2018: The Year in Review

Twenty-eighteen was a hard year for me. Due to workplace stress and not being in a good place physically, mentally and emotionally, 2018 was the most difficult winter of my life. Things actually began to become better when the bottom fell out of my job and I came to the realization that work was something to do and not the thing to do! Thus began my change in outlook.

In the meantime, I had booked the first two weeks of July as vacation. The first week would be spent with my sister in the Regina area, and the second week would be spent with my friend Melinda and her two eldest nieces - ages 14 and 15 - at Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba.

Week 1 highlights involved Canada Day celebrations, a football game in the new stadium, learning to play disc golf, and visits to Regina Beach and Condie Nature Reserve. We ate well, rested, played games and completed puzzles, watched favourite old TV shows (now on DVD), window-shopped in malls, and generally hung out. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Week 2 began with driving through new territory as we took the north route into the national park. We stayed right in the park and had easy access to all sorts of fun including a swimming pool, shopping and restaurants. We searched for Parks Canada red chairs, did a kayak tour, tested multiple flavours of ice cream, explored the area on foot and by bike and vehicle, and enjoyed the sunsets.

The first night's sunset was the best!

In the summer and throughout the fall I began group tutoring (teaching English) with the Regina Public Library. It was a great opportunity to get some practice under my belt and see if this is what I might want to do overseas at some point. We'll see...

In August, I began a job search in earnest. A month later I accepted a new position that was a promotion and included a raise. I have been busy wrapping my head around another new position in a different ministry with the government ever since.

Also in August was The Drop Zone. It was an amazing experience, and I honestly feel I can do anything now! Talk about redemption - with my job and my life!

#41 Redo

When my sister visited me this summer, we took in a Red Sox ball game. We redeemed #41 on my list!

To see why redemption was necessary, you can view my original blog post here:
#41 - Attend a Regina Red Sox baseball game

It wasn't a warm summer night - it was chilly! In fact, my sister walked back to the car to get a blanket out of the trunk. We needed it! We don't remember who won, and this was our only good picture, but we had a fun time and are glad we went. It's true: Life - and baseball - are better with friends!

Canada 150: Fisgard Lighthouse and Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Sites

While my mom and I were in Victoria celebrating a big birthday of hers last weekend, we took advantage of the free admission to national parks and historic sites this year and took in Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse.

We tried our best to understand the fort and its history and really enjoyed touring our very first lighthouse. History is not my mom's favourite subject, but she certainly was a good sport!

Canada 150: Waterton Lakes National Park

Welcome to the second national park of our trip - Waterton Lakes National Park!

The townsite, the lake and the view!

Gorgeous! Stunning! Wow!

What a beautiful place! The scenery all around us was just magnificent! And there's so much to see and do in the townsite (shops, restaurants and a natural waterfall!) and the surrounding area.

We did two scenic drives within the national park - one was to Red Rock Canyon and the other was to Cameron Lake. 

Red Rock Canyon

Cameron Lake

We also took a cruise to Goat Haunt, USA! This US border station can only be accessed by boat or by foot - how unique!

Welcome to Goat Haunt, USA!

We loved this national park so much that we spent an extra day here! Of course, it was ridiculously hot everywhere else and Waterton was a tall glass of cool water in our itinerary. What a relief!

Canada 150: Fort Walsh National Historic Site

Fort Walsh was a complete surprise to me - from the road to the scenery to the location - and I loved it! This gem was tucked in the very corner of southwestern Saskatchewan right against the Alberta border.

But first, let me tell you about getting there... We traveled on a narrow road that twists and turns its way through the prairies, alongside a variety of crops, and up and down gentle rolling hills. Then, all of a sudden, you face pastureland and a veritable forests of trees! I didn't think there were any trees in this part of Saskatchewan!

Following that, you then travel up a mountain-like hill with sharp twists and turns along the way. Then you reach a plateau and see cattle grazing! Where were we???

The terrain was not only completely unfamiliar but also it was so unexpected - it seemed there was a surprise around every corner!

Finally, we arrived. We were excited and full of anticipation! The next step was our trek down to the fort!

We arrived just in time for a tour and saw some interesting things as we learned the history of the area.

Because we visited on Canada Day, there were a few extra "treats" as well - everything from the cannon being shot to sun-steeped iced tea and birthday cake!

 

All in all, it was a completely wonderful experience, and I'd return to this stunningly beautiful part of the province any time!

Canada 150: Grasslands National Park

My sister and I have been busy planning a road trip of southwestern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta most of this year. Our goal is to explore the area, see some of the sights and take advantage of the free admission to Canadian National Parks and Historic Sites this year.

On Day 1 of our trip, we visited the first of two national parks we planned to see: Grasslands National Park located in southwestern Saskatchewan.

There was no way we could see all of even one block in just a day, so we chose to drive part of the Ecotour Road in the West Block and enjoyed a picnic lunch along the way.

My sister taking in the view

Now those are grassy plains!

The views went on forever...

The infamous Parks Canada red chairs highlighting one of the best views!

We encountered buffalo, black-tailed prairie dogs and even a mule deer as we drove. Thankfully, we avoided any rattlesnakes out basking in the sun!

