Storyline: Westward Ho!
Wed, Jun 14
The morning rain settled the dust and brought fresh coolish air (24C in comparison to scorching 33C yesterday) and a nice breeze. We just finished a 3 km scenic drive through Dinosaur Provincial Park. Most of it we already walked last night with Aldo and Shauna, our new friends from Calgary. We had two wonderful days with them here in the park, chatting, exchanging experiences and stories, walking the badlands hills. And facing off the bugs. And the scorching heat.
So how did we meet? When we bought our campervan Doranya we joined a Facebook user group of the owners and wannabes for this specific campervan. Most of its members are from the US, but during our first month or two of ownership we wanted to connect with some Canadian owners. This is how I “met” Shauna, who kindly accepted my FB friend’s request.
We learned a lot from the group during the first few months. Then things start happening, life or sooner health got in the way and my mind was elsewhere. When Alex was in the hospital for a month in 2021, just after about our first 2 weeks on the road to the East coast we were ready to sell Doranya (freshly bought and lightly used less than a year before).
I posted an add on the FB group site. It was Shauna who gave me the advice not to sell it. She mentioned that both her and Aldo had gone through some serious health issues and their van was their stress release. Even if we could do some very short trips, she said, it would help us. And so, we kept her (Doranya that is) and used her for short drives.
We’d joke that it was an expensive WC, because during Covid lockdowns one could not use public facilities. Anyway, we’ve chatted on FB with Shauna a lot. When I posted that we are planning a trip to the Yukon, driving through the west, Shauna suggested we meet somewhere. Once our plan was firmed, she suggested they could join as at the Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta. She also gave me a lot of useful suggestions on what to do and wee on our itinerary.
And so, in our memories, Dinosaur Park will be always linked with this wonderful couple we met in person here. It was hot! And dusty. And buggy. We sat first at our little porch (the space one creates with a rug and chairs under the awning), then we walked, then in the evening there were some very small biting flies, but we survived their invasion.
In a few short hours we learned a lot about each other. Two trailers from Saskatchewan travelling together to the right of us. A lady from the near one ran over with freshly made cod bites battered in pickle batter. I liked it. They were curious about our (almost) identical campervans. I gave them the intro to our friendship.
Eventually called it a night. We didn’t have a fire. I wish we has. But we were too immersed in conversations to think about fire. And it was so hot. Next day was even hotter. Alex and I went for a hike in the park near the visitors’ centre.
It wasn’t a big hike. I had the feeling I’d faint by the heat entrapped and projected by the naked hoodoo hills. In the afternoon we joined our new friends in their little bug screened tent.
We even saw a snake minding its business by the tent. Luckily it wasn’t a rattlesnake. Later we’d learn that it was a bull snake.
It was rainy this morning when they left. I always connect the rain when friends leave with the tears because of their departure. We had another day to explore the park or to just enjoy the shapes and shadows.
Because of the rain in the forecast the outdoor furniture was all packed last night. After they left, we parked Doranya in front of the café and registration building some 300m away, did our laundry, had lunch at the café, checked the news, the weather forecast and had a few communications.
There is no service at the campground, but cellular reception is decent at the café area. Based on the forecast we decided that driving to Sceptre, SK some 300 km from here and try to boondock there to see the Great Western Dunes made no sense in the rain and storms coming out way. Luckily, we were able to extend our stay in the Hoodoos RV and Campground. So our next stop is not far from here.
The park itself is stunning. The colours, the different levels “texture” of the bare hills, the erosion, the shapes, the shades, the little cacti showing that there is still life and hope even in the badlands, the clouds and the sunset! It was just spectacular sunset the first night.
Alas as elsewhere during our trip we haven’t had starry skies, but it didn’t matter. As Alex says, we are too old to stay up for the stars when it gets dark so late.
As I write this in the early evening hours Alex came back from a walk, quickly took the air-vents down and put the white cover on the windshield that usually goes on when it snows in the winter back home.
We both got a tornado warning on our phones, so he thought in case of hail Doranya would be protected. Later walking to the café area, we found a text from Shauna “There is a tornado warning for the Dinosaur Park. Stay safe.” She said it was 8°C in Calgary and they are running the heating.
The dark clouds had passed from one end of the camp to the other and sun was trying to get through. If there was a tornado it wasn’t near the campground. But the weather is changing. Although nice in the cool outside we knew it wouldn’t last and resorted to the inside of our comfy little home.
See you in Drumheller.
Join the conversation around our e-Table