On to Medicine Hat

Great surprise this morning – Ron turned the key in the ignition and complete silence. We phoned Tiffin, who referred us to Freightliner, who referred us to the local dealer, who came over to Wal-Mart. A hidden fuse has jiggled loose, so a quick fix and we were on the road. I think this tells you how rough some of these roads are. Good thing we enjoy our little adventures. We passed large salt deposits by Chaplin Lake which covers, 15,000 acres, the 2^nd largest inland saline water body in Canada. 30 species of shorebirds follow an ancient pattern linking their winter habitat in South America to rest and nesting here in the summer or refuel on their way to the high Arctic. Some fly more than 70 hours and 3100 miles. We're following the train tracks which were so instrumental in settling this country. Below here, is the Grasslands National Park right down on the border of the US. There are miles of rolling hills and hidden coulees where buffalo once roamed and Sitting Bull took refuge. There you can see burrowing owls, prairie dog towns and ancient tepee rings. Also below Highway 1 are the Badlands of the Big Muddy, which were once the northern sanctuary of the Outlaw Trail, organised by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The terrain is riddled with caves, canyons and gulches. We entered Alberta and got to Medicine Hat at 4 p.m. and parked at Husky. One of the double trailers was parked by us.