Blog 23
When we left
Calgary, our next destination was Drumheller, the former territory of
the dinosaurs. The further east we drove, the more the meadows
disappeared. Finally, the farmland turned into vast areas of dry
land. It looked very desolate. First, we visited the Rosedale
Swinging Suspension Bridge that crossed the Red Deer River. On the
opposite side of the river we could already see the “hoodoos” of
the Canadian Badlands, mushroom shaped geological formations which
were formed by erosion caused by water and wind. The “Dinosaur
Trail” went through these fantastic rock formations. To reach the
other side of the river, we had to take a small ferry.
At the end of our
round trip, we found the “Little Church” which was hardly bigger
than Ingo. Only six people fit inside at a time. There was no altar
but Christian Music was playing. What a great place for prayer or
meditation!
In the surrounding
fields, Ingo and I saw many small animals the size of a hamster. They
had light brown fur and were playing and cuddling together. What a
sweet sight! I still do not know what kind of animals they were. Does
anyone know the answer?
We continued to
Bassano where we enjoyed a combination of lunch and dinner. It was
already 6 pm, and we had been so immersed in the sights around us
that we had not made time to eat. While we were enjoying our food, we
saw a young man sitting under a tree. Shortly after, he was lying on
the stairs in front of the toilets. As it turned out, he had biked
from Calgary and overdone what he was capable of. We gave him some
salt pretzels and grapes which he could not keep down. Then, we
stayed, and talked to him until he felt better.
Unfortunately, we
could not go to the Dinosaur Provincial Park anymore, but we
continued to Medicine Hat where we spent the night in a motel. Our
room was huge, and it had a desk and even a refrigerator. We
definitely got more worth out of our money outside of the big tourist
destinations. Even if a bottle of carbonated water was still
extremely expensive. The cheapest 0.75L bottle we found at a store
cost still almost $2. It was just not an item that was much in demand
at the time. Nowadays, you can buy all kinds of different sparkling
waters in the grocery stores. Ironically, by now I have switched to
plain water, mostly out of the faucet. It seems that you adapt to
your surroundings, even if you do not notice it.
The next day, we
drove to the Cypress Hills Provincial Park. The landscape changed
from flat to rocky. Everything was so quiet. You could just hear the
leaves rustling in the wind and the birds. We saw a couple of free
running cows, and later a coyote or maybe even a wolf. We passed two
beautiful lakes: Elkwater Lake and Reesor Lake. I loved the mix of
the dark greens of the conifers and the fresh greens of the deciduous
forest.
Once we passed the
Battle Creek, the road got worse. First there was gravel, but soon
the road was more appropriate for a four wheeler. The rutting tore
off part of the splitter of our car. We had to leave the car a couple
of times to move boulders out of the way. If it had rained it would
have been quite the muddy adventure. We even had to drive through a
small creek before we finally reached the highway again. Somehow, we
must have missed the right road suggested by the “Canadian Book of
Roads”. We definitely saw areas of the park that are usually not
visited by tourists.
On the highway, we
saw a sign advising us that there would not be any settlements or gas
stations for the next 134 km. A perfect time for a nap. I woke up
when we reached the border to the United States. For the next two
days we drove through Havre, Malta, Culbertson, Williston, Bemidji,
Minot, Rugby, Crookston, Duluth, Wakefield, Marquette, along the Lake
Superior through Christmas and finally back to Sault Ste. Marie in
Canada.
While this was a
beautiful part of our trip, I will continue my travelogue next week
with our stay in Sault Ste. Marie as I am writing about my first
impressions of Canada.
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