Eastern Alberta and Western Saskatchewan

From Calgary I headed to Drumheller, Alberta (which was close enough that it could have been a side trip, but I was getting kind of sick of the campground in Calgary) in order to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. 

I believe I said in the post from Salt Lake City Utah that I'm not really that into Dinosaurs, but being at this amazing museum it is hard not to be enthralled and is 10 times better that what is at the University of Utah museum. They have some amazing artifacts and fossils of massive proportions:

In addition to the displays they have windows open into the preparation labs, where recently dug up fossils are being prepared for display in the future. Much of the work is done by volunteers and university students. 

A few kilometers down the main road there is a collection of Hoodoos, stone columns remaining after the softer rock around them has been eroded by the weather.

My next stop was Kindersley, Saskatchewan. This was the first time I had set foot in the province of Saskatchewan and crossing through the province was an important part of this trip for me seeing as I had previously visited all the other provinces in Canada. 

In Kindersley, I went to their small museum that had a number of large collections of small items like: 

Match Books

Manual Meat Grinders

both items you don't see that much any more, so pieces of nostalgia for me. 

That evening I had dinner at Boston Pizza. It was the trifecta for Toronto Sports fans. All three major sports franchises were playing on the same night and were on TV for me to watch at Boston Pizza. The Raptors and Maple Leafs were both in the playoffs (that in itself doesn't happen every year) and the Blue Jays were starting their season!

No campgrounds in the area were open, so I stayed in the parking lot at Walmart. It wasn't the most restful night because a car dealership nearby had audible music playing on their outside speakers, even though they were closed. 

On my way out of Kindersley, I stopped at the Regional Park Community Walking Trail for some exercise. The well marked and maintained trail circles a pond. I passed quite a few other people using the trail for exercise. Across the street from one end is the local campground, which wasn't open for the season yet, but looked nice and may be worth a visit if I am ever passing through this way again. 

My next stop was Saskatoon. I had a reservation at the Gordon Howe Campground. This is probably the nicest, most well run campground I have stayed at to date. The fellow who runs it has a lot of experience that other campground operators could learn from. It is located within the city limits, adjacent to some sports fields and the river. When the trees and shrubs are in leaf, the campsites would have a very private feeling. 

A little outside Saskatoon, I visited the Wanuskewin Heritage Park in the Opimihaw Creek Valley. There was a large friendly looking soapstone bear to greet visitors. 

It is an archaeological goldmine dating back 6,000 years in the lives of indigenous people and was a stop during the Amazing Race Canada 3, Episode 7 where the participants had to either build a t-pee or learn the hoop dance. Unfortunately the museum didn't have many artifacts on display. They had a display of really bad art. The outdoor area is quite vast and you can tour it on foot with some guideposts providing explanations, but compared to other sites I have been to this was was rather disappointing. Areas that had been buffalo jumps and buffalo traps had been excavated and then filled back in and were already grown over, so there really wasn't anything to see. Another example, when it comes to a medicine wheel:

Explanation of Medicine Wheel

Just a few rocks on the ground.

The things I found to be the most interesting, like these colorful ribbons tied to the trees:

weren't "interpreted" and when I asked about it back inside the museum, I was told it was because it was "to sacred." The highlight of my visit was the jingle dancer, unfortunately my video of her dancing didn't come out very well due to the lighting conditions. Click here to see a sample of jingle dancing. Sadly, at $8.50 for admission, this was the most disappointing side trip I have made since I started my RV adventure. 

While I was in Saskatoon I took in the Humboldt Bronco's Country Music Tribute Concert at the Sask Tel Centre. 

The place was a sea of green in honor of the Broncos and was rocking from start to finish, 3 1/2 hours in total. I'm not that into country music and don't really know much about the Canadian country music start, but they did put on a good show and I recognized a few of the songs. 

