ALBERTA T TOUR - 2025 - Day 8 - Reynolds Museum

 Canada has these premier museums, each out there in a relatively small town.  Today was the Reynolds Museum in Wetaskiwin.  Don't ask me to pronounce that, typical name for Alberta.  95 miles one way,we made it in two hours, pretty much flat out in the T through that great Alberta farmland, on nice backroads, little traffic.  The countryside is this pretty green (wheat) and gold (canola) patchwork quilt, you can't capture it in a picture,it's too pretty.  Click on any picture for a larger version.

Love the way the canola looks like it is flowing around the power poles.  Here are a few of the things that caught myeye in the museum,,,

The above are things on display in the main museum, then we walked thru their warehouse where things not on display are, shades of Raiders of the lost ark.  Click on any picture for a larger version.

The picture on the right is a dissembled Model T undercarriage.

Long day, ran the T hard all day.  All good.  

Yesterday, we saw 5 white pelicans, here in the middle of Alberta!!  How is that possible?  Googled white pelicans and turns out they are migratory, and return to Alberta for summer nesting.  Before winter sets in, they migrate to southern U.S. and Mexico.  Amazing.  Also lots of gulls, slightly different bill markings from the CA gulls.

ALBERTA T TOUR - 2025 - Day 7 - A Day in Stettler

 Day 7 - A Day in Stettler

A little morning tour took us past several retirement homes, for those folks who don't get out much, lots of folks waving as we went by.  

Had fun looping our parade all around the cul de sacs,,,

Then off for a visit and lunch at the local Ford dealer,,,  Ford dealers  up here love us.

Found a new use for a Ford Lightning,,,

Spent the afternoon at the Stettler Pioneer Village.  Just going to throw up a bunch of pictures here.

Couple of extreme Model T hot rods showed uo today,,   genuine Model T's,  

Look at the wood bodies,  sheet metal doesn't last too well up here, and those long dark cold winter days are a good time for woodworking.

End of day, little parking lot maintenance,,,,,,,

ALBERTA T TOUR - 2025 - Day 6 - Train Tour to Big Valley

 Day 6 - Train Tour to Big Valley

In thr parking lot this morning, talked to this guy from Florida ( on a really extended tour o the states), who has this cool Rawleigh's Peoducts T.  The question is, are you old enough to remember when Rawleigh's Products and Watkins Products would arrive at your farmhouse so you could stock up on liniments and cold remedies and various other sundries?

This mornings tour took us to the Ford Farmstead (no relation) for ice cream. Perfect way to start the day, right?  Ice cream and then toffee to go....

Afternoon tour was a lengthy train ride from Stettler to Big Valley on the Alberta Prairie Railway Steam Train.

Before we left, we managed to get almost everyone from our club together for a group photo.

We couldn't find Barbara (she was in the locomotive trying to hitch a ride) so her friend Karen stood in for her.

We took a few T's along in case the train broke down,,,,,,

Tickets please,,,,

Your money or your life, please,,,,

At big valley, we had a steak, beans, salad dinner and then explored the town, found this tool museum, now here was a guy (probably divorced) who let his collection get away,,,

Pat found another tractor sewing machine in the ice cream store,,,,

We may be looking at a new use for her collection.

Just one more thing, this is the saloon car, very popular on the way back, along with some cowboy entertainment.

Long day,,,,,,zzzzz,,,

ALBERTA T TOUR - 2025 - Day 5 - Tour to Drumheller and the Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum

 Day 5 - Tour to Drumheller and the Royal Tyrell Dinosaur Museum - 98 km one way.

The day dawned as predicted, raining!!  But these T drivers are tough, if you had side curtains, you put them on, otherwise rain ponchos and umbrellas. The road to Drumheller is basically a straight line.  Leaving Stettler, not a single curve for 40 miles.

Drumheller loves dinosaurs, has one on every corner,,,

This big one, you can climb up to the mouth,,,

The Ford dealer in Drumheller furnished hamburgers for lunch.

On to the Tyrell Museum,,, incredible display tracing ancient history through paleontology. Just a couple pictures, this is worth a special trip to Alberta just to see this.  

And then 98 km back to Stettler, still raining, never let up.  Side curtains almost kept us dry.  What a day.

Watched Canadian news today.  Guess what Alberta is worried about?  Environmentalists in Ottawa who want to shut down the oil, coal, and gas industries, crazy gun laws, too many emigrants.  Sound familiar?

ALBERTA T TOUR - 2025 - Day 4 - Cranbrook, BC to Stettler, AB

Day 4 - Cranbrook, BC to Stettler, AB

 The morning portion of the day was spent deep in the Canadian Rockies, the afternoon was thru cattle country and wheat and canola farms, all very large.

We had the morning roads pretty much to ourselves,,, trees and mountains,,

Bob thought he might need a new truck,,,,    worlds largest truck ever built, used in open pit coal mining,now retired.  Look close, you can see Bob in the picture.

We circled around Calgary, felt right at home, four and five lanes , lots of traffic.  Calgary has obviously exploded since the last time we were here, Huge warehouses everywhere, Amazon, Costco, lots of new names, new housing developments by the mile. And, very interesting, no billboards, what a novel idea.

After Calgary, definitely in the land od Canola,,,

Arrived in Stettler, which by the way is way north of Calgary,  unloaded the T, and went to the Meet and Greet at the Ag grounds,  loved the big iron on display....

Little parking lot maintenance went on prepping for tomorrow,,,