Fossils and Ferry Rides

On our second full day in Drumheller, we made our way to the renowned Tyrrell Museum. Like a lot of Albertans, this may be my favourite museum in the world, so I was grateful for the chance to revisit it for the first time in over a decade. Glory had no memory of the place at all, really (as she was probably 4), so it might as well have been the first time for her.

I'm always glad to see the famed T. Rex skull called "Black Beauty".

It's also good to be reminded that hosting tourists is only a small facet of what the Tyrrell does, and that there is tons of activity happening year-round, some of it where you can actually get a glimpse.

Being around ancient enormous skeletons is a treat. Sure, our current fauna has a lot going for it, but does any of it have the panache or allure of giant carnivorous lizards with mouths full of serrated stalactites for teeth?

Plus, every time we go, I am bound to come across some species I am unfamiliar with, like this Estemmenosuchus, who reminds me a little of the Jack Kirby rendition of the Demon from DC Comics, Etrigan.

I can't tell you precisely why the dimetrodon (pronounced die-MEET-row-don, not dim-MET-row down like I've been doing since I was 9) is my favourite prehistoric creature, but I am pretty sure it has everything to do with esthetics, and a fin that puts '60s era Chevies to shame. Not really a dinosaur though; dimetrodon is a thecodont who precedes dinos by a fair chunk of time.

Most of all though, we love the dramatizations set up with the skeletons, whether saurian or mammalian.

I couldn't resist the opportunity to give Glory a couple of enormous horns through the miracle of intentionally bad composition.

The best new exhibit is focused on fossils found by people on worksites, including a new species of ankylosaur found in the oil sands, but they are expanding the Tyrrell even as we speak, and I'm sure the exhibits will be even more fascinating when we return. Hopefully there won't be as many years in between as there was this time.

On our way home we stopped at the Fossil World "museum" which is really a means of getting you into their gift shop. It's easy to forgive though, as a lot of the exhibits are quite good, and the animatronic sculptures are fairly well done, especially the T. Rex. For a fairly small-scale operation, he has a good range and variety of motion despite being fixed in place.

Other neat exhibits included a set of jaws from a megalodon, a prehistoric shark the size of a school bus (and just about to get a Jason Statham movie), as well as this intimidating smilodon skull.

Also, the gift shop itself is not too bad, with lots of opportunities to buy legit fossils and not just t-shorts and plastic dino toys.

Leaving Fossil World we headed north out of town to pick up Nitti from Cole's Pet Resort, which turned out to be a pretty good operation as well. AFter that is was back to the campsite to grill up some smokies and roast some marshmallows.

The next day was our first opportunity to have a bit of a lay-in, and we did, using up much of our morning on being lazy and getting a breakfast sorted. Unlike at home though, we could do this guilt-free as we were on vacation.

With much fo the day gone and the heat still a beastly 34 degrees, we decided to base most of our tourism this day on driving about. We began by crossing the same river seven times as we made our way to the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne, a former coal-mining town.

I have a soft spot for vintage advertising like this, even though i had never heard of the Stubby brand before. I came across a bottle at the Antique Mall in Edmonton this past weekend though.

Part of me would like to stay in the Rosedeer Hotel just once, as it is so unlike a modern hotel and they seem to have some neatly appointed rooms.

 Lastly, we drove one of two scenic loops around Drumheller. This one took us past the Little Church, which we are reliably informed by the signage can seat 10,000 people...six at a time.

Then we took a ride on the Bleriot Ferry, Alberta's only floating car conveyance. It was built in 1904 by the brother of Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel.

Not far from the ferry is the Orkney lookout. We didn't stay here long, as there was a fierce storm system moving in from northwest of us.

 Orkney is an archipelago in northern Scotland; I can't fathom the connection between a place in the North Sea and this scenic glacial riverbed. I suspect they are both picturesque, but in vastly different ways.