My Excursions in Canada: One Day Trip To Drumheller

Coining the adjective 'Good' would be an insult to us, so I say 'Excellent', 'Meticulous' rather - we have become meticulous in the art of motivating people.......Members of this trip - Monojit, Ganesh, Avneesh, Anand and me. Each one of us brings in a separate colour to a trip's experience.......Together we make an explosive group full of energy and fun.......

Read on.......

Me With The Rented Truck - Dodge Dakota On HWY-2 North

Now that I am home in India, I am getting good amount of time in my vacation to write my blogs and organise the electronic material that I have accumulated during my travels. February 2011 was a hectic month not only at work but also on the travelling front. We had rented a truck, a Dodge Dakota to be specific, on the 5th of Feb for making our weekend grocery purchases.

It has so happened on many occasions in the past, that trip plans have been made impromptu. And the same happened this time. Anand, my roommate and me are always party to planning some good getaways when it comes to such occasions. The tingling feeling of taking the truck out on a long drive on the second day of the rental had been already making our chests burn with uneasiness, so after finishing off our grocery errands, we called in on our other pals to decide on something for the coming day.

Coining the adjective 'Good' would be an insult to us, so I say 'Excellent', 'Meticulous' rather - we have become meticulous in the art of motivating people to make trips with us. And true to our skills, we talked in people to make a getaway on the coming day i.e. the 6th of Feb. It was decided that we would drive down HWY-2 South (Deerfoot Trail) for about 150-200 kms and stop by at numerous beautiful country-side locations for sightseeing.

6th of Feb fell on a Sunday. Sundays mean free parking in Downtown Calgary, so we had no worries of parking the vehicle on 8th Avenue behind our apartment. And with that ease in mind we woke up at leisure and started our journey at around 11 AM. Members of this trip - Monojit, Ganesh, Avneesh, Anand and me. Each one of us brings in a separate colour to a trip's experience. Monojit is good at making deals and overall organization, Avneesh and Ganesh add fun, I am the driver and along with Anand a prime planner. Together we make an explosive group full of energy and fun.

We started off on HWY-2 South after everyone was ready. We drove for quite some time when we thought that the trip was not getting any fun. So a decision was made and we reversed the direction immediately and started towards Drumheller, which is exactly opposite and towards the North. By the time we reached Airdrie, the folks were yelling for a coffee stop. Monojit is well versed with the entire area, so he directed me to pull over at a Tim Horton's and I readily obliged.

Coffee At Tim Horton's - Airdrie

After Airdie we took (always take) a right towards Drumheller, although the GPS instructs you to take a right much before Airdrie. This part of the road is undergoing construction and after the unpaved part is over it puts you on HWY-9 to Irricana and Beiseker. We had stopped at this junction even in our first trip to Drumheller in 2010. That time the place was enveloped in a soothing carpet of green with patches of yellow Canola and this time it was completely white. I recognized the only tiny house in the fields, set in the distance, whose picture I had taken that time and set as my Computer's Wallpaper.

The Magical Stop For Photos In All Seasons

The Crew on The Dakota

L-R: Ganesh, Anand, Avneesh, Rahul

After having some fun with the camera and the snow as well, we started off for Drumheller. It is a neat road and one enjoys driving on it. The crew was on empty stomachs. Apart from the little snack taken alongside coffee at Airdrie, no one had had breakfast. And as is said - 'An Army cannot march on an empty stomach', the immediate task was to break for lunch. We stopped by at a Subway in Drumheller.

Taken At The Subway

Snow Is Everywhere

Monojit And Ganesh

After lunch we wanted to go to the badlands. So I pulled out my phone and checked the route on my previous blog. It is difficult to remember the roads here as everything looks exactly the same. The snow added to the confusion. We stopped by at numerous places just to take some good snaps.

Solid Ice Covering The Canola Fields

There is a ferry called the 'Bleriot Ferry' which we had taken the previous year to cross over to the other side of the river. We went down the hill and found that the service was closed due to icing up of the river water. The badlands as they are called are near this place and you can see them while driving on the road.

Road Downhill to Cross The River

Towards The Bleriot Ferry

Completely Frozen River

Some History On The Bleriot Ferry

Near The Ferry

Then we went to the The Royal Tyrell Museum. This is a famous museum with dinosaur fossils. And on the way, photo clicking went on.

Machinery In Canola Fields

Royal Tyrell Museum

Midland Coal Company

We then stopped by to peek at the Badlands, and yes like all the other destinations, this as well was covered by us in the previous trip made in summer 2010. This is the only area which I have seen till now which did not appeal to me that much in summer as much it did in winter. In the distance you can see the River winding its way through the mountains and slithering through the valley. And this time it looked even more beautiful with snow all around.

Frozen River Slithering Through The Badlands

Group Snap

Anand - Snap Taken By Me

On our way back we stopped at Beiseker to pick up coffee.

Stopped By At Beiseker For Coffee

Another Snap At The Coffee Shop

It was a nice evening and a good chat with friends over the table. Dinner was picked up at Al Muneer restaurant in North East Calgary. One incident that I will always remember is what happened after picking up dinner. Avneesh had ordered Roti for himself and the rest had ordered Pulao. When we came and sat in the vehicle, Monojit opened Avneesh's parcel and took out the Roti and started eating it. He did not stop at that and distributed the Roti amongst everyone present there before Avneesh could even realise. This threw off Avneesh into a fit of desperation and anger. Things became worse when Monojit started teasing Avneesh. We mediated and cooled off the situation by ordering a new Roti for Avneesh. Things became normal later and Avneesh just laughed the incident off. Such small incidents are fun sometimes if kept within limits.