For those that are unfamiliar with the need to have a benefit concert, the reason was that on April 6th, 2018, a 22 wheeled transport truck carrying packages of insulation collided with the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team en route to a game in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. Tragically sixteen passengers were killed and 13 others were injured, when they were ejected from the coach style bus, which was equipped with seat belts, but none of the occupants were wearing them. The driver of the truck was very inexperienced. He ran a stop sign and caused an unthinkable tragedy that deeply effected the small Saskatchewan town. There was an unprecedented outpouring of support from hockey enthusiasts around the world. I was prepared to volunteer there for up to a week. I though they might be able to use some administrative support or something I could handle, but as it turned out when I inquired it was too soon after the event for them to be organized enough to make use of my talents, so instead I stayed clear of the town and moved on. 

The following night I attended a Rush National Lacrosse league game at the same venue. (I used to be a Toronto Rock season ticket holder.)

During my stay in Saskatoon, I also attended a sabbath synagogue service and went on a couple of bicycle rides along the river. I feel Saskatoon would be quite a livable city if I wanted to be situated more directly north of Arizona.

Calgary

April 19th, I headed to Calgary for the planned visit with my Nephew. I had a leisurely morning as the drive to Calgary wasn't very far from Ft. MacLeod. As I was hooking up getting ready to leave, I noticed the electrical cord that operates the trailer lights was a bit loose, where it connects to the trailer. I recalled a few days earlier the end of it had gotten a bit stuck between the end of the truck and the tail gate, but I didn't think any damage had been done. It wasn't serious, but I don't like putting off repairs. I asked the campground owner about repair places nearby. They had a couple of suggestions, but as it was near lunchtime the mechanics were all taking an hour off. Instead of waiting there until after lunch time, I arranged to go to a place a bit up the road. I called and set up an appointment for later in the day. They were able to fix it, while I spent some time in the library a few doors down the street. Pulling out of there I was thinking I would now be late for my planned dinner with friends that evening.

I had reserved a pull-through site at Mountain View Farm Campground and RV Park on the east side of Calgary in advance. During my contact with them they had not mentioned that their water and sewer connections were not working at each site yet; since the winter. When I arrived there was still quite a bit of snow and ice on most of the sites, which meant some slipping and sliding while setting up the trailer. Centrally located water and sewer services were available. My stay was to be 4 nights, so I could manage with filling up on arrival and dumping on departure. That was O.K., but a bit of a shock given they didn't notify me in advance and they weren't offering any discount for the inconvenience. I was aware the campground was, surprisingly, open year round, so I had though to myself that maybe they had built things in a special way in order for them to function during their bitterly cold winters, I guess I was wrong. The situation may have been exacerbated by a subliminal conflict between me and their proud German heritage. (In the middle of the summer I'm sure it would have been a bit more enjoyable place.)

By the time I filled my tank, I was running later, but given their flexibility, I was still able to visit with a friend from Hamilton's sister,who is also into RVing, and her husband that evening for dinner. We had a nice dinner, and I was able to catch up on my laundry while there.

Friday afternoon I drove the truck to a shopping mall on the outskirts of Calgary, not too far from the campground and took the rapid transit system downtown. I visited the Glenbow museum 

Tribute to the Humboldt Broncos after their deadly bus crash.

to see their display of first nations artifacts and mineral collection as well as other shows that were on at the time, and wondered around downtown a bit, 

Public Art - Wonderland Sculpture in front of Bow Building

Calgary Tower

prior to meeting up with my nephew at Trolley 5, a brew pub, when he was done work. They had lots of hockey games on their TV screens and the place was hopping with the after work crowd. The weather was quite mild and the outdoor patios were open. They had an interesting overhead conveyor system to transport growlers and howlers from the restaurant upstairs to the brewpub downstairs for refilling. We had seven months of catching up to do. The beer, the food and the service was quite good. I found my way back to the truck and campground quite easily even though it was dark out.

I found a spot for Dim Sum, in the suburbs Saturday morning and spent some time at a local library. Late Saturday afternoon we met at the Rose & Crown, an English Pub to watch a basketball game and have dinner. This time I drove the truck into town. 

