Day 15: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Another North American Road Trip

Day 15

Friday, July 3rd

Being at a different hotel chain this morning means there are a few subtle differences between where we’ve been staying and where we are. For example, I had tired of whatever herb the shampoos and body washes in our hotels smelled like. Today, the body wash had a pleasant, sweet citrus smell.  The packaging assured me that it held all the positive properties of aromatherapy. And while that may be true, I could not shake the thought that I smelled as though I had bathed in Tang. 

We went down for breakfast, and again there was oatmilk for my cereal. Yay! 

After we had packed up and shortly after we had started down the road there was a rather impressive looking buck running alongside the road.  It made it safely across, thankfully. 

We drove to the border of Canada. There was a bit of a wait to cross the border, as there was only one lane open. So we amused ourselves by playing Oregon Trail to pass the time. 

When it was our turn to answer a few questions we were asked, among other things, if we carried any pepper spray. Knowing it was not quite the same thing, Bryan helpfully declared our bear spray. We were assured that was fine and sent on our way. 

We crossed into Alberta, and nearly immediately saw a herd of elk grazing in the grass near the train.  

We had been driving in Canada about ten minutes when there was a helpful sign reminding us that speed limits are in kilometers per hour. Fortunately, our vehicle can be changed in to kilometers per hour, which Bryan had already done, and was happily driving along at 110 kilometers an hour. 

Our main destination today is a World Heritage Site called Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.  This is a place that Bryan had seen a sign for decades ago (before he met me) and thought it sounded funny. His curiosity was piqued, and he and his friends that were with him decided then and there that someday, they would pay the place a visit.  At long last, for Bryan at least, that day has come. 

We followed the signs, enjoying in a childish way the sound of the name of the place as we read it aloud. “Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Next left…”

We pulled up, parked, and stepped out into an extremely windy parking lot. I fought the wind that threatened to blow the bread away, and made us each a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. The wind did manage to blow over an open can of fizzy water which quickly filled the grooves of the tailgate and overflowed to land on my shoe. With a completely reasonable amount of excited yelling, we got ahold of the can and I continued making lunch. Our food disappeared quickly and we headed up the hill to purchase our tickets. 

We learned that because of Canada Strong Desmond’s entrance was free. That was a pleasant surprise. 

We took the elevators up to the top of the building (which is built inside of the hill) and walked out to look at the cliff first. This, we learned, is where first people, for thousands of years, hunted buffalo by stampeding them over the edge.  The exhibits inside were really well done. The movie, re-enacting such a hunt, was well made. By the time we got back to the giftshop, we all were ready to get some Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump swag. Bryan and Desmond got t-shirts. I looked long and hard at the sweatshirts - but they didn’t have my size. Oh well. 

From there we drove to Calgary and checked into a Hampton Inn for the evening. The lady at the front desk was surprised to hear we weren’t in town for the Calgary Stampede. She let us know that their pool was closed for maintenance, but that we would be able to use the pool and hot tub over at the hotel next door.  

While I did the laundry, Desmond got started cooking up a dinner of ramen in the little kitchen in our suite. We paid for the night on points, and were happy not to need to go anywhere once we got there. 

After dinner and laundry were done, Desmond and I put our suits on, and traipsed across the parking lot to the other hotel to swim. We had the place to ourselves (probably thanks to the rodeo) and enjoyed swimming for about 45 minutes in the comfortably warm pool before other families began to join us. 

We left the pool by 9PM, and went back across to our hotel to shower off and turn in for the night. 

Tomorrow we head up into Banff National Park which I have heard is SO beautiful. Can’t wait!