Days 5 & 6 - Medicine Hat, AB to Canmore, AB to Abbotsford, BC

Ms. Perrin: “Day 5 was a relaxed day with less driving and more doing. J  We left Medicine Hat and went to Dinosaur Provincial Park.  THIS IS A MUST SEE!!!  As you drive there through the prairies, you wonder where it could possibly be and then this huge crater in the ground opens up before you and you drive down into a whole new world of desert cactus & creatures, fossil excavation sites with a river running along the one end.  We spent a couple of hours there checking out the visitors center with all of it’s information, going on a hike through the badlands and then checking out the 2 fossil sites.  It’s amazing!”

“Then we drove to a B & B in Canmore, Alberta, checked in and went up to the Banff Upper Hot Springs.  They were so nice after all of this sitting and driving!!”

Kelsey:  “they were soooooo relaxing! And they smelled good! But I was cold when I got out… im going crazy… im watching Dora the explorer. I think shes distantly related to Stewie Griffin,I mean, look at their head shapes!!!! But ive been watching treehouse all evening. But dinosaur park was AWESOME!!!!! There was a lot of walking, but the view was amazazing! And every step you took, you thought you heard a rattlesnake in the bushes!!!

Ms. Perrin:  “Day 6 and it’s cloudy and overcast just in time for our drive through the Rockies. :\  They are still beautiful but the tops are missing. J  We stopped to see Lake Louise first thing this morning which was beautiful.  It was only 9:30 am so it wasn’t crowded yet at all.  We even had 5 minutes of sun for our pictures. J”

“Then we were off.  We made a quick stop at the Spiral Tunnels just outside of Field, BC.  They’re really neat.  The grade there was too steep for trains so to fix the situation, they blasted tunnels into the mountain that spiral around in a figure 8 so that they could minimize the slope of the track.  To get the whole story of the Spiral Tunnels, google “Spiral Tunnels at Kicking Horse Pass”.  A train comes through every ½ hour and they’re long enough that you can see the back of the train going into one tunnel while the front of the train comes out of the other.”

“Then we headed straight for Grandma’s house in Abbotsford.  The drive into Golden, BC was interesting as always.  It’s steep with lots of turns and cliffs so it can be tense depending on the traffic.  Also, if anyone is headed on this route, make sure you gas up and pee in Golden and Merritt.  There are no gas stations after these two locations for over 100 km.  I expected that in Northern Ontario but not in BC.” 

“We’re at Grandma’s house now and of course she has homemade soup ready for us.  Aunt Heidi & Uncle Henry also came over for a visit which was fantastic.  Sounds like they’ve got lots of cool things planned so we’ll keep you posted!”

Kelsey:  “Im still watching treehouse. The vampire dude from sesame streets’ hair just turned blue. Hes officially awesome. Personally, he was awesome before, but now hes awesomer. Im finally at my oma’s house!!! The waterfalls on the way here were so gorgeous!!! The water is so bluey-green here!!! I LURVE IT!!!!