Bad to the Bone

The Sunday began as most Sundays of late have begun. Heinrich and I had an idea in mind of where we wanted to drive to, but instead (in this case, we were hampered by the weather, which was windy and spitting rain), we randomly chose a part of Alberta we had never been to before and drove there. And this time, we kept driving as long as we could, trying to squeeze every minute out of the weekend.

Our trip this week began at Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, just outside of Red Deer (being from Alberta, I consider a 1 ½ hour drive close by). After driving past verdant hills and fields of cows, we suddenly found ourselves driving alongside a cliff. This is the northernmost point of Alberta’s badlands, and it snuck up on us so suddenly that the park sign was a little redundant. (Something new I learned on our trip: the badlands were so named because they are such treacherous terrain and so impassable. Apparently, more than one language referred to them as bad lands.)

This is beautiful Alberta.

The cliff at Dry Island was unique as a buffalo jump because it was so far north (the sign mentioned that people north of there used “other methods” to hunt buffalo, whatever those methods are!) and so darn high! (I guess they wanted to be reeeeeeaaaally sure the buffalo were dead at the bottom and not just injured and angry! A ton of rage capable of running at speeds of 50 km/h is not something you want to be faced with!)

Interesting... 

Anyway, with the spitting rain, muddy trails, and murderous winds, we decided to trek on farther (after all, it’s a buffalo jump, not a Mimi jump!). But where to? Since we were already in the badlands, I figured we might as well go the rest of the way to Drumheller (It was only 1 ½ hr away! Practically around the corner!). I found a fantastic online driving tour of the area (http://www.traveldrumheller.com/self-guided-tours.html . I’ve had my iPhone only a few weeks, and it’s proving so handy already!) and decided to follow it! I’ve been to Drumheller a few times before, but aside from the Tyrell Museum (a definite must-see for anyone who hasn’t been there before!) and the hoodoos, I hadn’t seen much of our world-famous badlands!

SO, while in Drumheller, we saw the second big thing of my blog: the world’s BIGGEST dinosaur! We even climbed up to the top (yes, definitely a $3 tourist trap!) and looked out of its mouth (ooooh) at the city below. We figured while we were there, we might as well…

That's a rather unfortunate place for a palm tree.

We travelled down the Dinosaur trail and saw the tiny white chapel before boarding the Bleriot ferry (one of the last cable-operated ferries in Alberta; we rode another one a few weeks ago by Fort Assiniboine!) to continue the loop back to Drumheller.

It’s like it was built for us! All of our wedding guests could have fit in here! 

Stunning Horse Thief Canyon!

We stopped at the hoodoos (some strange-looking rock formations with hard, flat tops that prevented the rest of it from eroding away) since it was on the way, and then, it was off to the Atlas Coal Mine!

There wasn’t really all that much to see at the coal mine (we wanted to go on a tipple tour—it’s the last remaining tipple in Canada!—but parts of it had been closed as a result of the rainy weather), but it was still nice to see! They had a few houses up (such as the old laundry/shower rooms, the bank house, and the battery house) and even an example of a shack one miner lived in for YEARS until he was able to bring his family over from the Ukraine!

The last remaining tipple in Canada!

Coffee and liquor! The simple needs of a bachelor!

At least he had a cute porch!

Yikes! An old mining lamp!

A clothes-hanging hook

Our last stop was the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne. After driving across 11 small bridges along the highway, we arrived! Apparently, the Last Chance Saloon was the site of many bar brawls in its day (people say the patrons would drink, fight, and then come back in and buy each other drinks!), and there are three bullet holes in the wall from when the barkeep reprimanded three delinquents who didn’t want to pay for their drinks! (The holes are currently covered up with one of the many decorations in the bar. Also, the bullets were shot above the punks’ heads, so no one was actually injured.)

Interesting decor...

We then began the loooooong drive home (who knew we had travelled so far? I guess an hour and a half here and there adds up!) and started thinking of ideas for our next trip! Until next time…!