Dispatch 02 from my Father-Daughter Road Trip
Dust, DEET, and dinosaurs
This second instalment of the road trip diaries is a love letter to Alberta, dedicated to industrial strength bug spray.
A Place of Dust and DEET
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We drive long country roads, some paved some not.
Pickled in DEET and coated in dust.
It’s flat and beautiful. Hot and dusty.
The mosquitoes were worse than I’ve ever seen.
After raining every day of July, it’s unseasonably lush.
The perfect recipe for blood-thirsty bugs.
It’s empty ghost towns, busy campgrounds.
The juxtaposition of small counties, big buckles, cowboy boots and hats.
Alongside big oil business, shiny new SUVs, and 600 square foot RVs.
It’s kids whining, dogs barking, and e-bikes whirring.
The sound of cicadas droning all day.
And coyotes singing after dark.
It feels like America. I keep forgetting where we are.
Wild Rose Country. Sagebrush for miles.
Narrow river valleys the drop down out of the flatlands.
Endlessly eroding sediment layers of the badlands.
Big. Wide. Open.
We left Edmonton and camped along the Red Deer River. This particular section was maybe a foot deep all the way across and slow-moving, and a football field wide. The mosquitoes were relentless, and we bathed in forever chemicals (thank you Muskol) and hid in the van despite the heat.
Spent a few days in the badlands and checked out Dinosaur Provincial Park. The experience of witnessing the quiet campground shift from Thursday to Saturday was an unexpected highlight – exceptional peoople watching, it was a cultural experience. The drive back towards the Rockies through the foothills was stunning, one of my favourite landscapes so far.
We camped at a lakeside rec site a few km shy of the BC border. Being chased out of the prairies by the bugs and heat, full steam ahead to the rivers and lakes we’re used to.
Alberta, you were beautiful. I forgot to snag a handful of sagebrush to bring home (sad!) but have 99 mosquito bites and a bluegrassy playlist as souvenirs.
Next instalment will be the final push home. Crowsnest Pass through the South Kootenays to the Okanagan and Fraser Valley. Vancouver Island, we’re coming for you!