July 9th: Kevin, MT to Canada (Day 17)

The next day we overslept and barely made check out – but we were able to wash our camp dishes from our previous campsites, and took much needed showers. Kevin picked up a couple of coffees and muffins from next door and we checked out and headed to our next stop…Kevin, Montana. We did remember to return the key this time!

Kevin Montana is an old, half-dead oil town that was interesting and sad at the same time. We left Kevin and headed to Canada. Luckily the dogs were feeling calm (usually they bark at anyone who comes within 100 feet of the car) so Border Patrol passed us through with no problems. Apparently we got off easy because the Menonites that were trying to get through next to us were stopped and had their van searched. We made a couple of sandwiches on the road and headed on to the Alberta Badlands, where the largest concentration of dinosaur fossils in the world was found. We passed through Vauxhall, the Potato capital of the West, on our way to see the Dinosaur find. Along the way, we realized that none of the stores in Canada were able to treat our check card as a debit card so we had to go cashless until Calgary.

We drove through the Badlands and then drove 2 hours to Drumheller to see the Royal Tyrrell Museum of paleontology. It was late when we arrived so we decided to find a campsite, make dinner and call it a night. It was a little cloudy, but it looked like it would clear up soon so we set up camp. Almost immediately we were eaten alive by mosquitos, so we headed into town for bug spray, some groceries, and firewood. As we were spraying down in the parking lot of the grocery store, a local laughed at us and said “been there, done that – it’s not going to work”. Once we got the coils burning and the spray on, it wasn’t too bad. The mosquites may be in great quanity, but these "far north" mosquitos' bites don’t sting or itch and you can hardly even tell where they’ve bitten you. However…….the rain did not pass. What a night! It stormed and stormed and stormed - with wind and hail! At one point it quieted down and we were able to get a little bit of sleep. I woke up to tell Oops to stop "snurfling" (noises he makes when he takes an undue interest in his nether regions) but we realized that it wasn’t him. Something was outside the tent, but I guess it didn’t find anything interesting or maybe my mom “cut it out” voice worked on whatever it was. If we hadn't been camping in a stand of trees I don't think our tent would have survived the onslaught of hail and wind that night.

Pictures for Day 17