Another day in Canada

Sunset motel had no vacancies by the time I woke up Saturday morning.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get their free Internet to work for me, but I decided not to make an issue of it.  We took Cliff's sister's two wet chairs inside the room when we first arrived and set them up so they could dry.  The tent was still in the trunk, slowly mildewing.  We had not yet found a big enough dumpster (or one with a big enough opening) to throw the tent in.  

This was next door to the motel.  It had been a long time since I had seen an A&W.  Cliff and I were amused by the fact that the place was open for breakfast.  Root beer for breakfast, anyone?  

The Fort Macleod museum opened at 9 A.M., but we went a half-hour early and strolled through historic downtown.  Nothing was open, but it was fun looking at the old buildings.  

If the timing had been right, we could have done a tour of the Empress theater.  

When the fort museum opened, we bought our tickets (AAA discount, by the way) and proceeded to learn the history of the North West Mounted Police.  I think Cliff read every single word there!  I was watching the time because there was a musical ride coming up that I didn't want to miss.  When it finally started, I couldn't find Cliff.  He was still in the first room of the museum, reading and learning.  He finally heard the commotion, though, and joined me.    

I really enjoyed the musical ride.  It went on for quite a while, and the horses were well coordinated throughout.  Cliff and I wondered what breed they were, so I asked:  turns out they were all quarter horses.  I'm used to looking at 'Tude as an example of a quarter horse, so these horses seemed smallish to me.  

After spending two or three hours at the fort, we traveled a few miles (or should I say kilometers?) to the middle of nowhere to see the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo jump.  Because, you know, I love stuff about Indians.  It's a spot where, for many centuries, native Americans drove buffalo over a cliff to kill them for food and clothing.  When I told Cliff I wanted to visit the place, he said, "What's the point?  All you're going to see is a cliff."  

I showed him their website on my Ipad to let him know there was an interpretive center there:  We would see more than just a cliff in the middle of nowhere.  

 This is the sight that greeted us as we entered the building.  

 It seemed like we could see forever.  When we got to the end of this walk, there was an Indian fellow sitting there sharing stories about the native people.  

 There, on the rock in the middle of the picture... can you see the marmot?  

We both thought the sky seemed bluer in Montana and Canada.  Less pollution, maybe?  

On a side note, the glaciers in Glacier National Park are almost all gone, thanks to global warming.  I guess if we can live without the dinosaurs that disappeared long ago, we can live without the glaciers.  "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper."  

That's such a solemn note on which to end this entry, I'm going to lighten it up a little.  My pesky photographer friend has been playing with my vacation pictures, and here's what you get: