BCAA

TRAVEL 14 BCA A .COM SPRING 2018 AllCanadaPhotos/Kevin M. Law, Brad Smith/Grandmaison Photography, All Canada Photos/Michael Wheatley Hiking toward an active dig site with my husband, Blake, and our two school-age children, Bennett and Avery, it's hard to believe we're about to stumble across a palaeontological motherlode. Just below the ground's pebbly surface lie hundreds of fossilized ribs, hips, vertebrae, horns and frills. When we reach the quarry, our guide hefts a centrosaur horn into the air and pretends it's part of his nose, to everyone's delight. If only pleasing my kids on holiday were always this easy. The park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is our first stop on a trip to take in Alberta's kid-pleasing attractions. We're navigating a large, scenic loop that takes us from the provincial border at Crowsnest Pass on Hwy. 3, through a handful of small towns and into the Badlands, up to Drumheller, over to Calgary and back to BC via Banff. We've always been a road trip kind of family, and while we'd probably stop short of driving four hours out of our way to see the world's second-largest ball of twine – à la Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation – we enjoy the freedom and flexibility that come with a holiday on wheels. Crowsnest Pass to Dinosaur Provincial Park The scenery changes dramatically when we leave behind BC's forests. In southeast Alberta we see nothing but grassy hills, blue sky . . . and a swath of huge boulders on the horizon. Avery immediately notices the difference. "Look at all the rocks!" she yells. At Frank Slide, just past Blairmore, an interpretive centre tells the story of how Turtle Mountain collapsed in 1903, sending 82 million tonnes of limestone boulders onto the town below, killing at least 90 people. It's a sobering start to the trip, and we balance it with a quick stop at thundering and beautiful Lundbreck Falls, on the Crowsnest River, before turning on to Hwy. 22 for the pretty drive north. We count cows grazing on the many ranches that dot this stretch of the "Cowboy Trail" en route to the town of Nanton. We stop for hard candy and cinnamon sticks at the famous Nanton Candy Store, and I browse the curios (everything from classic snowshoes to porcelain collectibles) that make this a must-visit stop on the town's antique walk. Refuelled, Blake points the car toward the town of Vulcan to see its replica of the Starship Enterprise (installed along with a space- and Star Trek-themed visitor centre after the town decided to embrace the pop-culture connotations of its name in 1995). The kids haven't a clue about Mr. Spock or Captain Kirk, but I've been curious about this oddity for years. Alberta is home to a number of peculiar roadside attractions, from a giant Ukrainian Easter egg in Vegreville, east of Edmonton, to the World's Largest Dinosaur, a 26.3-metre-tall Tyrannosaurus rex model that we'll see in Drumheller in a couple of days.

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