Strathmore treated us well. Our stay at the travel lodge was so comfortable. Everyone slept well. In the morning we made our way to the dining area for a full continental breakfast! This particular Travel Lodge has the other hotels beat this far for their continental breakfast. Moose made his own waffles, Bowie had toast and cream cheese with fresh fruit. Chris and I both had omelets, fresh fruit and bacon. There was so much more to choose from, fuel for the road!

Todays destination – Drumheller, AB. For those of you who don’t know what’s there, I’ll fill you in. Dinosaur bones! I have wanted to visit the Royal Tyrell Museum since a friend mentioned it quite a few years ago. So today was pretty much for me and I just hoped the kids would enjoy it too. Driving through the hills into town is quite remarkable. The road has twists and turns and the hills are all around. It is really cool to see the appearance of gradient layers and the drastic change of colour within the hills. Before you fully enter town you are greeted by a “Welcome to Drumheller” sign with a large T-Rex attached. So ya, you pull over and take the picture…

Driving through town the dinosaur theme game is STRONG! Dino hotels, dino statues galore, dino lamp posts, dino digging, dino playgrounds, dino business…that’s all I can say about that, to quote Forrest Gump. But it works, because when we pulled up to the museum it had only been open for about 40 minutes and the parking lot was filling up FAST! As we made our way to the entry, there are dinosaur sculptures placed along the walkway ready for a photo op. We were greeted by staff outdoors to direct us to the correct line. As we got our tickets from the gal at the ticket booth, she didn’t ask for payment. So per Canadian rule…I offered. Tada it was a FREE weekend! Bonus point for Moms choice of activity.

OMG Walking through the doors; HUGE carnivorous dinosaur statues in a scene of attack, surrounded by what would be their natural environment. Now the kids are excited. There is a lot of educational material throughout the museum. Some people ran up to take pictures, then were gone. While others would read the content and also take in that particular exhibit. Its all up to how you would like to enjoy it! Just remember to be courteous.

We were somewhere in between. Moose and Bowie’s interest was there, but not lets read it all and discuss for hours on end. There were certain areas of the exhibit that I really enjoyed: The Millions of Years Arches which separated each exhibit by appropriate era(s). The extinction level plaques. Did you know there has been 5 major mass extinctions in Earths history? Me neither, but now we do. The Exploded Skull, pictured above. This really shows what it takes to educate the masses about the dinosaur and fossil world. This discovery was found in pieces, fragments and some bones not found at all. Because the bones for this piece are so fragile, the researchers made casts and even digitized components to make 3D prints just to have it on display. What patience and focus must be needed to execute something so spectacular! Every nook and cranny has something to offer. We learned about fossils, and the varying techniques used to obtain and display them.

Chris found it really interesting how oil and gas companies have made such an impact in the Alberta region, as far as locating specimens. Some of these spectacular finds would never have been found if it wasn’t for active work sites. The Royal Tyrell Museum actually makes a point of showcasing these finds in conjunction with the active worksite and the worker who stopped production to preserve these remnants. Which then go on to become educational displays for all of us.

What’s really cool! The Preparation Lab is visible through a glass window. There are 2 projects that you can see in the works. Tools, brushes and premade casts ready to go. Plus giant vacuums…can you imagine the dust! One thing I found particularly interesting, there was a video clip of a current paleontologist who works with the museum. She noted that there is one tool, an air scribe, that is actually built for paleontology and archeology. All the other tools they use daily are adapted from other professions. Think about it. A toothbrush, paintbrushes, dental picks, and circular saws, glue syringes! Maybe that’s the million dollar idea for someone in that profession…

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for….THE BIG DINOSAURS!!! We’ve made it to the bottom floor, the finale…Though seen from upstairs actually seeing them up close in the gallery…knowing what it takes to recreate these skeletons, these reconstructions. Magnificent, awe-inspiring. It takes you back to when you were a kid and thought you might find a fossil digging in your sandbox…or was that just me? I really liked how they put some of the skeletons in ‘scenes’ like predator vs prey, basking in the sun or similar species living together. Sadly, when you exit this gallery…it is Extinction Level 5…A Deadly Day. “An asteroid about 10km in diameter crashed to Earth 66 million years ago. It was sudden, and left the world in chaos…” There is more, but you’ll have to visit for that.

Post Extinction a final exhibit of what species were able to evolve or survive is left to explore and then exit through the gift shop. Now we were really lucky with this free day, because as we exited we heard the ticket booth tell the HUGE line-up that the museum was sold out…this was only 1:00pm! Happy Dance for me. We headed out to the hills and explored briefly, then it was time to go.

Getting to West Ed…

Moose was getting antsy as he was ready to shop. Off we go on our way to West Edmonton Mall. Yes it’s a 3 hour drive and yes we just left Calgary. But we’re on an ‘Epic Adventure’. We’re taking the unconventional path on an unconventional Cross Canada Journey. Scenic views and good music helps the drive as we travel along hwy 56, then onto hwy 21, and finally hwy 16. We opted to stay at Fantasyland located in the hotel. We got cleaned up and headed straight in…but it was Sunday and closing at 6pm. We had about 20 minutes. There was major disappointment here from Moose and Bowie. We went back to our room to cool off and reset. So I tried to write the previous days blog, but the internet was sooo terrible I couldn’t even upload pictures, gah. Now lightbulb from Chris, lets get dinner…FROM INSIDE THE MALL! What!!! I had no idea that we would had access to the mall and the restaurants remained open AND you can wander around the mall at night! Off to Moxies for dinner and exploring…