Sunday I spent most of the day relaxing. In the evening we had dinner at Minas, a Brazilian Steak house. I hadn't been to one in quiet a while and he had never been, so it was fun. One of the highlights of the night was that wine by the bottle was half price, so be indulged in a nice bottle of Brazilian red, which complemented the grilled meats very nicely. I tried chicken heart for the first time, it tasted like liver to me. Other than meeting for these meals he was too busy with work and other things to do anything touristy with me, and his apartment was too messy to show me. 

I regret that we didn't take any selfies

Heading North to Canada from Salt Lake City, Utah

Next stop on the trip north was Idaho Falls, Idaho, where I spent two nights. Yes, there are falls there, but nothing as spectacular as Niagara Falls, Ontario. The weather while I was there was pretty wet and overcast so the photos weren't great. The drop isn't very much, but it is wide (I couldn't capture it all, so opted for the nicest part). The river runs through town.

Seeing as outdoor activities were out of the question, I partook in a couple of the small brew pubs in town. Snow Eagle was the better of the two for beer selection and menu by far. 

It always amazes me the variety of colors and flavors brew-masters can create, which are all still called beer. The other was Idaho brewing company. What made it unique was that they had a board covered with post-it-notes of the regulars buying each other future pints.

I stayed at the Snake River RV Park & Campground. They are the first campground that has given me a stuffed animal upon check in, of course a snake, with a business card attached that has all their particulars on one side and on the other side says "We hope you enjoyed your stay please come again!" This kind of pet I can handle. It doesn't need to be fed, watered or taken out for a walk. It is pink, orange and black and about 8" long. They needed to trim a few tree branches hanging over the site they assigned me to. They were quite responsive about it. I would recommend the campground if your travels find you in Idaho Falls. They are open year round.

An overnight stay in Butte, Montana was my last stop in the USA. Some RVers purchase maps of the continental US and put them on their rigs, usually on a slide out. Then they put the "stamp" for the state in place as they accomplish it. Often times on the RV Facebook groups I follow people will ask if you can put the stamp on if you just pass through a state. The typical answers are either you have to sleep there, or your map, your rules. I don't have the map, but I think you need to at least sleep in a state/province to count it, just passing through just doesn't cut it in my mind. 

I entered back into Canada on April 15th at the Coutts crossing in southern Alberta. This was the first time I entered Canada outside of Ontario. The border guards gave me a thorough questioning, but didn't go in to inspect the trailer. I enjoy traveling to the US, but it is always nice to get my wheels back onto Canadian turf. The red and white flags were a welcome sight.

I had been working on getting out of the states sooner than I had originally planned, in order to save my limited days for future travel. This however put me ahead of schedule for my planned visit with my nephew in Calgary, so I hung out in Fort MacLeod, Alberta for a few extra days at the Daisy May Campground. It was early in the season for them and still a bit muddy around, but I was happy with my site close to the entrance and office.

One afternoon I visited the Smashed in Head Buffalo Jump, a world heritage site, which was only a few kilometers from the campground. I was unfamiliar with Buffalo Jumps, as this was the first one I encountered. The museum was quite well done. For the uninitiated, when buffalo were prevalent, Indians on horseback would round some up and then drive them to the edge of a cliff. The Buffalo's would then "jump" to their deaths. Underneath the cliff, other Indians would butcher them, using all their parts for something. 

Side view of Buffalo Jump cliff. The drop is less than it used to be, due to the buildup of debris at the bottom.

Buffalo skeleton.

There was a surprisingly good Japanese restaurant in town. While having dinner there Sunday evening a young RCMP officer came in for take-out. I commented on how loaded his body was with gear. I guessed 50 lbs and was close, he said it was 55 lbs. Bullet proof vest, hand gun, stun gun, multiple sets of handcuffs, extra ammunition clips, radio, overdose kit, etc. We had quite an interesting chat about policing while he was waiting for his order to be prepared. He was quite frank with me. Times have changed since I was in grade one, where the local policeman came into class and said his lunch (sandwich and banana) were in his holster. 

The downtown is quite historic with many stores well preserved and vibrant. There is a good little library, offering meeting space. One afternoon a group of ladies were playing bridge there.

