After some quick grocery shopping at Walmart we stopped at the Lethbridge information centre to get some suggestions for what to do in the area. Wow, did we find a lot of possibilities. So many, that we didn’t manage to make it out of Lethbridge.

Our first adventure was at the Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre in nearby Coaldale. Here orphaned and/or injured birds find a forever home if they can’t be released back into the wild.

Admission was $14 for adults and $12 for seniors (60+) and a bag of duck food was $2. We invested Ruth’s senior rate discount in a bag of duck food. The first birds we encountered after entering were ducks and Canada geese – not exactly birds of prey unless small children with food are involved.

Next, we saw the cutest little (and bigger) owls and were even allowed to hold them.

We learned that owls with yellow eyes are active during the day and those with black eyes are nocturnal.

The next area housed eagles and hawks, but those required professional handling as eagles can have a wingspan of up to 2.4 meters.

At 1:30PM there was a bald eagle flying exhibition featuring “Grace”. Grace weighs 7.8 lbs and definitely had attitude. Some chicken bits at both ends of her track kept her focused and flying back and forth. She also eyed some donuts that one of the visitors was eating but the trainer kept her from enjoying those.

The staff was super friendly and knowledgable and answered all questions in detail.

After watching the birds being fed, we too were hungry and headed to a food truck event at Henderson park in town where we sampled a taco with brisket, and another with pork belly. Both were excellent! Next up was the brisket on a bun truck but their fare wasn’t as good as the tacos. To finish off, we had to make sure that the ice cream truck offered tasty treats. We were not disappointed.

Now stuffed, we had to do some exercise and walked around this lovely park which features the Nikki Yuki Japanese Garden, a huge pool and a lake.

Our last visit for today was to the Lethbridge Viaduct, also known as the High Level Bridge which was constructed between 1907 and 1909 at a cost of over $1.3 million. It is over 1.6 km long and has a height of 96 meters above the river bed. It is the largest of its type in the world!

The beautiful structure of the bridge lends itself to abstract photography.

Ok, we didn’t make it very far today, so we’re back at the Walmart for the night.

Our first stop for today was at the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site. This site was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list at the 1981 meeting as a site of outstanding universal value forming part of the cultural heritage of mankind. An interpretive centre teaches about the history of the area.

Prehistorical Plains Indians herded buffalo over cliffs to their deaths and then butchered the animals for meat to survive the winter months and used the hides and bones for clothing and tools. Over a period of almost 6000 years, at least 4 different Indian cultures used this site.

After leaving the buffalo behind us, we traveled on a gravel highway until we met up with Hwy 3. Our next stop was the Lundbreck Falls, a very picturesque place to have lunch followed by a hike to see the twin falls.

The second cultural place of interest was the Bellevue Underground Mine, a former coal mine. We donned miner hard hats with lights and walked 1000ft into the pitch black mine to learn how coal was extracted during its operation between 1903-1961. According to our guide, some children as young as 12 worked in the mines, a dangerous and difficult environment to be in. Miners worked 8-12 hours a day for little pay.

The coal wagons, each weighing 3-6 tonnes, were pulled out of the mine an average of 6 at a time by Clydesdale horses.

The guide, a university history student, was excellent, informative and engaging.