Thursday late afternoon and evening was spent repacking, storing and taking down the campsite. The only thing we left connected for the morning was the electricity. We processed our check out with the camp in the afternoon so all we had to do was drive away the next morning. The Jeep was reattached to the RV and we settled in for the night.
Neither one of us slept very well, though and we were up at 3:00 am. After coffee and breakfast and more coffee we started for home. I think it was around 6:30 when we left. We were going to wait until sunrise but we were getting antsy just sitting and waiting so we left. I am not a fan of driving in the dark, Never really have been. So I really did not enjoy the first part of the journey. We even tackled THE big hill in the dark. I really did not like that. Not being able to see the twists and turns ahead as we went down the hill was just frightening to me.
The sun was starting to peak out when we got to Valleyview, where we stopped and filled our gas tanks. There was a Tim Hortons right beside the gas station so I went and got us each a hot beverage. With a tank full of gas and Timmies in hand we headed for Lloydminster.
I know that I talk a lot in my blogs about the steep hills and windy roads that we travel. I don;t thgink I have ever been able to capture it in a picture to adequately show this. If you look closely at the picture below, you see the road going downwards and then climbing back up in the distance. It looks like a continuous stretch of road. In reality, though, there is a very steep decline and incline that is not reflected in the picture.
Many of the hills have curves included, just to keep it interesting. The part in the photo below reminded me of a hot wheels track.
Ok enough about hills and curves. Coming back from this trip is somewhat of a challenge as I scramble for new and interesting stuff to write about. But, being the curious type, sometimes a little thing I see along the way catches my eye and I want to find out the story behind it. We went through a couple of places that each had a story so I will share them with you.
The first place that sparked my curiosity was Mayerthorpe Alberta.
Mayerthorpe is about halfway between Grande Prairie and Edmonton and I am always fascinated by the huge train trestle bridge that is there.
This bridge puts me in mind of the old western movies. According to the town's history there were a number of suspicious fires that destroyed the original bridge in 2016 but it was rebuilt in only 20 days!
As you drive through the town itself it really looks like most other towns we passed by. It appeared that the town supported the local agriculture activity with farm equipment supply stores advertised and dirt roads between neat rows of houses. It was a sign that caught Rick's eye that sparked my curiosity though. The sign said RCMP Memorial. That sparked a discussion between us. He asked if that was where the 4 RCMP officers were murdered and I said no, I thought that was somewhere in Saskatchewan. He said he just saw a sign to the memorial. OK. So when we were settled and had time we looked it up.
I am ashamed to say I did not really know or understand the details of that very dark time in this little town's history. The internet is a wonderful thing, though and that took me (us really) to a W5 episode that talked about this tragedy.10 years later. https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/40-years-of-the-fifth-estate/mayerthorpe-tragedy-collateral-damage This report is very well done and informative.
A beautiful memorial was built in the town and opened in July of 2008. I think the next time we go through the town we will visit it.
There were other interesting things to see along the way. We crossed the North Saskatchewan River. We will cross it again tomorrow when we go through Saskatchewan.
We also noticed that the farmers seemed late this year in cutting the wheat and hay and all the other stuff that they bail. Last year when we traveled to Grande Prairie there were thousands and thousands of bales sitting in the Saskatchewan and Alberta field. This year, many of those fields were just being cut. It did make for an interesting landscape though, as we drove by many stripy fields.
The next area that captured my interest was just east of Edmonton. Every year we drive past this area and look for the Bison that are usually behind the fences close to the roads. There were only 3 of them grazing when we were on our way out to Grande Prairie but a big herd of them were out on this day.
This herd is in the Elk Island National Park. The park has a long history of conservation and re-establishing species of animals. Originally started as a sanctuary for Elk (hence the name) the park has now become the home of the densest population of hoofed animals. There is a large number of different animals that make the park their home year round, including coyote, bison, moose, mule deer, lynx, beaver, elk, white-tailed deer, and porcupine. there is evidence that black bears and timber wolves also travel through the park, but sightings are rare.
There are also hundreds of bird species that visit the park at various times of the year.
The herd of Bisons that caught our attention are part of a group that numbers about 700 (this is an estimate). There weren't supposed to be bison in this park. Or at least it wasn't planned. In 1907 the government brought a herd of almost 400 pure-bred plains bison to Elk island from Montana. They were to keep them while fencing was put up in Buffalo park. When the fencing was complete, only about 325 bison could be rounded up and sent to Buffalo National park. The rest began the herd that we see today. The park maintains a population of 400 of the Plains buffalo. When the herd grows bigger than that they ship them off to other areas in order to repopulate areas where they used to thrive.
There is a second type of Bison that were brought to the park in 1965. The wood bison herd has grown to a population of about 315. To be honest, I don't know which type of Bison that we always see. I can tell you they are magnificent looking animals.
As our journey continued, the only other remarkable thing we noticed was farm equipment displayed on hilltops. I don't know if it is just something that everyone does in the area, but we noticed a lot of them. Some were old fashioned and some looked to be pretty modern. But there they were, on hills, beside the road,.
Finally, after about 8 1/2 hours on the road, we made it to our destination. My favourite little border town. of course I am talking about Lloydminster. We stayed just a block away from the border, on the Saskatchewan side. I did manage to get a couple of pictures at the border.
The Alberta Coat of Arms is on the west side of the border post. The Saskatchewan Coat of Arms is on the east side.
So that is it. day 1 of 7 is complete and we are settled in for the night. Bring on Saskatchewan tomorrow!
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