Today was probably our latest start of the trip. I awoke at 8 to find Mum patiently waiting for me to get up. We went down to breakfast at the hotel and I proceeded to finish my blog from yesterday. After my normal run to Timmy’s, we ventured downtown to the Clay District, only to see a tour bus full of people outside the entrance. Since we were pressed for time, we decided to put Medicine Hat on our list of places to return to next year and decided to head west.
One lovely change form the last couple of days, was the return of the sun. There were still some clouds in the sky, but they didn’t threaten any rain. It was a fairly uneventful drive to Lethbridge, where we stopped for lunch at Arby’s. I realize that this is a Food Network trip and we are not supposed to be having meals at fast food restaurants, but we wanted something fast. It also turned out to be a good choice as we both enjoyed our meal.
After our quick bite to eat, we headed to Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump. Mum had visited before, but I had only stared longingly at the sign on my previous visits to the area – wishing that I would have time to visit one day. I also noticed that the number of wind turbines in the area had greatly increased. When I first came through Fort Macleod in 2002, there were only a couple of them. This time there looked to be well over a hundred and I was happy that the weather allowed me to get a picture of some of them.
I was also able to get a good picture of the Porcupine Hills as we were driving up the highway towards them.
I learned a lot about Blackfoot culture and the importance of the piskun (buffalo jump). For thousands of years, the Blackfoot drove the bison over this cliff as well as others like it. They would come together from far away to communally drive the bison over a precipice to kill them. When there was a successful hunt, they could feed their families in the coming winter, cover their tipis with the hides and use the bones for weapons.
Although it may seem cruel to us to kill bison this way, it wasn’t until the white man came in the late 1800’s and killed the bison indiscriminately for sport (or no reason at all) that the bison’s numbers dwindled to the point of near extinction.
Mum and I were lucky enough to see bison up close in Yellowstone, a few years ago. They are beautiful creatures and I am so glad that they were able to be saved. One day I hope to go to Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and see even more close-up.
After HSIBJ, we headed back to Lethbridge and checked into the hotel. Not long afterwards, we went to dinner – I think the fresh air made us hungry.
We went to Two Guys and a Pizza Place which was featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Not only do they have great pizza, but they have a ridiculously large selection of craft beer. I had a Smashbomb Atomic IPA from Flying Monkeys, which is based out of Barrie, Ontario (my hometown for those who don’t know that). For food, Mum had a medium Greekus Veggius and I had a small Monterey Chicken. While we waited for our food to come (and also while we ate), we read each other Trivial Pursuit questions. Mum and I pride ourselves on our knowledge of useless trivia and always enjoy finding cards on the table in restaurants we visit. (I am planning on bringing a box with me next year so we will always have something to kill time in restaurants). The food was to die for and although I am not a big fan of pizza, yet again, Mum was right in her choice of a place to eat.
Tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us as we are heading to Castlegar – just over 500 km away. We are hoping that we won’t be delayed by the fire just west of Creston or the possibility of snow on the Crowsnest Pass. When we drove east at the end of May in 2010, we encountered snow there, so just because it is August doesn’t mean anything.
I would like to thank you all for reading and sharing our adventures with us.
I will check in tomorrow from Castlegar.
L