Museum Security Guard

Sandy is a little concerned about whether or not he will be able to get into the Royal Tyrrell Museum. He remembers his experiences in London, where security guards refused him entry based on the fact that he is a "dangerous" animal! Shocking! Canada is a bit more relaxed about security measures though... and today's security guard didn't seem at all threatening.

He must be standing on parade here... very tall and official looking. He doesn't even need a uniform to give him any authority. Sandy wasn't too sure how this was going to work out though... but... Mama gave Sandy a few bread crumbs (bribes always work well!)...

The guard looked at Sandy as if he couldn't quite believe the crumble of bread had come from him... but Sandy looked nonchalant (as only a little bear can)... and...

Presto! bribe accepted and eaten! Whew... that was easy! Sandy wonders if all security guards are that easily bribed in other places...

Of course the security guard did have to do a cursory inspection of Sandy, but that was purely a formality! And Sandy was good to go! Then it was off into the museum and... gulp... Sandy almost scampered back out immediately. There were roaring noises and some very realistic looking dinosaurs with very LARGE teeth...

There are a lot of sharp-teethed dinosaurs out there! Sandy learns that there are ones called Albertosaurus and Elasmosaurus and Tyrannosaurus and... well... Sandy is very glad he didn't live way back then! He was glad to see some of the more calm and peaceful seascapes and sea creatures like ammonites!

Whew... what a day! Sandy has learned a lot about what life was like millions and millions (and more millions) of years ago and is glad that he lives in a time when little bears are not dinosaur fodder!

The dangers of Christmas in June

Well... today is June 25 and Sandy has had exactly 6 months of adventures! He's still a very young bear, with not a lot of experience under his belt. So on this day, he can be forgiven for getting a bit confused. He was walking along when he saw white and fluffy stuff... "snow!" he cried with delight and raced forward to frolic in it (he is a winter bear after all).

Except it wasn't quite snow... it was cottonwood fluffs! A lot of them... and they were soft and fluffy, but definitely not snow. Sandy was momentarily disappointed but then had fun chasing little tumbleweeds of fluff around. But that distracted him from the bigger picture of the world around him and... well...

Sandy felt a big snuffling of air and gulped a bit... uh-oh... another dinosaur! And this one was a bit more interested in Sandy than the smooched dinosaur from yesterday.

"Help!" cried Sandy. Hmmm... at least this dinosaur doesn't have teeth. Mama doesn't seem too worried though so Sandy doesn't know whether to shriek in terror or giggle madly because the dinosaur is tickling him!

And then... the dinosaur opened its mouth and deposited Sandy neatly on... a baby dinosaur!!

Ride 'em cowboy bear! Sandy is quite excited at this. He's pretty sure that not everyone gets to ride a dinosaur every day... particularly given the signs nearby!

But that is clearly a sign that applies to humanoid's not to little bears! What an adventure... Sandy is excited to have made some dinosaur friends... and he learns that they are distantly related to his pal Eldritch the Dragon (cool!).

Sandy also learns that these dinosaurs are more "accurate" than the ones he saw yesterday. These ones are outside the world famous Royal Tyrrell Museum (of Palaeontology)... which Sandy is going to explore with gusto tomorrow! Are there dinosaurs where you live??

A little bear meets a large (very large) dinosaur

All this trekking through the badlands has finally brought Sandy to his ultimate destination... Drumheller... home to the World's Largest Dinosaur! It's not a "real" dinosaur... but it sure is big!

From every angle... it just looks big... It has a very big head... and big teeth. Although it's front arms are a tad small compared to the rest of it!

Mind you... it has very big toes... errr... claws!

Can you see Sandy perched on the dinosaur toe? Yes... very big toe... which makes Sandy wonder, "who gives a dinosaur a pedicure?" Mind you... Sandy discovered that if he backed up far enough...

Not quite far enough... back a bit more... and a bit more... then Mama could take a picture which made the dinosaur look not quite so big!

Or rather... it made Sandy look bigger than he actually is... except he still looks small compared to the dinosaur. But then... there were some other dinosaurs that weren't quite so intimidating. This one, for instance, doesn't look half so scarey (or so big)!

For one thing... it doesn't have any teeth, just a big beak! Which means it was a plant-eater and wouldn't have been interested in munching on little bears!

Plus... it looks like it even lets people kiss it (see the lip marks on the beak?)...

Sandy isn't going to smooch the dinosaur though... might get germs!

Climbing the Stone Tower

Sometimes the weirdest things appear just around the corner. Sandy was happily scampering through the dusty badlands, having all sorts of adventures when... he saw this... a tower of stone!At first he thought it might be a natural rock formation, but closer examination (and some help from Mama) soon convinced him, it was a human-made structure. And, as we all know, bears love to climb!

And fall... (although they don't love that as much as the climbing!)

And get up... and climb again...

Higher and higher... not a good time to fall now Sandy!

More than half way up already!! Way to go Sandy!

