Lethbridge, where we saw the longest-highest trestle bridge in N. America. The Galt Museum has extensive archival material for the area, so we visited it and found some newspaper clippings referring to the death of a cousin who had pioneered the area, and the birth of a daughter of my gt-uncle. We then drove to visit our friends, Donna and Cosmos, who were sailing buddies durining our sailing times in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean. They made us very welcome, and we visited with wine and bbq until the wee hours.
Donna and Cosmos modelling in their Japanese Garden.
After breakfast with Donna and Cosmos, and then headed southeast again, stopping for a few groceries at the local WalMart. By early afternoon we had arrived at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, about 90 Km SE of Lethbridge. The area is in a Coulee of the Milk River, with Hoodoos (sandstone pillars and formations), and the largest concentration of aboriginal rock carvings and paintings known to exist in North America. The Interpretive Centre has an excellent presentation, and the park has marked out trails to view the sites.
Our first view of the badlands of the Milk River, and Writing-On-Stone park.
Alas, the camping sites were all full, though, so after a bit of walking around and sightseeing, and a bite of lunch, we continued northbound to a campsite recommended by a Park Information woman.
We think these creatures are antelope....can anyone confirm?
Foremost is 50 km. NE of the park, driving through gently rolling prairie countryside - herds of cows grazing beside (and on) the highway, and at times you could almost see forever across the plains to the horizon. The campsite in Foremost was indeed mostly vacant, and sitting beside the town golf course. It has a self-checking system, but for some reason there were no fees posted, or forms/envelopes provided for the check-in. With tomorrow being Sunday, we may not be able to pay for this campsite........which makes me feel a little bit guilty, but it certainly helps with the budget! So by 1800 hours, we were camped, getting dinner, and catching up on the blog. Although I can get a wifi signal, I still can't get a good connection, so this blog may again be a several day carry-on. We've had a taste of the beginning of mosquito season, but the 20+ Knot winds are holding them at bay. No doubt the winds will subside and the mosquitoes will proliferate as we continue into the Canadian Shield in June! We had an early evening, after listening to a couple of chapters to our audio book, and were up again fairly early (for me) at 0730.
During breakfast, we had a chat with the RV'ers next to us in the park.....they had gotten the last of the check-in envelopes. We were able to at least find out the rate for tenting (a reasonable $10.00), so we placed the money in a home-made envelope and left it in the check-in box, then headed out for another day of adventure.
Do You Hoodo? We Do!
Northbound out of Foremost, we decided to stick to secondary roads, and continue north to Brooks, and to Dinosaur Provincial Park. We saw antelope in the fields, and lots of cattle, wheat fields, and other fields with who-knows-what growing. By 1000 we had pulled into a Canadian Tire Store to look for more butane cylinders for our stove, but haven't found any. So we filled up the gas and continued the 45 km into Dinosaur Park, which proved to be quite enjoyable. The scenery, with badlands, and hoodoos, is spectacular. The exhibits are well done, and we took a guided tour around the area to try to get as much out of the fossilized dinosaurs as we could (in a short time). The Park has a very large variety of fossilized dinosaur discoveries, and also a good quality of the remains.
Badlands area of Dinosaur Park.
Woo-Hoo! A Hoodoo!!!
We still have to get a "taste" of southern Alberta before continuing to the east, so we left by mid afternoon to travel an additional 150 Km., to another badland area famous for its dinosaurs - Drumheller. The drive made this our longest drive so far - almost 400 km. in total. I suppose the presence of dinosaurs also creates oil, as we saw numerous oil wells pumping in the ranchlands as we passed. The wind continues to keep the mosquitoes at bay (mostly), so all is well. Tomorrow we hope to visit the Tyrell Museum and meet up with T. Rex, before returning eastbound again toward the Saskatchewan border.
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