Unfortunately the Fort Museum was not yet open for the season. 

There is quite an active seniors center in town called Welcome Mat. I went in to play Euchre on Wednesday afternoon. Many have recently retired from farming and have moved into town. Most stayed there through the winter, as opposed to heading south. They were quite welcoming. I enjoyed my afternoon with them.

Salt Lake City Utah, Mormon Church

The next major stop on my planned journey was Salt Lake City, Utah. I had some interest in learning more about the Mormon Church / The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS).

I had a reservation at Mountain Shadows RV Park just south of the city. It was mostly full of permanent campers, including some tiny homes, but also had transient sites, one of which I was on. It was a pull through, so easy in and out. 

There is a great public transportation system in the area, so I wasn't going to drive my truck right into town.  There were options to use a commuter train (like Go in Ontario), which had a station close to the campground, but didn't run all that frequently, or to drive a little further, to the end of the subway line and get into the city that way. I spent most of two days in the downtown area, so used each method once. 

The first day I arrived in town in time for an Organ recital in one of the newer prayer spaces. The instrument's sound was very powerful. I visited the genealogy library hoping to find the book my husband Ron Armstrong had written and published about his family history.  I was sure he had said he was sending them a copy. There were a lot of members of the church in the library available to help people with family history research. Unfortunately they were not able to find the book I was looking for in their records, which supposedly include all of their locations, including the library in Toronto, so I guess he never got around to sending them one. That was a little disappointing. I then went next door into the Mormon museum, which explained the founding of the church, the chronology of the various leaders of the church and their arrival in Utah. It was quite well done and informative. 

Admission to everything on the Temple Square is free. Members of the church are encouraged to tithe 10% of their earnings. 

At this point it was close to dinner time. The special food of the area is a burger with corned beef on it and a special dipping sauce for the french fries that generally come with the burger. I was told the best place to get it was Crown Burgers.

The restaurant was quite busy when I arrived, but it was clear they were set up to deal with the crowd. The order taker/cashier suggested that the Junior burger with fries would likely be a big enough meal for me, so that is what I ordered. I enjoyed it, though the fries could have been cooked just a little more. As you can see the special sauce for the fries is pretty much like thousand island dressing, ketchup, mayo and some relish mixed together. The reason for the crowd was because the Utah Jazz were playing that evening, the arena was nearby and I was able to get a ticket so was heading there along with everyone else.

View from my seat. Far from the front row.

Center Court, Utah Jazz.

The following day I started off by playing a round of golf at Glendale, a city run course. It was in better shape than the one I had played in Cedar City. 

I then went to the Natural History Museum of Utah on the campus of the University of Utah. It is housed in a fairly new building and covers quite a few topics, including Botany, Entomology (insects), Mineralogy and Paleontology (fossils, including Dinosaurs). It wasn't very busy, so I was able to easily move around and see everything at my own pace.

Museum Entrance

Eggs of various sizes and colours different species.

Large dinosaur replica.

After the museum I returned to the church campus (10 Acres) and had a tour of all the major buildings and grounds. The actual temple is not open to the public, but there is a scale model of it:

in one of the other buildings. Only members of the church are allowed into the temple. The part that was most surprising to me was that they have a pool supported by stone oxen, where they ceremonially provide baptism for deceased people. Members of the church can offer to perform these baptisms on a regular basis if they so choose.

The tour also included the year 2000 built LDS Convention Center, 

View from Upper Section (Not a bad seat in the house.)

View from Back of Lower Section

which is primarily used for their twice a year general conferences, the most recent one was held just a couple of weeks before my visit. The church had outgrown their other meeting spaces so built a new one, boasting 21,000 seats. 

The grounds are beautifully landscaped both the hard materials, like statues, fences and walkways and the soft ones, trees, shrubs and flowers. 

Numerous staff were busy tending to things during my visits. 

I had a real sense of safety and civility during my stay in Salt Lake City. I think it is because so many of the residents are connected to the church, giving it a larger religious influence over it than most, if not all other similarly sized American cities. 

