Cowboys & Dinosaurs

Calgary during the stampede is pure mayhem. It seems that everyone is on vacation, although we learned that the people who party the hardest are also the ones who have just spent 10 hours at the office. Everyone has on their plaid and cowboy boots and they are ready to two-step the night away. Since neither of us has been to the stampede since we were of age, we were excited to take full advantage of all the “greatest outdoor show on earth” has to offer. One of our good friends Kayla, being the wonderful friend that she is, opened her house to us and showed us the ropes of stampede. The first day we went to the rodeo and then to one of the tents for some beers and dancing.

Then an amazing surprise came in the form of one of our best friends-Hannah! We hadn’t seen her since she embarked on her own journey 7 months earlier. She had taken a 15 hour train to come meet up with us! We took full advantage of the fair, rodeo and time with friends. After Hannah and Autumn lost out several times playing games at the fair, Hazen took over in order to win ourselves a mascot. We never did win, but a nice employee did give us a stuffed bear for our troubles.

One of our favorite activities was a night at the chuck wagon races. We all went and sat watching each heat of the race, a new four chuck wagons competing in each, and made 20 cent bets on who would win. We of course knew nothing about chuck wagon racing so the bets were made primarily on the aesthetics of the wagons, wheels, and/or horses’ attire. We lost track after so many rounds of races but we’re pretty sure someone owes someone a beer. 

We finished our time in Calgary with a trip to the Royal Tyrell Museum. Now, to appreciate this you must first understand what a dream come true this was for Hazen. Hazen claims to have fantasized about coming here as a little boy, and he has the dinosaur pillow, blanket and Jurassic Park obsession to back it up. If you look closely at Hazen’s eyes you may even be able to see tears of joy as he stands next to the T-Rex. The museum was extremely well done, with exhibits on fossils, how they excavate and clean them, interactive education on paleontology, and a journey through the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.