Day 17 Rest Day in Drumheller, Alberta

Galley Crew 4 prepared an excellent meal for dinner last night including this produce.  Dinner consisted of a bowl of hearty chili and a salad topped with feta cheese. For dessert they served thawed frozen blackberries, strawberries and blueberries topped with yogurt.  Most of us had two helpings.  We are voracious eaters on ride days; on rest days not as hungry, but we try to eat healthy while cycling.  Not every meal is this good.  Galley Crew 4 has a French speaking member whose contributions are significant in adding to the  quality of the meal.

I will take this opportunity to provide some background on our day to day operation and its support truck and trailer.  Below you see the back of the truck that pulls the trailer from campground to campground.  Its cargo bay is empty now.  After cyclists have breakfast and tear down the campsite, each cyclist loads his/her huge bag full of a tent and other camping gear into the back of the truck.

This is the trailer with one 3 foot long shelf for each rider to store bike gear, such as spare tires, tubes, chains, CO2 cartridges, spokes, bike clothing, toiletries, etc.  (Note:  We never take toiletries into our tents, which is inconvenient, but there is a good reason.  Toiletries have fragrance which attracts bears.  No one wants a bear encounter in camp.)  Above the spare wheels in the picture below is a charging station for electronics that only runs while the vehicle is parked.

Below you see the cargo space in the trailer for a refrigerator, food, pots and pans, and other cooking necessities.  A three burner propane cook stove is loaded into the empty space for transport during travel.  This loading operation is similar to jamming your entire kitchen into a utility van. At the campground two pop up canopies are erected, tables are set up, and voila'! An outdoor kitchen!

This blackboard is critical for information pertinent to the specific campsite.  Note charges for internet, showers, laundry, and various other amenities in other sites, such as swimming pools.  These extra charges were a surprise, and not included in our tour fees.  The campgrounds cater to the RV crowd, and that is the reason that the truck has to be inconveniently parked sometimes a quarter mile distant from the tent sites. 

 

Early this morning we were greeted by a colony of prairie dogs.  The colony was large, and so were the holes.  We had to watch our steps.  I suspected that the prairie dogs were being fed by campers, as they let us get close enough to photograph, although they were wary of us.  Friends from Wyoming have told us that ranchers there consider prairie dogs vermin, not only because they can carry disease, but because their holes can result in broken legs for livestock.  Still they are cute creatures!

 

This afternoon I visited the Royal Tyrell Museum, a huge, and highly noted dinosaur museum in Drumheller.  Exhibits are classified as  original, cast, or composite.  

The museum is named for Joseph Tyrell, who discovered the skull of an Albertosaurus not far from town.  The Albertosaurus was smaller than his cousin, the Tyranosaurus Rex, although both were tyrannosaurid theropods, according to Wikipedia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertosaurus  

 

 

The museum holds the designation "Royal".   "Royal patronage is granted by a royal member who will either support the organization by volunteering their time for service or make charitable donations, in order to help bring recognition to the group's achievements and to the contributions of different sectors of public life."  https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/royal-symbols-titles/royal-patronage-title-royal.html

Photographs were permitted in the museum, and I include these so that you may have an idea of the excellent content at this highly respected institution.

 

 

In addition to the dinosaurs, there is an exhibition on the evolution of mankind.

 

Following my interesting museum tour, I ate dinner in the museum cafeteria. I ordered a Canadian dish called "poutine".  My fellow riders had told me to wait to order it in Montreal, where the best poutine is available.  It was, however, available here, and I wanted to try it.  It consisted of fries and cheese curds with gravy, and it was very tasty.  With lots of carbs and fat, it provides good energy for cycling, and I liked it a lot!  We will see if the Montreal version is, indeed, even better!

 

 

That's all for Rest Day.  Tomorrow we are back in the saddle again and heading  toward the Province of Saskatchewan.  Come back for more exciting adventures!