During the long weekend in August my family (plus Mack) did something we haven’t done in a long time – take a road trip together. The destination wasn’t far – just Drumheller and Calgary – but while neither the time spent or the drive down was particularly long, it was such a throwback to summer vacations in the past that it didn’t matter.
Drumheller’s a sightseeing haven
Our first stop in Drumheller was lunch. I looked in vain prior to the trip for some independent dining recommendations in a chain-saturated town, but couldn’t find much. I decided upon The Whistling Kettle, mostly due to its quaint exterior, but when we arrived, we found it closed due to a death in the family. We walked back towards main street and after surveying very limited options (for whatever reason most of the restaurants were closed on Saturdays), decided upon Gus’ Corner Restaurant. The food really isn’t worth mentioning; everything was coaxed back from frozen hibernation.
After lunch, we walked over to the tacky-but-clever World’s Largest Dinosaur attraction. Tacky because really, it’s just a large covered metal staircase, but clever because tourists seem to flock to it (it has even won a national award). Priced at $3 per person or $11 for a family of five, it’s a “why not?” type of expense, and yes, our family succumbed to it too.
World’s Largest Dinosaur
Felicia at the foot of the World’s Largest Dinosaur
Mack and I in the mouth of the dinosaur
By this time, we were crying for air conditioning (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it cloudy or rainy in Drumheller – in my mind, it’s a toasty 35 degrees year round). The Royal Tyrrell Museum was thus the next logical step, and would hopefully bridge us through the warmest part of the afternoon.
Cute prairie dog outside the Museum
The parking lot was absolutely packed, with overflow parking similarly jammed. We had passed by several RV lots full of vehicles, and it seemed that the staycation mentality was in full effect.
I haven’t been to the Tyrrell since high school (hurrah for school field trips!), but short of the small exhibits about Darwin and some of the pioneer archaeologists who helped develop the museum into what it is today, the Tyrrell seemed largely unchanged. I suppose it was a bit disappointing, largely because we had visited the incomparable Smithsonian earlier this year. I know funding must be difficult to come by, but I do hope the Tyrrell is able to build additional galleries that would provide the option of rotating exhibitions – having reached a milestone in visitors this year, I do hope they can continue to attract a record number of tourists.
My parents at the Tyrrell Museum
T-Rex
Stegosaurus was my favourite dinosaur as a kid
Eerie Woolly Mammoth display
The freakiest looking salamanders (called axolotl)
It was still blazingly hot outside after our museum visit, but we had no choice and headed to the next attraction – hoodoos!
My sisters at the hoodoos
There were two tourism employees placed around the hoodoos to prevent visitors from breaching out-of-bounds areas – on smouldering days like that, I can’t imagine being in the sun for eight hours straight.
Mack on top of the world!
Hoodoos of a different sort (such a cheesy picture, but I love it)
We had some more time to kill before needing to head to Calgary, so decided to stop at the nearby Rosedale Suspension Bridge. Nothing particularly special, the swaying structure was enough to keep my mum on the side of the parking lot while the rest of us crossed to see what was across the river. It turns out, nothing much.
Rosedale Suspension Bridge
Amanda and Felicia on the bridge
The next day in Calgary, we didn’t do much except eat and shop. And, well, visit the Calgary Farmers’ Market.
Too cute watering cans
Mack knows well enough by now that I can’t leave a farmers’ market empty-handed, so goaded me into buying a few things lest he have to hear about the missed opportunity to try a different local vendor. As we were away for the weekend, it also meant we had missed our usual Saturday trip to the City Centre Farmers’ Market, so we needed some produce to tide us over anyway. We didn’t have much cooler space left, so opted for heartier broccoli and cauliflower from Beck Farms that would easily last the ride home, and a 950g(!) loaf of multigrain bread from Rustic Sourdough Bakery.
Weighing out our bread options
I’m not sure when our whole family will be able to take another road trip again, but it was fun to get away together this year!
You can see Mack’s photoset of our trip here.
Only Here for the Food 
For lunch in Drumheller you could have gone to WHIFS (Waffles, Hamburgers, Ice Cream, Flapjacks, Sodas) on the way to the Tyrrell. It is part of a small motel. The food is not bad especially for breakfast and it’s rather a unique place with a toy train running along the ceiling and a greasy spoon-type atmosphere.
Ah, I did see that on the list of options, but didn’t consider it at all. Thanks for the rec!
I always wondered how the view would be from the the Largest Dinosaur in Drumheller, thanks for the picture 🙂