Double update for a long couple days!

After we left the Ponderosa Motel, we stopped at a little disappointing coffee house that was trying to be competitive with Starbucks. They were not. 

We were on our way back to Calgary. To visit of course, not recover the camp chairs we forgot there. 

We made a detour to the town of Hedley so that Kathy could fangirl. Past that, we drove into the BC fruit belt. In a town called Keremeos, we stopped at a huge fruit market and picked some nice peaches, cherries and various stuff. 

We drove another 100 metres and realized there were about 10 other fruit markets we could have visited. It was crazy, but impressive. No one is lacking peaches in this vicinity. 
At some point, we drove through Peneticton and Peachland, eventually stopping in Kelowna for The White Spot, on advice of my BFF Michael. It was pretty good fare for a casual dining “pirate” restaurant, if not a little pricier than I had anticipated. I actually expected it to be fast food for no reason whatsoever (the numerous White Spot drive-thrus we passed over the week made this even more perplexing), so it wasn’t really in my lunch or time budget. 

After putting ourselves behind for the umpteenth time on this trip, we travelled through Vernon (fan girl op for Alo this time. Some K-pop star just happens to be named Vernon. SMH. Pre-teens, ugh), Revelstoke, Banff and Canmore. We managed to spot a coyote checking out some roadside garbage. I probably should have stopped for pics, but we were pressing for time. 

On the way out of the mountains we were chased by a nasty and intimidating storm (which we later learned dropped a few funnel clouds into Saskatchewan later that night). 

As we approached Calgary (and civilization plus cell signal), we were getting desperate for a place to stay. Fortunately, Uncle Ken and Aunt Tammy offered us another nights stay. 
Family is great. Have I mentioned that yet?

After a lengthy drive, we were glad for company (with Aunt Carol still hanging out) and a good night’s sleep. 

In the morning, we said goodbye again, and headed towards our next exciting location. 

Uncle Ken told us to stop at the Alberta badlands and man are we glad we did. 

One of the coolest things I have even seen, was our very own Grand Canyon, formed by the recession of the Bearpaw Sea during the end of the Ice Age. 

While it was a dreary morning view, it was still breathtaking. 

Afterwards we headed to the famous town of Drumheller. Or Dino-kitschville. To be fair, it is a world class paleontology excavation area, but man, it was level “Dino-mite” when it came to overkill marketing. 
We passed shop after shop after shop on our way to the world famous Royal Tyrell Museum, where we waited in a traffic line-up 20 cars deep. There were attendants warning people that there was absolutely no parking left, and that we should come back later. 

Screw that. 8000kms and I was not gonna miss this. 

Until about 2 passes through the parking lot. 

So, we left to go visit Fossil World, a museum/activity centre we passed earlier. It was neat, and we scored some cool souvenirs while we waited to go back to the Tyrell. 

This huge T-Rex was animatronic and was actually pretty impressive.

Back to the museum.

On our second go, we went straight into the parking lot and found a spot. Life was good. 

Until we had to climb a ridiculous staircase behind the museum, only to be in a ridiculous line-up of people, not unlike a ride at Canada’s Wonderland.

Kathy’s asthma and anxiety was not impressed. 

However, it was well worth it. 

Seriously, if you have any interest in dinosaurs, anthropology, or paleontology, this is the place to see. Unfortunately, there was so many people, that it was hard to truly take it all in. That’s what we get for going on a holiday Monday, I guess. 
I would definitely visit again. 

After all was said and done, we drove to Medicine Hat for the night. 

While we were checking into the Park Lane Motel (we were worried about the forecasted storms, so we motelled again. Budget ouchy!), a police officer came in, interrupting our check in, looking for a particular room. (The clerk at the desk then made some trashy comments about police.) Ah, sketch. Felt like home. 

Speaking of which, help us get home, please!

Fundraiser!
Notes:

1. Mountains are beautiful. 
2. Mountain roads are treacherous. 
3. There is lots of fruit in Keremeos. 
4. Family rules. 
5. The badlands are badass. 
6. So is the Royal Tyrell Museum. Soooo amazing. 
7. When you go cheap, you are probably just as sketchy as those you judge. 
8. I accept that.