Day 5-6 – Saskatchewan-Alberta (Moosomin to Dinosaur Provincial Park)

Day 5-6 – Saskatchewan-Alberta (Moosomin to Dinosaur Provincial Park)

Sorry we weren’t able to upload sooner. So just as a special treat, you get double the updates! :D From now on, we will be staying in places that may not have internet access, so updates may be a bit slow. Thank you for your understanding.

Day 5

What’s flatter than a wall? Not Saskatchewan. It’s not as flat as you think it is. It has a lot of small rises, not enough to be considered hills, though. Those are called ‘monticles’. :D

We began today’s drive at nearly 9:00 a.m. Saskatchewan time.

The countryside is still as beautiful as ever; with fluffy white clouds, floating like drifters, sailing the expanse that is the sky. The landscape is gradually becoming hillier, and there are more fields filled with hay bales. If hay bales can look so nice and…majestic, glowing gold under the radiant sun, Saskatchewan hay bales have that effect.

We stocked up on food, so we’ll have food for the next few days in which we’ll be camping out.

We ate lunch at a nearby information centre. And boy was it windy! The wind blew away some of our utensils, but luckily no food, before we brought them back under control. We saw it when we were chasing after some napkins that had flown away. It was some sort of rodent; the best candidates are gophers or prairie dogs. In whichever case, it was some sort of small, burrowing rodent. It also hung around our eating area, hoping to pick off some scraps.

We looked around the information centre for a while; posing for some pictures, gathering information. Then we were on the road again. We don’t even have to do much. Billy’s been driving this entire time…and has only taken two short power naps. That’s true willpower, and the Monticle mindset. :)

Parts of Alberta are actually flatter than Saskatchewan. It has the same ‘farming’ feel to it. By the time we arrived in Alberta, the mosquitoes attacked. Swarms of them converged around our heads, following us wherever we went. We had to practically leap into the car, and slam the door on them. Some of those pesky insects still managed to make it into the Sprinter, so we resorted to good old fashioned swatting and slapping at them.

So, Dinosaur Provincial Park. It’s filled with badlands (cracks in the land from earthquakes) and very big—more than 120 km! We arrived late at night; almost 9:00-10:00 p.m. We decided to set up the tents in the dark. It was a real life lesson. We weren’t able to set up one of the tents completely. Wake up call on our teamwork, and leadership ability.

Although with a lack of experience, and the time being close midnight, we still had something to sleep under. We learned the hard way—an interesting life lesson, actually—that we can’t achieve anything without working hard and then harder for it.

Tomorrow we’re hiking in those badlands. It’ll be an exciting experience, what with the rocky features, rises and falls of the landscape, as well as having to watch for snakes and other dangers. But most of all, it will definitely be a lot of fun! :D

Day 6

Today we woke up around 7:00 in the morning. The boys woke up earlier trying to fix up their tent. That there is Monticle determination. (Their tent was actually collapsing in on them on the middle of the night.) We had a ton of oatmeal for breakfast, along with sandwiches on the side.

We unfortunately (or rather, later we’d find out that we were quite fortunate) had to change our location. Our campground was actually booked, so we relocated from the South loop 10 to the North loop 125. Our new campsite is a short walk away from our original spot, but it’s perceptibly bigger, and it’s right beside a river so it has a nice view.

We had to transport the tents to the new campground too. We literally picked them up and moved them. People looked at us as if we were crazy, but it honestly was fun. Just imagine stepping outside for a breath of fresh air, and watching a full-blown tent floating down the path right before your eyes. It must be a real sight to see! 

We were so busy transporting everything manually, that we skipped lunch. We had some fruits to keep our energy up though.

We set up a makeshift clothesline, and learned how to use it efficiently. We learned that the clothesline, if tied in a specific manner, can also be used as an emergency shelter when you drape a tarp over it.

We then drove around the park (where we were allowed to drive obviously! No offroad-ing for us), and stopped at different vantage points. First, back at the entrance viewpoint that we had stopped by briefly yesterday night. We took a few pictures, and figures out where we were camped by looking down at the badlands.

We drove down to where one of the unearthed hadrosaur skeletons were displayed in glass cases…well, more like big glass rooms. It was called the ‘Headless Hadrosaur’ because, well, it was headless. Its head presumably was washed away when the neck muscles rotted away.

We climbed one of the hills in the provincial park. The dry sandstone was crumbling away beneath our feet. It was hard enough climbing up the hill, but climbing down? That was scary…(At least for me…‘me’ being Jenn…) But the rest of us, they thought the view was amazing. And that wasn’t even one of the higher ones.
After we all made it down that hill safely, we went to the Visitor’s Centre We all filled out trivia sheets, just to check our knowledge, and our learning skills by exploring all the exhibits. The centre’s displays were detailed and very well-informed, and we learned a lot; not just about the dinosaurs and bones discovered here, but the geographical and topographical features of the park. We watched a few of the educational videos before we left the centre.

We had a big dinner consisting of pasta with mashed potatoes and cream of mushroom soup. And when I say ‘with’ I actually mean altogether, in one pot. It tasted so good!

We’re going to go wash up, and we’re probably going to stay up late and look at the stars. There’s so many, and they’re all so bright.

We didn’t go hiking today, but we are definitely going tomorrow. The trail will be long, and it’ll be hot. But like I said, it will be lots of fun! Stay tuned for the next update! :D