July 9, 2012
We are deep into Alberta and the great Canadian Prairies
now; it is quite a change from the environment we
are used to in BC. It is,
however, not really like the stereotypical prairie environment either. Coming
from the mountains we have a view of the prairies as this great flat wasteland.
We joke that from the Rockies you can see the city of Winnipeg off in the
distance, unobstructed by anything.
In my mind the term flat brought to mind a blank sheet of
white paper lying on a table, textureless, empty, plain. While the prairies are
most certainly flat, they are far from empty. From softly rising and falling
slopes, to canyons cut out over thousands of years by rivers, to groves of
trees, to vast fields of yellow canola and green soy, to the silos, barns, and
farmhouses in the middle of this all, the terrain of the prairies is full of
texture. It is nice to be in a place that celebrates much of what we take for
granted having come from the mountains.
Heading to Drumheller for Zaid’s most anticipated visit, the
Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum, Owen wakes up, forcing us to stop for a roadside
feeding. Being locked in the air-conditioned car since leaving Calgary, our
system was shocked by the opening of the door. The freshest and most wonderful
scent filled the car. All the various crops, as well as the roadside grasses
come together to create the most beautiful smell in the prairies. Haifa
immediately had recollections of springtime in Jenin when her family had just
moved to their home atop the mountain. Surrounded by fields this was the smell
she had grown up with.
A second stop was required before checking into our
campground, a visit to an ATM, since campgrounds generally only accept cash
payments. The map, as well as the roadsigns, suggested that Carbon might be an
option for us. A short 3 kilometer drive from the highway we grew sceptical
when there was no sight of any house after our turnoff. However, we quickly
made our way down into this depression which housed the prairie town of Carbon.
This is pretty much exactly what I had in mind when thinking of small prairie
towns; one single main street, with a few houses in the background. The main
businesses along main street were an agricultural co-op, what seemed to be a
tractor storage yard, a bar/restaurant, and, luckily for us, a Credit Union. In
the 10 minutes we were there, getting cash, taking pictures, and calming Owen,
we saw only 1 other individual in the background.
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| Main Street in Carbon, Alberta |
Given the popularity of Drumheller and the Dinosaur museum
we decided to procure accommodations before visiting the museum. We decided on
Bleriot Ferry provincial park, about 20 KM North of the city, right on the
shores of the Red Deer River, on the floor of a canyon. Being in a location
called “The Badlands”, and amidst the heatwave that had been ravaging Eastern
North America, we thought that such a location would be cooler. It very well
may have been, but any gains in the temperature department were more than
offset by the Mosquito department. I have never seen such quantities of
mosquitos in my life. We woke up in the morning to a nearly black ceiling of
bloodsuckers stuck between the tent and fly, waiting for us to depart before
the struck. The Mosquitos, combined with the drunkards next door (from Vancouver),
the loud bully of a mother next to them, the 30 degree heat, and the filthy
washrooms that hadn’t been cleaned in at least a month made this by far our
worst campsite yet, and one that we expect to be the worst of our trip. We left
as soon as was humanly possible in the morning to get away from it.
Luckily, the experience at the Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum
overshadowed the experience at the campground. Alberta has one of the highest
concentrations of dinosaur fossils in the world, and much of it is clustered in
the area around Drumheller. As such, this museum has been built, and proven to
be a massive success. The place is full of complete dinosaur skeletons from
probably 30-40 different unique dinosaurs, including Triceratops, Stegosaurus,
and the T-Rex. The newest addition was a fossil recently discovered of a
sea-creature that had 76 vertebrae in its neck (making it 10 times longer than
a Giraffe’s neck). This was truly an awe-inspiring visit for all of us, and has
proven to be a highlight of the trip so far.
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| T-Rex Skeleton in the museum |
Today we made our way in a south-easterly direction to
Kinbrook Island Provincial Park, about 15 KM south of Brooks. This has proven
to be a very welcome time to relax. The Island is in Lake Newell, which is a
popular boating, fishing, and swimming destination for Albertans. The campsite
reminds me very much of Hayne’s Point in Osoyoos. Most of the campers spent the
day sitting at the beach or swimming in the just warm enough (and just cool
enough) water. The campground is very well run, with lots of shade to keep the
scorching sun at bay. Our strategy of swimming in full clothing
proved to be very successful, as we were kept cool by our wet shirts all
afternoon. The excitement was a bit much for Zaid though as he took two and
half hours to fall asleep this evening.
Tomorrow we will pack up our tent, head to the beach for one
last cooling swim, and then head for Cypress Hills Provincial Park. This brings
us to the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, heading towards our third
province. It also comes at an opportune time as I have just started reading
“The Englishman’s Boy” by Guy Vanderhaege, which deals with an event known as
the Cypress Hills Massacre. It will be nice to have the place provide context
to the book, and the book provide context to the place, in particular our
planned visit to the Cypress Hills Massacre National Historic Site.
I can’t believe we are almost in Saskatchewan. In a week or
so we should be crossing into Minnesota to begin the US portion of our trip,
and then a short time later we will be in Toronto. There is still lots of new
stuff to see and do though, so we are staying excited and ready for new
adventures.
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