Regina-Moose Jaw-Medicine Hat-Drumheller-Calgary - 853.6 km - 11 hrs 30 mins
Unimpressed with Regina, we set sail west towards towards Moose Jaw, Swift Current, and Alberta.
Moose Jaw
Expectations from Saskatchewan towns were at a low after Regina, so Moose Jaw, a town of 35,000 about an hour west of Regina, was surprisingly welcoming during our breakfast, grocery and gas stop.
Moose Jaw became an important railroad junction in late 19th century, as the easily accessible Moose Jaw river provided ample supply of water for locomotive engine cooling. In 1920s, Moose Jaw was one of the alcohol trafficking junctions, especially after prohibition was repealed in Canada, while staying active in the US. Al Capone is rumoured to have visited the town several times in connection to illegal alcohol trafficking.
Side note: Al Capone was jailed in Alcatraz and had severe neurosyphilis later in life.
City is littered with murals and has an unusual number of cozy cafes for a town its size.
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| One of Moose Jaw's attractions. |
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| One of the best cafes along the trip - Java Express in Moose Jaw, SK. |
Driving west, amazing views of flowing grass are endless. Through Saskatchewan, the Transcanada highway is intertwining with one of the branches of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Trains transporting grain, potash, and oil are abound.
The plains are seemingly infinite.
Noone is in sight, especially on side roads off Transcanada highway.
Drumheller
Drumheller is a small town approximately 110 km northeast of Calgary. The scenery quickly changes as you drive north and approach the Red River Valley canyon.
Drumheller and the surrounding valley is famous for unearthing multiple dinosaur skeletons. If you've seen a reconstructed dinosaur in a nature/science museum across Canada, it probably came from here.
But we pass the dinosaur skeletons and head straight into an old coal mine. Atlas Coal Mine has the last standing wooden tipple (coal-sorting structure adjacent to the mine) in Canada, which was operated as late as 1979. Delivering coal of correct size was crucial; the 8-story structure contained a series of shaker screens which allowed to separate coal based on size, as it flowed from top to bottom, before being loaded.
Although extremely efficient, the mine went bankrupt due to the dampening demand as natural gas became the norm in home-heating.
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| Rusty trolley-cars that we got a ride in after the mine closed. |
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| Our overtime-working tour guide. |
On to Calgary.
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