Leaving Fort Macleod, AL we decided to visit the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump before heading north to Calgary. This unique interpretive center is situated in a multilevel structure nestled into the 10 meter cliffs. Buffalo jumps were special places where the plains Indians, in this case the Blackfeet, would carve out 35-150 bison from the main herd in September and drive them over a cliff/escarpment to their death or serious injury below. The whole family/clan would be camped nearby ready to butcher the animals for the fierce winter ahead. This site had been used for 5000+ years, according to carbon dating of the 10 meters of bones. There were 100s or 1000s of these buffalo jumps on the plains and the Indians had honed their community skills to provide this efficient way to obtain a winter's worth of sustenance for the clan.
Why the name Head-Smashed-In? Legend has it that 150 years ago a young Indian hid under the cliff to watch the action and he was later found dead with his skull smashed from the following buffalo.
After this visit, we headed north to Calgary and located our next RV site at Pine Creek, on the outskirts of this oil patch boom town, now nearing a million population and expanding in every direction. We visited the Airedale breeders, Joanne and John Helm and their 'dales and pups at their mini-ranch on the prairie a bit east of Galgary. Later we enjoyed a fine dinner at a local restaurant. John said the weather was turning and by morning we could have some snow. He was right, unfortunately. We awoke on Sunday morning to spitting snow and a biting north wind, temperatures in the low 30s after the previous afternoon's sunshine and low 70's! Alberta is a place of contrasts, that's for sure.
We sleep warmly thanks to the propane heater, but we needed to refill the tank so we did that before finding Calvary Worship Centre (after some difficulty). They meet at a neighborhood community center and we arrived barely in time for the sermon. The church reminded me of the early days at Maranatha when we met in the Essex Junction High School.
We introduced ourselves to the pastor and his wife, Robin and Cathy, who immediately invited us to have lunch with them at a local Italian Restaurant along with Jay and Steve, two young men who, I think, board/live with them. We had a fine time of fellowship and a great meal, too. We find such warm hospitality here with all the folks we're meeting in Alberta. Robin and Kathy are first rate ministers caring for their flock. May the Lord richly bless them!
On to our next RV park in Red Deer, halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. We stocked up on groceries and were first time visitors to a Canadian Tire Company store. What a wonderful place! They carry a full line of automotive parts, tools, housewares, pet supplies and all kinds of useful stuff, sort of a cross between, Home Depot (without the lumber), Auto Zone, and Wal-Mart.
Because the weather is forecasted not to be great until Wednesday, we decided to head north to visit more Airedale folks in Edmonton before traveling to Jasper and Banff. We'll take the journey north to south rather than the other way around. We are in the Glowing Embers RV Park after spending the afternoon with Louise Chady, Airedale breeder who successfully manage six 'dales in a fine home in a subdivision. They have a litter of eight beautiful 2-week old pups. We had a lovely dinner with Karen and Louise and briefly met Ivan, Louise's husband, before heading back to the Glowing Embers.
Edmonton is booming, too, with a growth economy fostered by petroleum and natural gas production. Many wheat fields from Calgary all the way north to Edmonton sprout oil pumps and natural gas facilities and the highway has many trucks loaded with drill pipe. With oil above $70/bbl, this region is seeing robust growth, a shortage of labor and high housing and land prices.
It's now the morning of May 2 and we decided to stay put in this RV park because it's cold, windy and started snowing during the night and is still snowing at 10:30 am, but doesn't seem to be sticking to the ground. Jasper is higher and colder, so driving conditions might be a little dicey there. We'll decide later whether to stay here another night or move on toward Jasper.
This park has Wi-Fi and we were on the Internet last night, but I'm having trouble connecting this morning. Grrr!! Now 1:30 pm and Wi-Fi is fixed by RV park.
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