Dinosaurs on the moon

---

I gave the Last Chance Saloon its own entry because it is so friggin awesome. Anyway after we’d finished there we went and saw a few of the other attractions in Drumheller. The first of which was the Red Deer River Valley Badlands. The Badlands landscape is moon-like in appearance with gullies and twisting and winding canyons that have been intricately eroded. It was named the “badlands” as it was arid and thought to be unsuitable for farming. Although it was later found out to be rich with coal and fossils. I should probably know how the area was formed seeing as both my Dad and girlfriend are geographers, all I remember is that it was formed from retreating glaciers or something like that.

Next up was a visit to the Star Mine Suspension Bridge which according to wikipedia is: A 117 meter long suspension bridge across the Red Deer River in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Constructed in 1931, it was built for the coal workers of Star Mine. In 1958, the Alberta provincial government rebuilt (and currently maintains) the bridge to "commemorate part of the colourful mining history of the Drumheller Valley."

I guess the bridge isn’t that exciting; the Hoodoos however are a bit more interesting. They are composed of soft sedimentary rock and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily eroded-stone that protects the column from the elements. Ok, so that doesn’t really sound that interesting but they look cool. What I can promise was interesting was the dinosaur museum.

There’s not much to write about the (Royal Tyrell Paleontology) museum because it is more of a visual spectacle. What I can tell you is that it’s Canada’s largest collection of dinosaur fossils, you can watch scorpions trying to eat crickets, and a window into the preparation lab allows you to watch technicians as they carefully prepare fossils for research and exhibition. I bet when visiting hours are over they do all sorts of experiments trying to bring the dinosaurs back to life. Maybe I’ve been watching too much TV.

---