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Aug 22-26 We drove from Brooks in Alberta to Moose Jaw in one day – about half-way across Saskatchewan. We enjoyed the incredible prairies as we drove along the Trans-Canada. They are not nearly as flat and boring as many have said, rather we found them interesting and beautiful. The landscape is rolling, and we crossed small valleys where rivers had carved out their path. Along this highway it is the eastern part of SK and Manitoba that are truly flat, but even there the colours of the wheat and prairies grass blend beautifully with the blue and white above. The huge farms are amazing as they sit on the horizon surrounded by fields as far as one can see. Tall silos and trees surround the homesteads and from the car some looked like tall skyscrapers of a new town. It is almost impossible to judge distances. And we saw many trains – whole trains. For those who have not travelled or lived here, imagine over 100 cars where the twin locomotives in front and the last car is visible at the same time. Sometimes there is an engine in the middle which we suspected was to help the extra long train around curves as they climbed hills, and most cars were stacked two containers high. It was amazing how many trains there were; a good sign we hope.

After an extra day in Moose Jaw for our third oil change since we left home, we continued east. The low pressure system north of us provided a tail wind of 40 km/h, gusting to 60 and the fuel consumption dropped significantly. One guy on a bicycle sat upright and rode the wind. He was going faster than he could have pedaled. Funny how on that day we saw almost no RV rigs going the other way! Their fuel consumption had to be more than twice ours. When we stopped to refuel before noon, the lady told us that a westbound motor-home had asked about the nearest campground; he was tired of using so much fuel. We made it all the way to Winnipeg that day. Aug 26th is our anniversary and we spent a relaxing day in Winnipeg, as we had two years ago when we stopped here on our train ride west to Vancouver.

24 Prairies

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Aug 16 The Mountains to the Plains. As you know, we have been surrounded by mountains of all shapes and sizes for the last two months. On this Monday, we drove almost 500 km from Nelson BC to Fort MacLeod AB and the transitions in the landscape were dramatic. It started with the longest free ferry ride in the world across Kootenay Lake, just east of Nelson. 35 minutes on a modern ferry with views that rivaled the Norwegian fjords. Then south on highway 3A to Creston – a road considered by many to be the best place for a motorcycle trip. A winding road with great vistas. Then we travelled west through the east Kootenay mountains covered in evergreens with productive farm lands in wider valleys. As we approached Crowsnest Pass (less of a mountain pass than we had seen before), the last of the high sharp-peaked Rockies stood there to say ‘farewell’. Suddenly the high plains of Alberta (1000 metres) appeared with almost no trees. The transition was sudden and remarkable – please see pictures. Gently rolling hills felt very friendly and there were hundreds of windmills in this breezy landscape. That night we camped in Buffalo Plains RV park, just 4 km. from ‘Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump’.

Aug 17-21 Alberta history. Fort MacLeod, named after the first RCMP Commissioner there when the fort was established in 1873. We enjoyed the exhibit because it helped fill in so much of Canada’s early western history. There was much information about Crowfoot, his respect for MacLeod and the famous ‘Treaty number 7” which was to provide the natives with much protection. Sadly, Canada has not lived up to this bargain.
“Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump” – a terrible name, but easy to remember. With many days of planning, several tribes would collaborate in the fall to drive 100s of Buffalo (properly called Bison) being panicked over a 20 m. high cliff. The meat, skin, hides, bones and internal organs were all used and helped them survive the winter. Because of white man’s interference (especially Prime Minister John MacDonald) the Buffalo were eradicated by about 1875.

Drumheller is the location of the world-renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum of dinosaurs. Our pictures show only a small part of this wonderful place and any trip west should include this stop. It is fabulous for kids, though it can take a whole day to see everything. It is fascinating to know that the work continues with new discoveries every year in the ‘Badlands’ area. Anyone interested could spend a summer here. The larger Badlands area in Dinosaur Provincial Park is also worth seeing because this is where many of the discoveries are made.

22 Mountains to Plains

23 Alberta History