At 9 am we left home towards Beaverlodge in Northern Alberta in the semi truck with trailer. I never was in Beaverlodge before, so it was a part of Alberta I didn't see yet. We stopped from time to time, had lunch in Valleyview and arrived in Beaverlodge around 4 pm. We had to be at the elk farm around 4.30 to load the animals. I never were on an elk farm before, another new thing for me :) The elk are still wild animals and to load them you need to run them up a shoot and then in the trailer. 32 bull elk had to get on the trailer. Of course the boys didn't really want to step in this dark box... so we had to push (as good as you can from above) them in the trailer. Finally, everybody was in there and we could leave. Our next destination and unfortunately the final destination for the boys was Fort McCleod south of Calgary. The weather was a mix of clouds, sun and rain (down pour). We even had the chance to see the moon again ! We didn't stop a lot to have a break, so we didn't get a lot of sleep this night. I tried to stay awake as long as I can to keep Robin company and help him not to fall asleep behind the wheel but after midnight I had to give up and crawled in the bed in the truck. Well, as soon as I was in bed I thought I am on a boat on a rough sea !!! The boys behind me just rocked the boat like crazy ! I had a hard time not to fall off the bed... I tried to get some sleep from Rimbey to Red Deer (about 1 hour ?). Robin stopped in Red Deer cause he was tired as well. I thought yeah, maybe I can sleep now... ? I don't think so !!! The bulls rocked the trailer even more now that the truck wasn't moving anymore !!! After 20 min we decided to get going again... These guys were just terrible ! We drove almost the whole night with little breaks. And arrived Fort McCleod around 5. 45 am. We were suppost to unload at the meat plant at 6 am. We made it ! I wasn't prepared for the smell and the view I got when I was looking out the window ! Bison heads on a pallett and lots of horses in pens. I didn't sleep a lot this night, my stomach was empty and then this gross smell... I was ready so throw up soon ! I felt so bad that we had to drop off the boys here and to know what will happen to them. Unfortunately, the elk didn't get off like I wanted which was as fast as they can.... Robin needed my help. I had to make sure they can't escape through the one door. After a long time (it felt like hours) everybody was out and in the house except one. An older bull which was down in the trailer. He got up but had no intention to get off the trailer. He was grinding his teeth at us which means he is mad. Finally, he was out but still not where he had to be. He was standing right behind the door I was guarding. Robin opend the door to chase him away, I peeked in the door and what I saw almost knocked me on the floor !! The old bull was still grinding his teeth at us, his eyes red like he was crying and blood on his cut antlers. He looked soooo hurt emotionally ! He must have been a proud animal ! This picture is burnt right in my mind. I was so sad and really hurt too. I didn't expect an experience like that at all. After a breakfast and 2 hours of sleep we were on the road again towards home. We took our time, had breaks and i tried to digest what I saw this morning. Still, I have to think of him a lot...
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