Early April

I departed Tucson on April 3rd, heading to Calgary to visit my Nephew. My first stop was Flagstaff, Arizona. On the way there the truck was requesting an oil change. I had though it was about due towards the end of my stay in Tucson, but I checked the electronic system and it said the oil was O.K.,but I would have had it changed anyway given the trip I was about to embark on, but the Ford dealer I contacted said the first available appointment was in two weeks time! I wasn't going to wait around that long. It didn't take many miles for it to change its mind. I started researching good Ford dealers on my route North. I decided the best place to go would be Cedar City, Utah and I would arrive there on Thursday, April 5th and had an appointment for an oil change. 

After Flagstaff, I stopped in Kanab Utah, where I discovered I had a flat spot on one of my trailer tires: 

and now the engine light was on! I thought the engine was running a little rougher than usual, though I wasn't sure if it was related to the oil needing to be changed. 

I arrived in Cedar City as planned for my oil change. They had told me there was a KOA right across the street from their dealership, so I had contacted them to make a reservation for one night, with early check in, and set the trailer up before taking the truck for its "spa treatment." While the truck was in for service, they were nice enough to drop me off at the golf course right next door, and come to pick me up when I was done. The course wasn't in the greatest of condition as it was early in the season for them, for heavens sake, there was still snow on the mountain peaks nearby. 

View of snow covered mountains from golf course.

There were some high school girls out practicing ahead of me. Their coaches made sure I was able to play through them. The men's league was starting later that evening, so I had to be off they course by 4:00. 

Upon returning to the dealership, I was told that the on-board computer in the truck was saying there was a problem with two cylinders miss-firing and that they would not be able to work on fixing the problem until Monday! I pleaded with them about trying to get it looked at sooner but they said the mechanics were preoccupied with other work. If parts were required I would be there a day or two beyond Monday. As I always put safety first, I accepted that I was going to spend a few more days in Cedar City than I had initially planned. The truck was drive-able at this point,but they suggested not stressing it much by doing a lot of towing. I was able to extend my stay at the KOA. 

I had noticed that Jolleys Trailer Sales was next to the KOA, so I went to check them out late Thursday afternoon. They don't really deal in RVs, but more horse and cargo trailers. I told them about my tire woes and they offered to help me out. The service guy followed me back to the trailer and initially he was going to put the spare put on in place of the tire with the flat spot on it, but then I decided that it might be wiser to change out all the trailer tires. This decision was partially based on all the Facebook posts I've read on the RV groups I follow about China bombs (trailer tires) blowing out at the least opportune time and causing countless damage to the rig. I counted myself lucky so far for not having had that experience. They were able to order the tires in and planned to install them on Friday, perfect!  

Friday morning I took the trailer over to them for the work to be done. While it was enjoying its spa day, I spent some time at the local library, a very nice and modern one, next to a big park, close to downtown. I had packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it in the park. I also went to the Frehner Museum 

I remarked at what large paws this fellow had.

and the Art Gallery at Southern Utah University.

Both had free admission and had interesting displays.  

Saturday morning I went to the farmers market, which I found to have very overpriced offerings. Being so early in the season, there wasn't much produce, more gift items, breads, jams, pickles, cured meats and eggs. Saturday night I had hoped to go to a comedy show, but they were dark that week, so instead I went to the Hong Kong Chinese buffet restaurant with the work campers from the KOA, a very nice couple. 

Sunday I visited Veteran's Park and the Frontier Homestead State Park Museum, kind of like Black Creek Pioneer Village, but without the characters, where they had a display about the origins of horseshoes. I was particularly interested in it given my recent interest and activity with the sport. 

Veteran's Park was somber but quite interesting as it have monuments to all the wars the USA has been involved in. There are also some panels with information about the methods of war at the time, so it is interesting to see how the tactics became more modern as time went by. 