And finally the top!! Wow... that was quite the climb... but as with most climbs, Sandy has just discovered that climbing up is far easier than climbing down... hmmm...

"Mama!! Help!!"... Maybe Sandy needs to start using ropes so that he can rappel down again after some of his climbs! At least he had a great view from up there!

Water Adventures in the Badlands

Despite the dry climate in the Badlands, rain does fall occasionally, and when it does, it creates all sorts of interesting features in the Badlands. Sandy notices first of all that there are these outwash fans made of sand and clay with some bigger rocks...

It looks like Sandy is standing in the middle of a desert! And he can even see the flow marks of the water in various places. It must be quite exciting down here when it is raining!

And then when the water is gone... the ground starts to crack and dry out. Sandy is glad that he is here on a dry day otherwise he might need to get some rubber boots.

The rocks are also very interesting and Sandy thinks that maybe they are meteorites! But after a bit of an argument with Mama (who has studied rocks), he grudgingly admits that they could be ironstone (which is well known in this area). But meteorites would be so much more interesting and more of an adventure!

In amongst all of the sand and clay and rocks, there are some signs of life... even flowers!

These are pretty yellow flowers which belong to the Aster Family and are called "Colorado Rubber Plant". They are very beautiful and add some colour to this barren wasteland.

There are even some little orange flowers which Sandy learns are called "Orange Globe Mallow". He's not going to pick any flowers to take home though as they've worked very hard to grow in this area and he has enough flowers to pick at home!

And a short distance later, Sandy is stunned to find a narrow little gully, which is like an oasis in the Badlands. There is a little stream (a bit muddy) and it is nice and cool down there... with some trees as well (short trees mind you).

This is quite the surprise and Sandy happily wanders upstream where he finds a stone bridge across the stream. Now that is cool!

There is even a pool underneath the bridge and in a rainstorm there would probably be a waterfall in behind the bridge as well. But... Sandy won't be coming here in a rainstorm... it's dangerous enough during good weather... as Sandy's Mama discovered. Sometimes the sandy banks of the stream aren't quite as solid as they look...

Sandy's comment to the muddy boot was "Better you than me, Mama!"...

Roaming the Badlands

Sandy loves the view of the badlands as seen in Horseshoe Canyon. The colours are very beautiful and everything looks very green and lush because there's been lots of rain lately. Despite that, it is very warm out today and if Sandy's going to go down into the canyon for a hike, he'd better make sure to cover up otherwise he'll get a sunburn and look more like Hammie Hamster! Luckily Sandy has a long-sleeved coat and a hat to protect him from the blazing sun.

So... now what... well, Sandy doesn't really have a specific goal in mind, other than to do some exploring and adventuring. Mind you, there is a sign that says "Be careful... snakes... and you can get lost very, very easily". (Well, the sign didn't say that exactly, but you get the gist of it).

Sandy can see some trails down there... so he figures if he stays on those, it will be harder to get lost... he hopes! And down the embankment he goes... and into the badlands...

Holy moly it's hot down there! And the rock formations are very interesting. Sandy learns that just a few kilometres away, they discovered dinosaurs in this type of rock! Ooohhh... dinosaurs... that sounds exciting! But for the moment, Sandy has to keep his attention focused on the stuff in front of him. These rock formations are a tough scramble for a little bear.

They are very gullied and worn down by the rain, and... well... Sandy has to keep his eyes on where he's going otherwise he might climb himself into a corner!

Plus, the rain has made the clay-rock very brittle and crumbly... hmm... but up he goes... up and up and up... grabbing whatever paw and foot-holds he can,, until finally... Sandy stands on top of the outcrop!

Whew... that was quite the climb. And now he's standing on some harder rocks which are a bit more solid underfoot. But that was only the first climb, there are more to come!

East to the Badlands

Today is a big day... Sandy is headed east on a road trip, just a little one). Mama has visitors from German (a cousin and her friend)... and Sandy has appointed himself as their tour guide. They're a little skittish about "Canadian bears" but he's sure that they'll warm up to him after a while! He's been studying maps and guidebooks and... the first stop is the Badlands. And, in order to be a great tour guide, Sandy figures he needs to be able to take some photographs... Mama dug out her small tripod and... Sandy was good to go!

Hmm... there's a lot involved in taking a picture! Turning the camera on, zooming in and out, changing the exposure, playing with the focal length... my goodness!!

And then Sandy has to figure out how to frame his shot so it looks beautiful! He's a very patient and methodical bear... but this is taking quite a while! Sandy isn't even phased when Mama jumps in front of the camera to take a picture of him from that angle... just a muttered "Mama, you're in my photo!"

And finally... the big moment... a photograph...

Well... that's not bad! Interesting exposure setting, a little bit under-exposed, brings out the blue of the sky... The grasses form an interesting foreground and the dead tree frames the photo to the left... Hmm... and that only took 10 minutes! Sandy thinks maybe he'll stay in front of the camera rather than behind the camera... more adventures that way!