Saturday, June 11
Day 4

 

We had breakfast in a Sweet Shop next to Ft. MacLeod. Martin and Dora run the shop and were fun to visit with. Martin told Mel how to grow hair.

 

Dot & Mel

 

Birthplace of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

 

The fort

 

Courtyard inside Ft. MacLeod

 

These are the pictures from Saturday's blog. I forgot to load them - sorry!

Today we made the journey from Hill Spring, Alberta to Spring Hill, Alberta. Spring Hill is a wide spot in the road north of Calgary, Alberta. We left the park a little after nine and made a short trip to MacLeod - home to Ft. MacLeod, the birthplace of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Our plan was to have breakfast with some of our newly acquired friends, Mel and Dot, from California. However, none of the restaurants in MacLeod opened until 11:00 or later. They must sleep late in MacLeod.Anyway, we found a parking space near the Fort, and I went down the block to a little snack stand. I asked if they served breakfast and they told me they only had coffee and sweet rolls. We all agreed that sounded better than nothing so we went to the sweet shop. We met the propreieters, Martin and Dora, and had a very pleasant chat with them. Martin came to Canada from Ireland over 50 years ago, and could he carry on a conversation. He told Mel that he had a sure fire way to grow hair - just rub chicken-sh-t on you scalp once each month. He kept us laughing during our entire visit.

After breakfast we went to Fort MacLeon for our tour. We had a wonderful tour guide who told us how the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came into being. Their main purpose originally was to run out the whiskey traders who terrorized the Indians and other settlers in the western territories. It was an interesting and enlightening tour followed by a short movie that discussed the Mounties' relationship with the Indians far different from that of the Blue Coats on the American side of the border.

From there we made the 135 mile drive on to Spring Hill and our home for the next two nights.

Tomorrow we take a bus tour or Calgary Olympic Park and have lunch in the Olympic Village. Sounds like a good way to spend my birthday! Til next time - Happy Trails!