Our friend Knox told us to go to Drumheller and because it would Not Stop Raining, we did.
The week before, Drumheller had suffered from terrible flooding, the kind where all the news is about the flooding. We know this not because anyone told us, but because we were sick and tired of the rain, which is why we went to Drumheller where we got a hotel room. While watching the local news, we learned that we’d been traveling in perfect synchronization with a massive weather front that was blanketing the Rockies and parts of Alberta with rainfall the likes of which had not been recorded. Ever.
No matter, it was worth the trip to Drumheller because Drumheller is dinosaur central – it’s a boneyard out there.. There’s a museum where you get to see some of those bones, including the named-for-Alberta “Albertasaurus” and a whopping great T-Rex.
The Drumheller Museum provides context for all the bones found nearby, so in addition to traveling back in time as you walk through the exhibits, you walk through the environments in which the dinosaurs lived. My favorite of these environments was a sort of 3D underwater fish tank populated with the tiny creatures of the Burgess Shale (a fossil boneyard in Yoho, in the Rockies) — only the the critters are recreated a jillion times bigger than they were in reality.
Cable news, a private shower, an amazing museum, and a good night’s sleep in a real bed. What a deluxe diversion.
After a stopover in Banff and a quick stop for lunch at Lake Louise, we drove through Yoho National Park, where we saw a handsome young bear. His coat was so full and attractive, his demeanor so passive and appealing, it’s easy to see why people get lulled in to tangling with bears. I thought I’d be terrified, but we could have outrun him as we were in the car with the motor running. J. snapped a few photos of him before we continued on our way, leaving Mr Shaggy Bear to his berry picking.
Leaving the Rockies behind wasn’t easy to do. In spite of the bad weather, campground disturbances, and dangerous animals, the mountains were beautiful. Our last day in the high country was spent dawdling in the giant pool at Radium Hot Springs. It was Canada Day and the pool was packed, but it’s a testament to the size of the place that we didn’t feel crowded out.
To celebrate the holiday, we ate pizza on a balcony overlooking the town of Radium and the Purcell Range.