Coaldale

Calgary to Coaldale is about a 3 hour drive, but it took us a bit longer because we had to find a post office along the way. Not long after we had gotten on the road, Alex got the call that he had won the silent auction – the hockey cards were his. We made arrangements to send the money to Tim’s along with a self addressed envelope so that they could send the cards home to him. He’s very happy to get the cards, however the $20 bid turned into a $45 expense with all the shipping expenses. We arrived in Coaldale, which is a community of about 6000, 15 km outside of Lethbridge, in the late afternoon. My aunt and uncle, Judy and Doug, live on Fairway drive, right on the edge of a golf course. That evening, after a nice supper, we visited and made some plans for the next day. It was Doug’s birthday so their friends, Jerry and Verta, dropped by to have a drink. Doug’s sister, Jean, was also there for the evening. The kids kept themselves busy between visiting and playing ping-pong and pool in the basement. The next morning, we took Doug and Judy’s car, (our car was at the garage to see if the air conditioning could be fixed – not at that price!) to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. It is a National Historic site where up to 9000 years ago, natives were herding Bison in such a way that they forced them off of cliffs where they fell to their death. The Interpretive Centre had a good film of a re-enactment of such a Buffalo Hunt. We enjoyed the site.

Next, we continued west and crossed over Oldman River Dam, which provides irrigation for much of Southern Alberta’s farmlands. Frank Slide was our next stop. In the early 1900, the small mining town suffered a disastrous slide, the upper part of the mountain gave way and tons of rock came down upon the town. The piles of rock that remain at the base of the mountain, on both sides of the road are incredible.


We then decided that it was time to head back to Judy and Doug’s, since it was a couple of hours away. That evening, after another delicious meal, we worked on the blog and had quite a few games of pool and ping-pong. The kids also got to drive Judy and Doug’s golf cart around the neighbourhood, which was a hit!
The next morning Alex helped work the garage sale that they were having and then we checked out some of the other sales in the neighbourhood.
We started our way east around noon and decided to get some miles behind us in the next few days. Thanks Judy and Doug for opening up your home and fridge to us!