Veteran's Park

Monday morning I took the truck in to have the engine looked at and did laundry at the full size laundromat owned by the KOA. Just as the laundry was finishing I got a call that the truck was ready! It turned out that it was a glitch in the computer programming and once updated the engine was running as it should. This was covered under the warranty! I picked up the truck, hitched up the trailer and was able to head on-wards right away. The KOA was great about letting me check out late and not penalizing me the cost of another nights stay. They were very understanding of my predicament, which I had explained to them upfront and kept them abreast of all along. 

As you have read, it turns out there is quite a bit to see and do in Cedar City, I could have been stick in a much worse place.

March

February 28th I attended another Mah Jongg game for the first time. This one is held at a Catholic Church. They have about 6 tables each week. I attended throughout March and look forward to playing with them in the fall when I return to Tucson. It fits in well after Wednesday Horseshoes.

In mid March I played the Municipal Golf Tournament, which involves the ladies leagues from all five city courses. It moves around from year to year. This year it was at Dell Urich, which is one of my favorite city courses. I had a good day and won Low Gross. Next year Randolph hosts it.

The Randolph Ladies League held their Club Championship over three Thursday's in March.  I was the runner up by a couple of strokes, which I lost on the first day. Next year I will be more patient. Judy Miller was able to win yet again. She is a very steady player, but I know I can beat her.  I did so in the Municipal Tournament and also at one or more Golf Links events.

As my stay was drawing towards the end John started taking Saturday's off so we could spend a little more time together.

I attended the First Passover Sedar at Congregation Bet Shalom. The did a nice job of it and had a good crowd. I sat next to a lady who had converted a number of years ago. As time permitted we had a nice chat. The service was well done and the food was very good.

I managed to get John to agree to going to church with his daughter, grandchildren and me, on Palm Sunday.

February

By February I was getting quite accustomed to my weekly routine. As much as I like traveling, seeing new places and meeting new people, it is nice to have some stability for a few months, which allows one to get involved in activities that occur on a weekly basis.

John's "weekend" is Sunday and Monday, so I set those days aside to spend as much time with him as possible, whether it be golfing or spending time with his children and grandchildren. 

Tuesday's I played a casual game of golf at one of the city courses. Wednesday I played horseshoes in the morning 

and did laundry (because the washing machines at the laundromat were discounted). Thursday mornings I played in the women's league at Randolph North. That usually extended into the mid afternoon. Friday morning's I played horseshoes and in the afternoons I played Mah Jongg. 

Saturday's I would drive John to work, then go to the synagogue near there, Congregation Bet Shalom.  After synagogue some days I would go to the library to work on this Blog or other things, and others I would go for a bicycle ride along The Loop. I would then pick up John at work and we'd go out for dinner and the evening. 

In late February I was able to get press credentials through the Portuguese Golf Magazine I do work for to attend the PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic Tournament at Omni Tucson National. It sure had a different look and feel than the PGA Waste Management Tournament.  To start with the galleries were much smaller. Sadly the food offered to the media wasn't as good as what I have seen at PGA events. I attended on Wednesday, Pro-Am Day, mostly to register and get the lay of the land, after which I went to synagogue for the Purim service (think Jewish Halloween). I attended Saturday after synagogue and spent quite a bit of time following my various favorites and walking most of the golf course. I saw a few shots by Canadians Rod Spittle and Stephen Ames. I watched Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer (to see if he was anchoring the putter or not). I had quite a conversation with Jesper Parnevik (bill of hat turned up) as he was walking across the bridge over the wash, with his metal spikes ringing out, a sound you don't hear very often anymore. What a specimen of fitness he is! I also saw Miguel Angel Jimenez play a few shots. I remember seeing him first when I was at the Masters Monday practice round in Augusta in 2005. I hung out by John Daly to see which loud mouth outfit he was wearing (US Currancy),

how many cigarettes he could smoke and how far he could smoke the ball. Overall, I feel this tour is about helping to generate donations to the host charity and lining the pockets of these pros who, with not cut, are guaranteed a paycheck no matter how they play. If you can make it into the club, I think you can live a pretty good life.  Mike Weir will find out after the middle of May in 2020. I'm not planning on going back next year.