I got up bright and early, excited about the wonderful trip that lay ahead. We were finally going to Drumheller! I was going to walk on the very grounds that were dominated by dinosaurs once. This was going to be one sweet trip.
This was a day to look forward to; first my dad went to pick up the car that had been booked the day before. Then we met the Dases, long time family friends who were going to Drumheller with us. After picking up a few provisions at the store, it was all for Drumheller. On the way we saw great big farms spread out on hundreds of acres of land, farming Canola. Also on the way, carved by Mother Nature, lay some very beautiful ravines and canyons that go by the name of “Horseshoe Canyons”. They offered helicopter rides here which swooped people right into the canyons and the farms. We resolved to visit the canyons on our way back, but alas! Little did we know that we would not be seeing the Horseshoe Canyons again.
Two hours later, we entered the Drumheller valley where stood the world’s largest dinosaur. The Dases’ kids Jojo and Ria, together with my brother and I, climbed the 106 steps that led the way into the dinosaur’s mouth. From up there could just make out the tiny little swings in the playground, and the information centre was no more than a rock to my eye. And the majestic view of the whole city was just breath-taking. The ravines of the badlands stretched all around for miles and miles, and enveloped the few houses like mountains around a small lake. The view was breathtaking. After lunch we set out for some sight seeing. The radio blared on 94.5, the station for tourist info about Drumheller.
Our first stop was The Royal Tyrrell Museum that houses artifacts that are up to five billion years old. The results of hundreds of ongoing archeological digs were on display. Even the bones were arranged in an orderly fashion that resembled the silhouette of a dinosaur. In the museum they had even grown plants that were believed to be a part of diet of all the dinosaurs. The museum sported bony outlines of a mammoth, a giant cat that was about the size of a big dog, a rhinoceros, and a giant beaver that was the size of a dog. Rooms had been altered to simulate different eco-systems such as underwater environment. Microscopic animals had been “blown up” so as to make the audience understand their significance and niche. Then there were various displayed models of the earth that demonstrated the evolution of the earth as well as its beings since they were formed.
Then the next stop was the "Badland Valley" where you could view the ravines and the valleys up close. Many photographs were taken there and the view was just beautiful. Even more amazing thing was how these formations were formed through the erosion by water and wind for thousands of years.
After that came a very interesting part, a ferry that was almost a part of the road with the capacity of transporting about 12 cars at a time.
Next on the list were the Hoodoos. Formed by the erosion by wind and water these structures were once under an inland ocean, but that was ten thousand years ago. Today, they are beautiful to look at and a part of the Albertan Heritage.
It was 6 o’clock and the coal mine and the school museum that lay ahead were closed.
Thus we departed from a different route than the one we arrived from. Halfway through the way we remembered about the Horseshoe Canyon but it was too late to turn back now. The Horseshoe canyon had to be left for the next visit.
It was home time.
I wrote this reflection of our trip to Drumheller at the age of 14.
