We left Calgary scrubbed and well fed. We made are way to the fascinating Royal Tyrell Museum. Ruben liked all the skeleton’s of the dinosaurs and Mia enjoys considering the different theories on how it is these great creatures came to be extinct. From Drumheller we drove directly to Dinosaur Provincial Park, driving alongside the beautiful Red Deer River and passing an old grain elevator. We explored Dinosaur park where we read about the First Nations in the area who collected “Grandfather Buffalo Bones”, keeping them in their Medicine Bags for protection and good luck. We were lucky enough to see a beautiful prong horned antelope close to the side road. We made are way through Cypress Hills for the Grasslands. En route we saw cowboys on horses moving cattle in the fields. We saw our first porcupine and we fell asleep to the eerie sound of Coyotes. Ruben was lucky to catch a glimpse of them in the early morning. We headed out onto the Grass Lands looking for Bison and keeping a watchful eye out for rattlesnakes and black Widows. Mia was grateful not to encounter a rattlesnake close up. We saw juniper berries and the smell of Sage brush filled the air. We saw a Golden Eagle and two large Prairie Dog Colonies. We got a lot of enjoyment from watching these cute tail wiggling guys on lookout and squeaking. We did eventually see one bison way off in the distanceThe kids also tried their hands throwing lassos.
On Day eight we woke up in Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border. We showered in our first coin operated shower and made the long journey towards Winnipeg where we stopped at Kildonen Park’s outdoor pool to cool off and shoot down the awesome dark water slides.
Amazingly on the street in Winnipeg we bumped into a old school friend of Chloe’s , Beck Pelto. Dinner was at the Line up were there was something different for each us. We slept at Falcon lake and woke for a cool dip after having what we have dubbed the “Falcon Lake Omelette” for breakfast.n Now we take on te infamous drive across north Ontario!. We are stopped to do laundry and a swim at Pebble beach in Marathon. We are excited to reach French River in the meantime Mia can manag to practice her violin even with her seatbelt on, Ruben is racing through book after book and Tom call out every hawk and beaver damn ( and there are a lot).
