Sunday, July 17, 2005

Day 20 – Distance: 103.00 km
Calgary/Airdrie to Drumheller, AB

We got up at 6:30 to the smells of sausage and pancakes being prepared by Joy and John. What a pair! And what a sendoff! John gave me a map to get us to Airdrie, and we managed to get off by 8:00. Unfortunately, Monique’s inner magnet told her we were heading south instead of north, and we turned around. I just assumed I wasn’t reading John’s map correctly (oh me of little faith). After ending up in suburbia somewhere, we turned around again, and this time, after asking for further directions, we managed to find the right way. We drove to Airdrie, as we weren’t comfortable with finding our way out of Calgary by bike (just as well, it turns out), and as Monique says, this is a west-east trip; any distance traveled north or south by car doesn’t count.

The first part of the trip to Drumheller was great, but then we hit highway 9. The shoulders were narrow and full of wide road cracks. By the time we got to Horseshoe Canyon, we were really glad to get off the road. This was a fascinating stop, especially for the other three, as they had never been exposed to the Alberta badlands before. We were able to take a fairly long break, as we found out the Tyrell dinosaur museum in Drumheller was open until 9:00. Monique opted not to get back on the roads, and Cassie and I headed out for the last 20 km. We found a campsite in Rosedale, then headed for the showers and the museum. I got some really good photos of the Albertosaurus – you can imagine why! It even looked a bit familiar… evidently it had large nasal cavities. I wonder if it sang?

Dinner at Boston Pizza wasn’t until 8:30, so again, it was a very late night.