A Drumheller family is heading on a voyage that includes dinosaurs, museums, gauchos and maybe a little bit of hockey.
Tyler Eddy is a project and interpretive planner at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and his spouse Kelly Eddy is a director at the Atlas Coal Mine. This month the two are taking their two young sons Emery and Eli on an Argentinean adventure. According to Kelly it is an opportune time for the family to take on an extended (3 month) voyage before their children begin school.
For Tyler a big part of the trip is to satisfy some of his own interest in dinosaurs, but as a planner, it is also for professional development.
“It was inspired by wanting to do something travel based before our kids got into school, secondary was wanting to learn a new language and third, wanting to learn new skills,” said Eddy. “ Our oldest starts school in September and we want to expose them to a lot of new things as well.”
Tyler and Kelly Eddy and sons Eli and Emery will be heading south to Argentina to learn about some of their museums and also to play in a Chilean hockey tournament.
He has made contacts through museum conferences and will be visiting a number of museums.
“I want to see some of the palaeontology, they have some similar aged rocks there and in certain cases there is much older geology than we have around here, so more of a span, of more recent and much older rocks in closer proximity to each other,” said Tyler. “They have a lot of different species of dinosaurs that we don’t have here, more long necked dinosaurs down there.”
He adds that one museum he will be visiting, its lead scientist, Professor Rodolfo Coria described Argentinosaurus.
“That is going to be a big highlight to go to his museum which is called Museo Carmen Fune,” said Tyler.
They will also see Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Patagonia, one of the premier palaeontology museums in South America.
“It is a lot like the Tyrrell Museum. It is a big museum in an out of the way place. They don’t have a huge population either,” said Tyler. “ They are a significant site in a small town.”
They hope to do some volunteer work at the museum while they are there, although the field season will be over by then.
The Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio will also give him a chance to focus more on his profession rather that just getting his fix of cool dinosaur stuff.
“Because I am going to be at that site a little longer, we hope to learn about their business and how they interpret,” said Tyler. “Another thing I am interested in is because my Spanish is at a beginner level, I want to look at and study how learners of a new language take in the interpretation at different sites. The Tyrrell Museum has many international visitors. They are obviously using visual cues to learn about the dinosaurs here, but I want to put myself in that situation and see what it is like.”
He says the Tyrrell, staff and his supervisor are supportive of his trip and see it as a valuable opportunity. The Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society has also stepped forward to help support his experience financially.
Beyond the world of dinosaurs and museums, there is another important all Canadian aspect to the trip, hockey.
Tyler is an avid fan and also coaches FunTeam. Tyler has been in contact with a Facebook group called Ice Hockey Ushuaia, a group in the southern most reaches of Argentina.
He also follows the “Travelling Goalie,” who has travelled the world to play hockey, including Ushuaia. In fact, the Travelling Goalie is organizing a Canadian team for a tournament in July. Tyler is signing up to be on the team.
“We are getting ready to play in a tournament in Punta Arenas Chile. The goal of the tournament is to raise awareness of ice hockey in the area. I don’t think it is well established… they have a three on three rink, but they want to build an Olympic-sized one down there.”
He hopes to also be able to give something back to the community there. This could possibly be done by donating some equipment or teaching some sessions for youngsters.
The family is heading out on April 28. To keep in touch with the Eddy's, click here for a link to their blog.
