Going Back in Time in Calgary

Sat 10th Sept. Today we continued to be tourist in Calgary and went to the Heritage Park, and learnt about old time Canada. Spent about 5 hrs wandering around, checking out Gasoline Alley, with the old vehicles and associated memorabilia, went on the steam train around the park, and the numerous other buildings such as blacksmiths, and houses belongings to founding families of Calgary. One of the replica houses belonged to the Calgary woman who was part of the Alberta's Famous Five. Five woman who petition the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify whether woman were deemed "persons" under Canada's Constitution, and as such, eligible for appointment to the Senate. The Supreme Court ruled against them so they took their appeal to the Privy Council in London (the highest court of appeal in the British Empire) and in 1929 won the right to be called "persons". We found this fascinating, and although we know the history and the battle woman had in those years, it's still hard to fathom how this could be, and be thankful for the likes of the Famous Five, and Kate Sheppard who battled for women's rights. After the park we headed south towards Waterton National Park. On the way we stopped at the Okotoks Erratic Big Rock. An enormous quartzite block weighing about 16500 tones and measuring about 41 x 18 x 9 m that was carried on the surface of a Glacier from the Jasper area during the last ice age and deposit in a paddock 30 km south of Calgary. Continuing south the countryside were enormous grasslands, however the smoke haze was extremely bad today which reduced visibility. Looking for somewhere to stop for the night, after stopping at Lundbreck Falls, we found a deadend side road not far from the Falls that had a rocky pullout area that is perfect for a night stay. Saw on my Facebook page photos of Sunshine Village, at Banff covered in snow, can't believe the change in less than 2 weeks when we were there, although it was very cold even then.Read more