Sugar Spoon Parenting: Backroads, bottle caps and bridges...

Tuesday

I could have spent all day in Rowley, Alberta.

Its Hollywood-style sign was a strong signal broadcasting, "Worth the detour! Come on in!"

Knowing nothing about the place but sensing greatness, I turned off the highway onto the dirt mound of a 'road' under massive construction.

As we crawled along towards the mystery town, I felt pure expectancy and bliss; the familiar bliss of hunting down the less travelled, unknown, and unwanted path.

And what a treasure town it was!

This is how I've always rolled.

Avoid the beaten track,

listen for the unexpected invitation,

pay homage to the abandoned places.

See what no one else sees.

(moreso when I was single, but what JOY to introduce the kids to my bohemian style of travel!)

We peered through the windows of the ghost town shops

and felt like peeking toms cowboy pioneers.

There's just something so great about a whole town

preserved as a museum :)

~~~

The incredible thing about the drive to Drumheller is...

One minute you're floating through familiar prairie fields and BOOM! the next minute you're dropping down millions of years below ground level, into a cavernous time warp.

The kids lost their minds over the stunning shift in geography!

The 11 bridges of Wayne -- the record number of bridges in the shortest distance. As we wound our way over them (each unique, wood plank, one lane and lovely!) we made up our own songs to the tune of London Bridges Falling Down.

And at last we arrived at the fantastically quaint 100 year old hotel and campground where we would spend 2 nights.

(I highly recommend the Last Chance Saloon. $15 a night. Great service and ambiance, live music and a delicious menu just in case the camp food doesn't work out)

First order of business: bottle cap hunting!

A major thrust of the holiday and the boys' main plaything each day...

These were their guys, their cars, their lego, their trading cards, their special collection.

And fun to smash with rocks!

Second order of business: Homesteading!

As Ruth Wittig says, "guide towards challenge."

There's the literal stretch of being the only pair of tall arms for the job,

and the figurative stretch of non-hovering
as Brayden mans the rusty hatchet.