Spruce Meadows

What a fantastic jumping facility! Bill and I were fortunate to visit this facility for the RBC Cup! Such notable jumpers were Eric LaMaze and Ian Millar, the latter our age, who has been jumping horses for a very long time, even when Bill was an equestrian hopeful for the Olympics. We also viewed the Junior Barrage in which a young gal from Okotoks took a third. It was exciting to see the horsemanship...I felt myself "helping" the riders over the jumps! Such skill!
Spruce Meadows was established from meagre beginnings, a small horse farm, located on Calgary's southern city limits, in the foothills of the Rockies. The venue covers 360 acres, 200 of which are for pasture and the rest encompasses the tournament grounds. Owned by the Southern family, it was officially opened in 1975 with the first tournament in 1976. The family welcomes all families with open arms; it is free to all Seniors. A fantastic afternoon!

Drumheller

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller which opened September 25th, 1985, the day after Kendra was born, has greatly expanded since our last visit in 1987. Now a National Historic Site, the Museum holds over 125,000 fossil vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and geologic specimens. As an active scientific research facility, the collections grow by approximately 2,000 specimens annually. Scientists demonstrated examples of the tedious and tireless preparation of a speciman for identification and display. This is a very worthwhile museum, world renowned for its study of fossils and prehistoric times for young and old alike.

Southern Alberta

As part of the Chapter 44 Escapees Rally held in Millarville AB, we toured first The Saskatoon Farm, where they grow, cultivate and harvest Saskatoon berries, and then the Chinook Arch Meadery where honey is made into wine or mead. Seen here, are the stainlees tanks used to hold the mead or "honey wine" from which it is processed into tasty dinner wines. Mead is the oldest art of fermentation. The term “honeymoon” has been associated with drinking mead during the month long celebration following a wedding in pagan times. It is the bee’s tireless search for nectar from thousands of blossoms that creates the honey in each bottle of mead. 100% natural honey is diluted with pure water and spices or berry juice to add further dimension and complexity. Special yeast cultures are added to this medieval style of Mead. A fermentation and slow aging process in European oak barrels occurs for up to three years before bottling. Bill, Kendra and I thoroughly enjoyed this outing to learn about, view and sample the mead at Chinook, "from bee to bottle". Yes, we purchased a couple of bottles to take home.

Kendra had never experienced a rodeo, so off to High River we went. Many of the rodeo cowboys that compete here, also compete in the Calgary Stampede. Barrel racing, calf and steer roping, bull riding and the chuckwagon races thrill the crowds.

The "chucks" are an exciting climax to the rodeo. Four at a time start, make a figure eight then race the track with outriders in pursuit. I am hearing some of the same names in the finish at the Stampede, currently underway. The cowboys love the thrill, but this sure is a tough way to make a living, especially the bull riding!