Somewhere Saturday - Cappon, Alberta

Last summer my brother and I traveled across the Canadian Rockies for a family reunion in Alberta. During that trip we visited this lonesome graveyard. Most of the graves you can see are those of members of our extended family dating back a hundred and fifty years or more. This landscape is so vast that for those of us who live amongst mountains it is a bit daunting, though it has an austere beauty. I take this opportunity to wish you all the happiest of New Years.

World's Largest Dinosaur

For Somewhere Saturday this week we are returning to the neighboring province of Alberta to visit the dinosaur capital of the world, Drumheller. Just outside the town is the Royal Tyrrell Museum, housing a huge number of reconstructed dinosaur skeletons that have been unearthed nearby. It's a fascinating place to visit. The Tyrannosaurus rex replica pictured above towers 86 feet (about 26 meters) above the Drumheller Visitor Information Centre. It is about 4.5 times as large as a real T-rex. There is a viewing platform in the mouth.

Milk River Tubers - "Somewhere Saturday"

One of the places we visited on a recent trip to the neighboring province of Alberta is located in the southernmost area of the province, just north of the border with the USA. It is called Writing on Stone Provincial Park. The Milk River flows through it and on the afternoon pictured above and below, the river provided a cool way for some kids to tube through the park.

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)

Though my recent trip to the neighboring province of Alberta was quite brief I saw a remarkable number of interesting things, not the least of which was the Pronghorn pictured above. This animal was high on my list of things to see because we have nothing else like it on this continent and it has been many years since I saw one. Wikipedia has a good article on the Pronghorn and here is some information I found interesting. This is the fastest land animal in America and has been clocked at 80 kmh, making it the second fastest land animal in the world. Only the African Cheetah is faster and then only for very short bursts. It is not an antelope (as I had long thought) but a separate zoological family that evolved independently of old world antelope.

Alberta Landscape

Alberta has a lot of different kinds of landscape but much of the time what is remarkable is the simplicity and purity of what you see as you drive along roads that stretch to the distant horizon without a curve or turn.

The Old Homestead

Here's another shot from my visit to the old family homestead in southern Alberta.

Star Car

I know you're thinking this doesn't look like Victoria. And you're right, it's near a place that is now little more than a junction, called Cappon, in the province of Alberta. I visited there a few days ago for a family reunion and took this photo on the old family homestead. It's a car I'd never heard of until I saw this one and a friendly cousin gave me a little of its history. It was called the Star Car and was produced by the Durant Motor Company during the 1920s. I'm now on the road heading back towards Victoria but I won't be back until the weekend so you'll have to bear with my vacation photos for a few more days.