Still heading west towards our meeting with SweetPea’s Vet, but not in a rush, so we have time to check out some pierogies and aliens along the way.
Glendon Alberta (population 338) is the home of the world’s largest Pierogi, standing almost 25′ tall. The town hosts an annual pierogi festival in the fall, so we will miss that, but we hoped to at least get some authentic Ukrainian pierogies. The only restaurant in town, the “Pierogi Cafe”, was closed, but their menu on the outside wall spoke of untold delights such as “Canadian, Vietnamese, Pizza” and last but not least “Pierogies”. Probably a good thing it wasn’t open.
We journeyed to St. Paul to see the much ballyhooed “Alien Landing Pad” and adjacent UFO Tourist Information Centre. I really wanted to see what kind of information they handed out to UFO tourists.
The landing pad was built in 1967 and aliens must have been much smaller then, because the landing pad is less then 40′ in diameter. Can you imagine what aliens must think: travel a bazillion light years to get here and the only available parking space is too small – “no thanks, we’ll pass, maybe we’ll stop by next time we’re in the neighbourhood”.
Garner Lake Provincial Park is a nice campground, private sites, flush toilets, $1 showers, and bugs. Good thing we have the screen tent.
During our first evening we heard a loud droning kind of noise coming from the trees. We went for a walk a discovered that the noise, which sounded kind of like a bee hive, was the noise generated by millions (and I mean millions) of flying bugs. The open air between the trees was darkened by the number of flying insects. It was incredible, and sort of gross-creepy, seeing so many bugs in the air.
Nice hiking along groomed trails, with lots of “information posts” describing local flora and fauna. The mosquitoes weren’t too bad until we got nearer to the shoreline, and then it was a bad idea to stop walking (walking more quickly is highly recommended).
There was a nice beach nearby, buts lots of algae (and bugs) along the shore, so no swimming for the dogs.
We found two bird blinds along the trails, and could hear many birds along the shore, but there hadn’t been any maintenance for a while as the only thing we could see was trees. We could kinda see some birds behind the leaves, but couldn’t really make out what kinds or how many.
Trip Summary:
Depart: The Battlefords Provincial Park Saskatchewan 11:00 am May 25; Odometer: 226243 km
Arrive: Garner Lake Provincial Park Alberta 4:15 pm May 25; Odometer: 226588 km
Gas Summary:
Elk Point, AB (May 25): 78.7 l @ $1.49/l (CAD$117.21) – ODO 226502
St Paul, AB (May 27): 37.1 l @ $1.46/l (CAD$54.09) – ODO 226201