Sunday, September 9^th,

Fort McLeod, Canada

                We sure did get up early – I must be getting old as I am now waking up before the sun shows up on the horizon. The dark sky was filled with bright shiny stars, so beautiful it can look when you are far away from any city lights. Jerry pulled out on the interstate and a few hours later we were at the gate to Custer’s last Stand . These were the hills where the Native Americans had taken a stance against the ever advancing white men. Custer had led the battle but this time he was surrounded on a hill side with approximately 20 of his men next to him. There are little white crosses spread out over the hills to show where the soldiers had fallen. Only in the later years were a memorial built for the fallen Native Americans. It is difficult to comprehend why someone would kill so many just so they could take their land – I guess the only answer is greed.

                Listening to Native American flute music we headed north. As the day went on I understood why this state was called the big sky country, you could see forever. The rolling hills with a few low trees, the brown grass, and the accumulating clouds that stretched out to the horizon, everything looking so dry – this sure did look like cowboy country in every way I could imagine.

The Canadian border was now in sight. Seemed like such a small place, for such an important function. After spending some time with the immigrations office they finally let us into Canada. Yahoo! I am in Canada –a new country I had never seen.

                I had heard so much good about Canada but my first impression was “It sure stinks around here”. The smell got so bad that we had to wear a “mask” of our shirts. The cause of our olfactory displeasure was a lot of storage places for manure! The second thing that happened in Canada was big - I mean really BIG. Right at the welcome center to Alberta was a huge The dinosaur. It was built almost to life size. I could use his feet as a chair. Wonder what makes them put a dinosaur right there?

                In almost all respects Canada seemed much like the US long straight roads with a white stripe on the left and a yellow on the right. However now we could drive 80 and no, it was not mph it was now in kilometers. We could use the good old green US dollars but the local currency was loonies, or Canadian dollars. In Fort McLeod we stopped at Daisy May Campground as it was time to get access to showers. First, however, we had a beer at the local pub. Three beers were ordered, two for Jerry and I, and the third was for Hillery, our friend, who couldn’t come as she had gotten a new job. Sleep came easily that night.