Jan's Mum and Dad have been and gone, our very first visitors here in Canada. We enjoyed showing them around and made trips out to a number of places of interest. Among the first visits we made was to the uniquely monickered "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump", a UNESCO world heritage site a couple of hours drive south of Okotoks. We wont dwell on what the site is all about as you can sort of get the gist from the name, (although the "head-smashed-in" part of the name doesn't actually relate to the buffalo - despite this being the fate that befell the poor beasts...it relates to the injuries sustained by a native who was curious to find out from below, what a herd of buffalo look like when they run over a cliff edge...can't imagine today's health and safety laws would allow such a viewing point!) Here's the website though - worth a little look.
The road there was unbearably busy - it was a really stressful drive...
...However, we stuck with it and got there safely where Geoff & Hazel got friendly with the locals...
There's an interesting interpretive centre at the site and then you can take a stroll along to one of the buffalo jump sites that the natives used.
...and while we were looking at the jump site, we had a visit from a Marmot.
On the way home, we took a short detour off the highway into the little town of Stavely which stands out along the route because of it's large and well maintained grain tower, situated directly across the street from their only hotel and their sweet little Town Office (Council Offices or Town Hall in UK speak).
J&E
