So, here's a few photos for you to guess where I am...

A clue would be that human evolution is just a blink in the time that these creatures were around... Got it?

If you said Drumheller you'd be right. Wow, this place is really quite something, although I had to get out of the touristy town as soon as I could. I'm about 10 km south of D upstairs from a pool table - the bar itself is pretty quiet but I hear the clunk of each ball going down into the hole. It's quite a cool hotel, between a railway track (I have my earplugs handy) and a river and in the heart of the Badlands. Oh, and it is for sale for a tiny sum of about $750,000. If you fancy working hard in the summer and having the winter off, then let me know!

To get here, I've actually been having a great time. A few days ago I drove through the rest of Manitoba and the weather was nasty - luckily not snowing but heavy driving rain and strong winds. I drove via Souris on the advice of Barbara, Geology Prof at U of Manitoba, to the rock shop where I bought a $10 permit to go onto private land and root around for gems. In the rain, remember. So, freezing as it was, I plodded around in mud until my fingers couldn't move anymore, and dragged my stash of stones into the van and drove until I thawed out.

I got as far as Regina that evening laughing at myself for being so gullible as to purchase a permit to play in the dirt. But, then I washed the stones and found one that intrigued me. It is small, round, bubbled, and heavy.

Yesterday the weather was great - dry and warm. Every scene deserved to be captured on film (if I can say that in the digital world). My good friend Amy had mentioned in an email that I was only a few days away from home if I drove all day. So, I started to tootle around the countryside. I went up a road, following a pair of binoculars, to Thunder Creek Heritage Marshes - a fabulous birding area. Pelicans flew low overhead on my approach, and there were maybe 13 different species on the water (I realise this will frustrate the birders reading this, but not sure what I was looking at other than the usual - and there were some fairly unusual specimens). Here's a photo of the sign so you can get there yourselves.

Back on the highway, not far to the west, was a pull off for Mortlach. Signs leading to the junction showed photos of natural history so I went to the gallery. The photographer is David Krughoff and website is photoartcanada.com. Walking around helped me identify a lot of the wildlife I have been seeing including the mule and white tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, curlew, shrike, red tailed and ferruginous hawks, partridge, grouse, pheasant, and red fox.

Mortlach is a lovely little place. It seems there are only about 300 people there, but going into the gallery then the rock shop then the tea shop everybody was happy to talk and speak positively of their little village. In the rock shop I showed the owner my bubbly find and found out that although I paid $10 for a permit, this little gem is worth $28 on the market. It is a prophesy stone... sounds to me like a second or third vocation!

A bit further along Hwy 1 I found a back route to Cypress Hills Provincial Park, that led me through to Eastend and the T'Rex Centre. In the hills around Frenchman River, which flows through Eastend, a discovery was made of one of only 12 known Tyranosaurus Rex remains. With very little government funding and lots of local support, a visitor centre has been created that is built into the hillside with just a semi-circle of glass marking its presence - apparently to look like an eye watching over the valley.

Debbie, a very friendly ex-Quadra and now Eastend inhabitant and who works at the centre (and, who decided to live in Eastend after 1 hour of walking around the town and enjoying an ice cream a few years ago) gave me a good tour of the facility which, having now been to the Tyrrell museum in Drumheller, was simple, uncomplicated, and I think I was the only visitor at the time. I have to say that I actually preferred to learn in that atmosphere, where I didn't have to vy with hoards of people to see the exhibits and where I got a one-to-one transfer of knowledge about what was going on here a few million years ago.

On Debbie's advice, I got up early this morning and drove up toward Leader to see the Great Sand Dunes. Apparently typical of Saskatchewan, finding out about the touristy things to go and see is quite a mystery. For some reason Sask. is not advertising it's points of interest very well. I got a little lost, but finally found myself at the foot of a line of sand dunes and had fun - being the only tourist there.

That's one of the nice things about travelling at this time of year. Yes, lots of places are closed, but as long as I can find my way to things I really have these lovely places to myself.

Obviously, though, many have been through here before me.

All day today has been a lovely drive. I approached Drumheller along the scenic route rather than the direct tourist drag. I saw some scary over-burdened trucks with farming gear - ploughing stuff that hung off both sides so that a regular sized truck becomes 3 times it's width as it teeters along.

I now find that walking around out here it is difficult to keep my eyes on the horizon. I am looking at the ground searching for the ultimate clue to discovering a dinosaur of my very own. I might stay around another day before heading south - the weather is supposed to be great tomorrow. We'll just have to see.