On the Royal Tyrell

I rode out to the Royal Tyrell Museum through intermittent rain this morning. After attending to some business, I spent the next several hours enraptured by the diversity of fossils on display as well as the excellence of the presentation. No wonder the town of Triton enlisted the Royal Tyrell to mount their sperm whale! I began to wonder if they needed a librarian! After going through the galleries, I went back to re-inspect a 21 meter long marine reptile. That size puts it in the sperm whale size league. I then watched a couple of documentaries about the Tyrell, both of which discussed what amounts to the librarianship of the Museum. So there is a librarian position there.

On the downside, the museum is relatively crowded with families with small children. After the relative quiet of the road, I found it a bit trying.

Leaving the Museum, I discovered from a newspaper headline that the movie being shot in Drumheller is Ghostbusters 2020! Or at least that is the tentative title. IMDB lists Dan Ackroyd and Sigourney Weaver in their roles from 1984 version, and Bill Murray as rumoured.

Outside, there was a short walk to explore and explain the Badlands. It seems that no matter the language or culture (including First Nations) the term for the place translates as “Bad Land”!

My original plan had been to visit the Atlas Coal Mine. However, when I realized it was about 30 km downwind, I used it to finally make a decision about where I will sleep tomorrow. I have been dithering about where I should aim for next. Towns on Highway 9 (and 7) are relatively few, especially with regards to ones with motels. They are spaced out at inconvenient intervals making for either shortish days or overly long ones. Before leaving Montreal, I made a list of the “useful” ones and the distances between them. I was faced with two options tomorrow: Hanna at 80 km and Youngstown at 130. I chose Hanna so I can do the coal mine as well. This also means that barring a serious tailwind, the day after will be a decent distance as well.

I can only gush about my hosts at the Taste the Past B&B. They are super nice and helpful. They even allowed me to do a load of laundry in their machine. This was very appreciated. Then again, our last names share an origin!

 In other odd observations about Alberta, I walked into one of its’ privately owned liquor stores which had “discount” in the name. A 750 ml bottle of Newfoundland Screech was $33.95 plus GST. At the “inefficient” drain-on-the-public-purse SAQ, the same is $26.50 including GST! Maybe there are additional transport fees! Either that or maybe this is an expression of Albertan prejudice towards Newfoundlanders! ;-)