Monday 9 July 2012

Day 10 - Flat tire on flat land on the way to the Bad Lands!


This morning we left the campsite at 1000.  Before leaving, I made online reservations for a bus tour of Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We've decided that we will call around in Calgary today to see if we can have the trailer looked at.  At 1045 one of the tires on the trailer goes.

Man!  What a start to the day!  I get on the phone and call Good Sam's (they are our roadside assistance providers - again, thanks to my Mom for insisting that I purchase the membership before we left).  Again, the iphone comes in really handy as I am able to pinpoint our locations quite accurately to the lady on the phone.  She tells us that  tow truck will be there at 1155.  At this point, I am a little concerned that we will not make it on time for our tour.  While we are waiting for help, I decide to take out the camera and take some shots.  Justin is not at all happy that we are waiting for a tow truck!  He fells unmanly because he figures he should be able to change it but we don't have the necessary tools.



The tow truck driver, a real cowboy, arrives at 1130.  He wasn't a really talkative guy but he got the job done, checked the rest of our tires and told us to make sure we check them often.

A real cowboy to change our tire!

At least we had some beautiful prairie skies to look at during our wait!

He thinks that the blow out could have been a result of the changes in temperature. We are back on the road at noon!

I'm stressing out a bit and trying to see if there are any faster ways to get to the park but apart from the main roads, all other roads are mainly gravel and we don't really want to be adventuring in those with the trailer. So we follow the Main Highways and thankfully, we made it and with time to spare.  The both of us were expecting to see mountains at any times.  We had seen pictures of bad lands so we were expecting to see them from far away especially that we are in the prairies. But to our surprise, the bad lands actually drop.  They are holes in the ground.  We were both in awe when we arrived and caught our first glimpse of the park.  It is spectacular. We hopped on the bus with our tour guide, Sydney.  She was a great tour guide.  She was passionate about everything she was telling us.  The park is well known for being one of the richest dinosaur fossil locales in the world.  Forty dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums across the globe.  The tour bus was unable to go off the beaten path because of the rain.  The ground is almost like clay and is very slippery when wet. The tour was well worth it regardless.  There were many other tours available that would have been amazing for kids interested in Dinosaurs but we were mostly there for the terrain and a quick visit.  We are really happy that we decided to stick to HWY 1 to see the Canadian Bad Lands!
Canadian Badlands
Baby Girl ready for the tour
The little family -minus Bones
Wheeler's in the Badlands
Dinosaur skin fossil
Baby Girl having a look at a piece of petrified wood
Dinosaur fossils resting as they were found
The tour finished just as a downpour came down.  We are back on HWY 1 and Justin is on the phone.  The wipers go crazy on us.  We pull over and Justin has a look a the situation.  The only remedy for now is to take the passenger side one off and continue on!  Small issue but annoying as Justin had just fixed the problem yesterday.  Next, Justin got on the phone with some RV shops in Calgary.  The first place told us the earliest spot they had was in Mid August!  The next Rv repair shop recommended us to a place called Solis.  Solis recommended we call a guy called Mel! Thankfully when we spoke to Mel, he told us he can meet up with us in the morning. He suggested a campsite on the east end of the city. Perfect for us, but when I called, they said they only accepted small dogs (30lbs or less).  That really upsets me because, in most cases, it`s the small one that are yappy!  Anyhow, we decided we would park in the first Walmart we found.  I was surprised when we got there that we were the only trailer in the parking lot but we parked for the night.  It was raining and VERY cold.  We made some pizzas - bbq chicken! yum! - and put bb girl to bed.  Justin stayed in the trailer and read and I went in the truck and blogged for a bit.  When the trailer is running on batteries, the electrical outlets don't work so I went used the converter in the truck. Mel, the repair man, told us he would meet us at 1000 tomorrow morning.





























1 comment:

  1. You are so like dad! "On a pas besoin de ca!"
    et moi like mom remember the Uhaul insurance...You would think you learned your lesson good thing you have mom and I to tell you to get Sam's club and to get the insurance! LOL

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