Our annual August long-weekend began as all visits "down south" should -- a night at the Bluebird Motel in Claresholm. Now, for anyone coming to Alberta for a visit, you can forget about the Banff Springs Hotel or Jasper Park Lodge. The Bluebird Motel is where it's at! This pristine little motel, painted spotless white with blue trim, has been a familiar sight on Highway 2 south of Calgary for ages, though few know what a gem it is. It's an incredibly clean and very cheap little place, with lovely well cared for grounds, but what really sets it apart are the theme rooms. Each theme room is like a little museum!
Last year we stayed in the Gene Autry ro
om with a magical collection of cowboy memorabilia, especially Gene Autry stuff -- records, books, trading cards, pictures as well as other gems like pistols, spurs, halter, lasso, branding iron, spittoon, and barbed wire art. Not exactly standard motel decor!
This year we stayed in the Homestead Room and it was just as delightful. This room was full of a
ntiques from the days when Alberta was being settled by homesteaders. A homesteading certificate was on the wall along w
ith pictures from the time. Other collectibles included a set of bright red long-johns, a couple of chamber pots, a potbellied stove, carpet beater, and assorted kitchen knick-knacks from the time. 
Across the back lane from the motel is a log barn with a couple of tombstones by the side. A pasture with two beautiful horses adds to the charm. A stay at the Bluebird is always a treat.
As a bit of a post-script (since I started writing this blog entry) ... When we were in Claresholm, we ate dinner on Friday and breakfast on Saturday at "Roy's Place", a fairly nondescript small-town restaurant. The food wasn't spectacular, but it certainly wasn't awful. The service was friendly and polite -- genuinely so, not that "Professionally Perky" that we've come to tolerate in most urban restaurants. I did write a nice review on it in Trip Advisor, and actually had a response from the owner. He wrote:
"Hi Carol: My name is Kieth, my wife & I own Roy's Place in Claresholm. We appreciate every bit of feed back we can. Thanks for your words, our staff checks these websites often, they get quite pumped up when they get positive feed back from customers. Hope to see you again & have a great summer!" Awww ... that's why I love small towns! So, if you're ever passing through Claresholm, stop in at Roy's Place. They're nice.
The following morning began with a back-track from Claresholm to Nanton where we cut across country to Highway 22 (The Cowboy Trail), exiting just south of Longview. Along the way we saw the original Old MacLeod Trail. This was the original north-south route from Fort Benton, Montana to Ford Edmonton, Alberta. I have to say that, when I got out of the car to take this picture, the smell of freshly cut grass was heavenly on a warm, sunny Alberta morning.
Also along this secondary road, of special interest to me, were horses -- a lovely herd of horses. And yes -- a foal. ♥
Besides the horses, there were cows. Don't get me wrong -- I love cows. But I have a theory that each cow possesses only one cell of the global/cosmic cow brain. When one moves, they all move. When one moos, they all moo. They are not known for independent thinking. What started as one cow staring at me evolved
into a purposeful and orderly march toward me by the entire herd, until we had ... well, you'll see ...... and t
hen ...
hen ...... until ...
Throughout the prairies, there are many abandoned homes, barns, and schools -- sad reminders of dreams lost, communities forgotten, and the challenges of life on the prairies. One of these is the Muirhead School, closed in 1945. It stands now, surrounded by hay bales, and is now a home for many pigeons.
From Highway 22, we cut eastward toward the Porcupine Hills, following the creek that flows through the hills on its way to join the Oldman River. Fields were thick with clover, the smell in the air was amazing.
We passed another herd of horses ... an
d oh -- a couple of foals. There is nothing cuter than a foal. (Sorry, cats.)Well, this old guy was pretty cute too. "The Odd Couple".
As you drive through the rolling hills, it's hard to imagine that huge ranches are tucked away in the folds of the hills. One sign at Lyndon Creek Road demonstrates the surprising number that there are.
Through a leisurely meandering along the range road / township road system, we eventually made our way to the well-named Skyline Road. This "road" is little more than 
one lane, unpaved and deeply rutted. The only "traffic" we met on our way were three horses and riders, with two dogs. From the top of Skyline Road, the view was 
breathtaking. It was a hazy day, but the vista was of Porcupine Hills, rolling ranchland, The Livingston Range, and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. 
We eventually we made our way back to Highway 22 and on to Beaver Mines! What an amazing drive it was.What will the next day bring for us?
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