Family Gatherings -- Muskoka

In April, Glen's wonderful cousin, Lynn, passed away.  We were devastated.  She was a woman of cottage country Ontario (Muskoka) and wanted her memorial held there when all her friends and family could gather.  The date was set for mid-June.  Of course, we would attend.

In her obituary Lynn wrote:  "Weep for your loss, but do not weep for me.  I have lived a richly blessed life."  And she had!  The evidence was in the group of people who gathered to cry and laugh as her life was told first by her bother, Alan, then by friends, Mark and Kathy.  The choir she belonged to (Minettones) gave voice (with the Grandsons of the Pioneers) to her favourite songs and Rev. Jim Hatt led the moving service.  Lynn's daughter, Elizabeth, provide us with packets of tissues and I used them all!

We flew to Toronto on the Friday before the memorial, meeting Glen's brother-in-law, Randy at the Calgary airport.  We took a cab to the military base where we met, Glen's sister, Norma. Randy drove their SUV expertly through Toronto traffic north to Bracebridge.  We stayed at the Quality Inn as most hotels/resorts in the region were booked for the summer season.

Bracebridge was built around waterfalls on the Muskoka River.  It was named after a book, Bracebridge Hall by Washington Irving, the post master was reading at the time.  Incorporated in 1875, it became a distribution hub for the region and was the first town in Ontario to have its own hydro generating plant (1894).

The street in front of the motel was under construction and the inn itself looked dodgy.  However once inside, we realized it had been newly renovated and the rooms were perfect.  Glen had insisted on a river view which was lovely (once you looked past the parking lot) and much better than viewing the construction site.

We quickly changed into summery clothes and headed to the family dinner Elizabeth had planned.  The restaurant, called the Crossroads, sits where the old Rosseau gas station stood.  We all remembered that!  In fact, I was amazed at how many landmarks hadn't changed from our last visit to the town 20 years ago.  The Crossroads easily accommodated sixteen people and served a delicious meal beginning with an antipasto and charcuterie board followed by salad, chicken or steak and dessert.  The local Muskoka Brewery beer was refreshing on such a warm, humid day.

While we ate, we (I include Norma and Randy here) got caught up on the lives of our relatives:  Fred (Lynn's husband), Elizabeth, Alan, Kitty, Scott, Doug, Katherine and little Elliot (who did very well being the only kid at the table).  Welcoming hugs held much emotion but we were family so tears flowed and laughter followed.

Randy easily navigated us around the Muskoka area as we moved from town to town.  The memorial was at the community hall of Minett and Fred's cottage was on the Little Joe River (the link between Lake Joseph and Lake Rosseau--see photo).

The motel restaurant had a lovely view of the river so the four of us lingered over breakfast on Saturday then moved onto the patio.   It was nice to just chat and not worry about being anywhere until after lunch.  A diner across from the hotel served foot-long hot dogs that I swear were longer than a foot and Glen could get a 'real' milkshake made the old-fashioned way.

After the memorial, everyone was invited to Fred's cottage for drinks and a late supper.  Glen was thrilled to touch base with another cousin, Peggy, whom he hadn't seen in over forty years.  Turns out she shared Glen's love of family history and they spent the evening trading stories.  The only issue was it poured rain so any outside activities (like tossing people off the dock) were curtailed.  However it was a good 'wake' and in the end, Fred and Elizabeth raised the flag which had been lowered in Lynn's honour.

Randy and Norma had a long drive home to Kingston so we left Bracebridge after breakfast and arrived at the Toronto airport in time for lunch.  I had been battling a cold and for the first time in my life, fell asleep at the gate.  Fortunately, we didn't miss our flight.

Family Gatherings -- Road Trip East

Geoff and his family flew to Calgary at the end of May.  Elijah and Miles had just finished school but Alberta kids had another month to go.  This meant most places offered pre-season discounts.  They spent the night with us before heading south (same route as we took with Lynda) to Wateron National Park.  There they met Melissa's mom and her husband and enjoyed family time in the mountains.  Before going to Edmonton to visit family and friends, they stopped in Calgary.  We had a fun supper (low country boil) with Meg and Mike, then the next day, Glen and I joined them on a trip east to Drumheller.

In the 1880s, geologist Joseph Burr Tyrrell came to the Badlands looking for coal and found an Albertasaurus (at that time an unknown dinosaur) skull near the Red Deer River.  So began Drumheller's relationship with dinosaurs and as you drive through the town, they appear on every street corner.

Our grandson, Miles is fascinated with fossils and the visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum was on his to-do list.  The badlands have been drawing people like him for years: first dinosaur hunters during the Great Dinosaur Rush of 1910-17, then modern day tourists who visit the museum or volunteer on digs in Dinosaur Provincial Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site).

Tyrrell did find coal which lured people to the area.  Samuel Drumheller bought the land in the valley from Thomas Greentree and they tossed a coin on whose name the Canadian National Railway would use for the town.  Between 1911 and 1979, over 56 millions tons of coal was shipped across Canada.  Glen's PhD supervisor, Bill Paranchych's father was one of the miners from the Ukraine who came to dig the coal.

Destined to die after the collapse of the coal industry, Drumheller asked the provincial government for help.  With incredible foresight, it proposed moving the existing paleontological program from the Royal Alberta Museum (in Edmonton) to a new facility in Drumheller.  The Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opened in 1985.  Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the title "Royal" in 1990.   Over 400,000 people visit the exhibits every year and they are constantly changing as new fossils are found.

