I slept good despite being so close to the truck traffic. I missed the morning chill because it was already 8:45am before I drove off. Whoa, I must have been really tired from all the walking in the heat yesterday. Time to set my alarm for 5:30am again!
I pulled over south of town to let the dogs pee, just outside a wheat field. I can still see the Rockies to my west. I remember this landscape from a month ago. I stopped in Fort MacLeod to read up on the purpose of the fort, built to catch American whiskey traders from causing havoc with the local Blackfeet whose land this was. A nearby buffalo jump off the Oldman river is now a historical site. Despite the heat I walked around to get a feel for the Old West here, a Canadian version of the Wild West that was more wild because of the whiskey rather than the native people. South of Fort MacLeod I turned on Alberta 3 toward Lethbridge, traveling southeast now.
I was in Lethbridge 45 minutes later. I had bypassed this city last month and now needed to play catch-up before I leave Alberta for Montana later today. But even those plans derailed fast. Lethbridge is Alberta's fourth-largest town after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. Alberta 3 crosses the Oldman river and when I saw "Scenic Drive" I turned off to see the scenery and got carried away. A leash-free dog run that lead over bluffs to the river was a perfect excuse to stop for my 4-mile walk. Clouds overhead provided for some relief, although it was already 84F at noon. These bluffs remind me of the bluffs off the Missouri river off Nebraska.
The walk turned out to be a half-day adventure as I landed at Fort Whoop-Up, walked around the small replica fort, even overheard a Blackfoot man speak the language, and talked to a young woman historian, Brianne, who talked about the Canadian version of christianizing the aboriginals. The dogs were tied up outside in the shade and I was trying to cool off inside, but there was no water fountain. It was a much hotter walk back to the van. While the dogs cooled off in the river, I struggled to stay sane in the sun which was no longer blocked by the clouds. When I got back to the van it was already 4:30pm and I knew I wasn't going to be making it to Montana today. I had to get the dogs some food and me some iced tea. By now the van was registering 92F. Holy moly. Safeway came to the rescue! The dogs got raw chicken and I had two spinach-feta Greek pies for dinner, along with two litres of iced tea.
I needed to shower. I hadn't been cleaned since the Banff hot springs. Just my luck I was driving north through town (I was looking for Alberta 4 that travels southeast toward Montana), and saw Henderson park, a large green park with stadium, playgrounds, a walking track and a swimming pool. It was the swimming pool I was interested in. For CND 5.25 I showered and waded through the refreshing water while kids around me were sliding down the large water slide, climbing up a rock wall, or running around water fountains. It was a great family escape for many people. There were no laps reserved so I just waded around, thinking how much Ethan would love that waterslide, and how much I would enjoy sliding down with him.
The town was much nicer than I thought it would be. I even found a drive-through car wash to get that Alcan dirt off the van. By the time I was ready to leave, it was 8:21pm and the full moon was surely rising somewhere.
I drove 140 miles today, with quite a few of that within Lethbridge looking for stuff. I'm so glad I made Lethbridge my stop for today.
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