The Great Canadian Tour 2025 - Elbows Up Edition - Day 28

Last night we didn’t arrive to our hotel until 8 pm.  We knew it would be a long day and a later arrival so we had planned a down day in CowTown which we could use to explore Canada’s Badlands, specifically today in Drumheller, home of the Royal Tyrell Museum.

It was a beautiful morning, blue skies, sunshine and time on our hands.  We are also acutely aware that there is a very large cell moving across and over Calgary some time today between 2:45 pm and 11 pm.  After our breakfast, we get ready for the short ride to Drumheller in search of the badlands and any possible Dinosaurs.

We head North past Balzac and Airdrie, turning right (east) onto a very long, very straight country road also known as Hwy 9.  We made a quick stop to take some pictures along a beautiful canola field.  A great backdrop for a photo of your motorbike. 

As we entered Drumheller, we quickly descended from the flat plains, green and lush with crops, into dusty rock formations almost like falling into a crevice.  Two completely different landscapes.  A change that happens in seconds.  No transition, no gradual change in landscape.

The badlands are their own landscape.

We made our way to the Royal Tyrell Museum as we knew there was a viewing platform there that would give us a 360 view.

We were watching our time closely as we didn’t want to get caught in what we knew was going to be a really big thunderstorm.  Weather changes out here quickly and can be quite severe.  The last place we wanted to be stuck in that kind of storm was out in the wide open with no place to take cover.  We headed back to Calgary in record time with the help of a few “DD’s” (designated decoys), had a quick rest and got ready to have supper.  We were meeting up with friends of ours who live in Calgary at an Italian restaurant a mere few steps away from our hotel.  We had a lovely evening, reminiscing, laughing and getting caught up in each others lives, as best you can over two and a half hours.  Always great to see them.

Tomorrow (today, since I feel asleep before finishing the post) we head to Swift Current.  By the look of the radar, we will be chasing this storm cell all week.  To say that the light show last night was spectacular is an understatement.  The flashes of light and streaks of lightning were continuous without a break for over 2 hours.  We managed to not get caught in any of it riding or walking to and back from supper.

Oh…and we also got “kicked” out of Drumheller.  At least that is what it appears to have happened but it is the Badlands after all.