The museum is huge (4,440 sq. metres of exhibit space) but the path through the exhibits is easy to follow so we went our separate ways discovering displays or enjoying people-watching.  Glen basically hobbled from bench to bench until we came to the Preparation Lab where he watched technicians cleaning the fossils for study and eventual display.  Elijah and Geoff read as many plaques as they could (something Glen used to do).  Miles and Melissa led the way through the exhibits until Melissa discovered the Cretaceous Garden.  This is Canada's largest collection of prehistoric plant relatives where creatures like fire-bellied toads and salamanders control pests.  She spent time photographing the flowers and animals.

Tradition is we have lunch in the on-site cafeteria.  The last time we did this Glen's folks, Jim and Bessie, were with us as was Aunty Pearl.  He and I reminisced about our visit to the Tyrrell with them while the kids ignored us and enjoyed their lunch.  Afterwards they headed to the gift shop with the 'Canadian' money Aunty Meg had given them while Glen and I went to a bench outside.  I got bored watching a ground squirrel eat food off a chef's sneakers so hiked up the stairs to the lookout.  It offered great views of the museum and surrounding badlands.  If you have the time, there are also many hiking trails to explore.

Fossils are often unearthed after storms so you may see them lying on the surface.  Do NOT touch the ones on the trails near the museum.  Take a photo and write down its location then contact museum staff.  Surface collecting is legal on Crown land or if a landowner allows it.  You can keep the fossil if you live in Alberta but you can't sell or alter it.

After some family photos, we parted with the gang heading to Edmonton and Glen and I returning to Calgary.  Such a short visit but so worth it!

Family Gatherings -- Road Trip South

It's been awhile since I've written and it's not because nothing has happened, it's just that we've been busy with what life throws at us.  I reacted to a new medication and after a month can finally walk again however, Glen's arthritic hip means he cannot.  This has meant adapting to new circumstances and spending the summer at home in Calgary.  But, I've had done some landscaping and we've had some wonderful family visits both happy and sad.

Road Trip South

After spending the month of April in Victoria crabbing, golfing, visiting friends, and enjoying spring flowers, we came back to Alberta.  My sister, Lynda, had a conference in Winnipeg and flew to Calgary for a short visit.  We did lots of walking along the West Nose Hill Creek near our house, chatting and taking photos.  Lynda is very knowledgable and takes wonderful pictures (click here to check them out) so I try to remember everything she tells me.

She has been to the mountains many times so we suggested a road trip to Southern Alberta, our final destination being Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.  From where we live, we circle Calgary on Stoney Trail then drive straight south on the Queen Elizabeth II highway.  When you reach the branch in the road, going right takes you to Fort Macleod; left to Pincher Creek.  We came to the branch at noon so headed into Fort Macleod for lunch.


Fort Macleod, originally built in 1874 to house the North-West Mounted Police dealing with American whiskey traders, boomed as an agricultural centre in the early 1900s.  When Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) built a depot there, the town flourished.  However in 1912, CPR moved its depot to Lethbridge and Fort Macleod died.  It declared bankruptcy in 1924.  The buildings remained as they were as the town struggled through the passing years.  In 1982, the province declared the downtown a Provincial Heritage Area and Heritage Canada began restoring the buildings.  Now it's a thriving tourist destination.

I had scoped out the town's restaurants on-line and Macleods Restaurant and Lounge received the best reviews.  It's a nondescript white stucco building with a red roof on the main highway and you are embraced with its small town charm the minute you enter.  We wanted a booth by the window but first Lynda and I used the ladies room.  When we returned Glen looked like a little kid sitting at the table.  I laughed because I knew if I sat down I wouldn't be able to eat.  The place wasn't busy so the server moved us to a regular table.   Glen was thrilled to see a Monte Cristo sandwich on the menu--he hadn't had one in years.

We headed west, back to QE2 and north to the exit to Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site celebrates the Blackfoot culture by honouring the place where the tribe killed buffalo (driving them over an 11 meter cliff).  The museum is sunk into the Porcupine Hills and is almost impossible to differentiate between its sandstone building and the surrounding hills.  The Blackfoot call this area Estipah-skikikini-kots and according to legend, a boy watching the buffalo herd plunge over the cliff got caught in the stampede and was buried in the ravine below.  He was found dead with his head smashed in.

To view the museum, one begins at the top floor which opens onto the jump's viewing area.  It was a beautiful day and we could see forever from the top.  The mountains marched down the western horizon into the Untied States.  Glen used Geoff's Summit Peek App to discover the names of the more prominent peaks.  The museum is not extensive but tells a simple, compelling story of the jump and what the buffalo meant to the Blackfoot tribes.  We had visited the museum years ago and not much has changed.  Both Lynda and I concluded I had drawn on its resources as background for my book, White Crane, although it's not about indigenous people.

After tea in the rather small cafeteria, we stopped at the gift shop and enjoyed a delightful chat with a gorgeous Blackfoot girl.  She seemed to enjoy the story of the mating marmots we'd spotted earlier on the buffalo jump.

On the return trip to Calgary, we stopped in a little town called Nanton to photograph their original grain elevators.  Turns out they were part of a museum but it wasn't open (too early in the season).  Nanton was founded in 1903 and named for a financier who came out to invest in farm mortgages.  It's also home to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada.