Wednesday June 13th

We left Calgary about 10:30 am. Guy was able to get a ride in Phil’s aubergine colored 1953 MG TD beforehand.

We bid our gracious hosts goodbye and off we went headed for the highway out to Drumheller. We were going to see the Dinosaurs!!!!! We missed the right exit and ended up on the road less travelled. It was just me and Guy out on the prairies with the occasional old farmhouse, the odd herd of cattle and the big, big sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met Bill and Joka at the campsite then made an afternoon of the Hoo Doos

Then we went out over the 11 bridges to the Last Chance Saloon in an old mining town called Wayne for a cold drink.

Late afternoon, Guy began his 4th  painting of Castle Mountain, a mountain we stayed near in Lake Louise.  I spent an hour on a walk along the Red Deer River.  Then we picnicked inside the camper as it was sprinkling rain and threatening for more. Later it poured. Guy finished his painting of Castle Mountain in Lake Louise.

We had an early night, excited for the dinos the next morning.

Thursday June 14

We were up early and at the Tyrell Museum just after 9 am. We spent a few incredible hours there. I can say for myself that I was totally in awe at the fact that we were looking at dinosaur remains that were 75 millions years old or more. What is even more incredible is that they came from the landscape around the museum and all over Alberta. There used to be an inland sea from the arctic down to Mexico. It was a very shallow sea. Temperatures were subtropical and that’s why the dinosaurs were able to survive. When the meteorite or asteroid hit 65 million years ago,  what we know as Mexico now, it created the Gulf of Mexico. The whole world went through a catastrophic climate change and nearly all the dinosaurs were wiped out.   The sea receded from the whole of North America and now today, is habitable by us and we are able to find the dinosaur remains in the earths surface. Here is a picture of Tyrannosaurus Rex. His feet, legs, hips and tail bones are original and these remains were found near Huxley, Alta.

When we got out of the museum, it was pouring so we went for a coffee and did some shopping. Later, the rain tapered off, Guy and I went for a walk. Just as we got back, the rain returned intensely so we hunkered down cozily in the camper and Guy started a new painting and I read Road to Avonlea.