The absence

AHA! I actually have a legitimate excuse for my lack of recent activity (that's right folks, I wasn't slacking off this time). For half of last week I was bed-ridden with a head cold and as a result I spent most of my time sleeping t. I'm nearly 100% now though and as soon as I shake this headache I'll be golden. Next time I'm ill though I'll be sure to put of a post to that affect so as not to leave you all hanging. I really do appreciate your readership, and I hope I've done a decent job of keeping you all entertained and informed. I'm afraid not much is new, oh, except for...

DRUMHELLER
That's right folks, yesterday the Katimakrew went on a good 'ol fashioned road trip to the Badlands of Alberta.

Act I
We left Olds en route to the world famous Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, AB. I...it's hard to describe the museum. Okay, well not really, it's a collection of stuffed gophers that are dressed up and posed into teeny tiny tableaus ranging from a gopher wedding to a gopher crouched behind a bush with a hunting rifle dressed in full camouflage. No, you did read that correctly, and yes these are actual deceased gophers that have been preserved.

Act II
And so we pressed on towards Drumheller. Have you ever driven across eastern Alberta or Saskatchewan? It's just as flat as you'd imagine it to be, endless fields dotted with oil wells as far as the eye can see. And that's all we saw until we reached the Badlands. Suddenly we were approaching what seemed like little more that a slight dip in the ground, but as we continued onwards the road kept sinking. Before long we were being swallowed up by the earth. Just when I thought we couldn't possibly drive any lower we rounded a bend and found ourselves looking out onto a great canyon. You can dumb down the Badlands by saying its a big hole in the ground, but that hardly does it justice.

The Royal Tyrell Museum was our first stop there, better known as "that one with the dinosaurs". Now I was never much into dinosaurs as a child, at least I don't remember myself being that way, but the museum was pretty impressive. As you work your way through it you're taken on a journey from the origin of life in the primordial seas of the ancient world all the way up to the last ice age. We were also lucky enough to be there in time to catch the tail end of an exhibit on Charles Darwin. There were copies of his sketches to view as well as his life story to read, fascinating stuff indeed.

After doing the musuem circuit we went for a little walk around the Badlands. We climbed some hills, explored a bit, and got some wicked windburns, all before lunch time!


Act III
After grabbing a bite to eat a local restaurant the Krew headed back out, this time in search of the Hoodoos (rock formations molded by erosion into vaguely mushroom-shaped forms). Once again there was some climbing, some photos, and some laughs. Funny thing, they're not as big or as plentiful as you may think.

Next up was a local suspension bridge that lead to an old mine site. I'll tell you right now folks that I do NOT like heights, nor do I like un-stable bridges, but this one wasn't too bad.

Our next stop was what may be one of the smallest churches in the world, boasting that it could "seat 10 000 people, 6 at a time".

Act IV
Finally after a long day we headed home. While I found driving across the prairies mid-day to be dull, driving home towards the sunset was something else. Watching the sun sink below the horizon as the world around us (most of the Krew included) began to sleep was an extraordinary experience.

Epilogue
I'd like to start by giving a shout out to Mr. Steve Anderson over at High Levels of Awesome for reaching his 10th post! Congratulations to you sir, and I highly suggest that you check out his writing at http://thatstevesureismetal.blogspot.com/. Now, this coming week is my turn to be house manager, so I should have a wee bit more free time to report on what my co-manager and I are doing. However I do have a special visitor coming all the way out here to see me, so I apologize if my posts are still a bit slow.

Catch you all next time.