Tuesday, July 6: Back on the Road

I was slow to start Tuesday morning, not up until 7:30 and then taking time to exercise, shower, and eat breakfast before helping to attach the storage pod to the roof rack and load the Jeep. Then I couldn't find my camera. Thorough searches of the house and the bags in the Jeep were fruitless. Finally, I looked on the roof -- yup, there it was. Good thing I waited.

Lyle helped me get the trailer back on the hitch, and Mom and I were finally on the road. Our main objective for the day was a tour of the Japanese garden in Lethbridge, advertised as the most authentic in North America. As we headed south on Highway 2, we started seeing signs for Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. I once read a short newspaper story about this UNESCO heritage site, and have wanted to see it ever since. As we got closer, though, we realized that it would be a 32km detour from our already extended route. We decided not to delay ourselves further.

After some challenges with the GPS device, we found our way to the Nikko Yuko Garden in Lethbridge. Our walk began with a tour of a large teahouse. A very sweet young tour guide showed us through the rooms, talked to us about the architecture and learning to tie her kimono, and told us that she loved the way the untreated wooden beams aged. Then we wandered into and through the garden. It was very typical of an Alberta park: flat, lots of grass, a few trees. The main feature was a waterway with two short wooden walking bridges and some areas of flat rocks along the sides. To the side was an enormous beautiful brass bell with a log striker (which I struck, of course). We left feeling disappointed. The Japanese garden we had seen in Seattle a couple weeks before was much more complex and beautiful

After my experience in Lake Louise, I was reluctant to go through another day of the trip feeling dissatisfied. Even though it would now be a much longer detour, I decided to back track to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. We arrived as the visitor's centre was closing, but there were still trails to hike beneath the bluffs. Mom took a break while I explored. I felt so happy to be somewhere wild -- prairie grasses, wild flowers, gophers, hawks, a Western tanager. The bluffs over which the buffalo were driven were so distinctive compared to the surrounding prairie. My soul felt soothed.

That evening we ate dinner at a Thai restaurant in Medicine Hat. The Thai couple running it had moved there from Winnipeg a couple years before, wanting their children to grow up in a smaller, friendlier community. The husband gave us tips about driving from Winnipeg to Toronto. We set up camp late at Cavan Lake, nearing the Saskatchewan border.


Copyright © 2010 Lynn Thorsell, All rights reserved.