Although we only saw a fraction of the West Block, we were wowed by its vastness! It truly is a treasure in southern Saskatchewan's backyard. Why not plan to check it out for yourself?

#44 - Visit The Great Sandhills in Saskatchewan

Visiting the Great Sandhills has been on my list of things to see for a number of years, so even though it hasn't been on my '40 Things & More' list very long, it has been a long time in coming. It was a recent visit from my sister that spurred us on to cross this item off my list next.

The morning began early; we had a long drive ahead of us. It would be 4 hours plus to reach a little place called Sceptre, Saskatchewan - the gateway to the Great Sandhills. We had a pleasant and uneventful drive, arriving in Sceptre right around 12:30 p.m.

Our stop in Sceptre was at the Great Sandhills Museum where we planned to get a map and eat our packed picnic lunch before heading to our destination.

We were impressed by what we could see just inside the museum and paid our admissions to do a quick tour. The museum was very well done, spectacularly well thought out and organized, and truly a pleasure to look through. We walked back in time on boardwalks in front of the train station mural and set, and explored everything from a classroom to a hospital room to a barn with horse stalls - all inside the museum. Really, it is a must-see and well worth your time to go.

After our museum visit we wolfed down our sandwiches in my car instead of the lovely picnic area because it had gotten cool and very windy (read: not nice). And then, map in hand, we headed off to find the sand dunes.

The map was accurate in mileage, although not to scale. We managed though and found it very encouraging to see a sign saying "Sand Dunes" and pointing that-a-way at our last grid road turn. Soon the gravel roads turned to sand and we knew we were close.

Ta-da! We've made it! Now to climb that first hill and start exploring...

We got to the top, stuck our toes in the sand and were hooked! We had to see and experience more and a short hike rewarded us with this fun and this view.

After some fun poses and picture-taking, I pointed out to my sister that there were other people 'way over there' exploring even more and bigger dunes. "We have to go over there," I said. "We've driven so far to see this!" My sister wasn't so sure, so I pointed to a midpoint and said, "Let's go to that spot, see how long it takes us, and decide from there." That worked and off we went.

Once at that point we realized it really hadn't taken us all that long, so we decided to press on, follow the sandy trail and reach our goal - those big dunes in the distance!

It was worth it! We ooh-ed and aah-ed and climbed and climbed and climbed those dunes!

All we needed was a beach umbrella and the sound of lapping waves and we would have thought we were at the beach with all that sand. Alternatively, we also only needed a camel and could have been on the set of Lawrence of Arabia!

A certain someone (my sister) really enjoyed herself and might have thought she was on a beach vacation for a short time. She didn't want to leave...

The views were fabulous and although it was windy and cool (and rain was approaching), we were thankful for the cloud cover while on the dunes. And we did come away with slight tans... See, we must have been at a beach!

We are so glad that we went, explored, and enjoyed the Great Sandhills. We had a wonderful time!

#49 - Try another activity that's new to me!

At the end of June I drove to Edmonton, Alberta to visit my sister who lives nearby. One of things we wanted to do while we were together was attend some sort of Canada Day festivities on July 1st.

We looked up all the possibilities in the Edmonton area and decided upon the fun that was planned for Sherwood Park. They had everything from pony rides to zip-lining to a baby stroller car wash (too cute!) to planting red and white flowers in a special Canada Day-themed flower bed.

The activity that caught our attention the most though was riding a segway. This was one of the few adult-only activities offered and where the lines were the shortest - awesome!

We were given a short lesson and then coached around the course by those who were more experienced. It was an odd sensation powering a vehicle simply based on your movements: lean back a bit and off you go, move to the left or right to make turns, and lean forward to stop. We both tried the course twice and quickly became convinced this was not the last time we would be on segways. Who knew they could be so fun?

#46 - Attend the annual kite festival in Swift Current

If you can believe it, this festival is in its 10th year and I've wanted to attend since the very first year it began! I don't know why I continue to put off things I'd like to try and see and do. The busyness of life seems to get in the way of enjoying life, doesn't it? It's a constant struggle for me to set aside the to-do lists and the cares of this world to actually take a day (or even an hour) off real life just to enjoy life.

Well, this year I made the annual kite festival a priority and took a guest with me - my mom! We both enjoyed the event even if it was extremely windy -- really! It was so windy that many of the people in attendance didn't even try to fly their kites!

The festival was a fun sight to see and I would highly recommend it to all kids of all ages. It really will bring a smile to your face to enjoy such a simple delight that we as adults often don't set aside time for. Next summer when this festival rolls around again... Go! Live! Enjoy!

Item #38 - Go fly a kite!

I crossed a second item off my list over the Labour Day long weekend - I flew a kite!

Now this may not sound grand and exciting, but the truth is I haven't flown a kite since I was a kid and my dad always got it going and then let us hold the string when it was up and stable. I wanted to fly a kite because it looked like fun and because my childhood memories of doing so were fuzzy at best.

I did have a couple of crashes, but also prevented a few too. I got my kite as high up and the string as short as I dared. It was a fun, relaxing and enjoyable experience, and I'll have to do it again sometime soon!

Item #39 - Play a mini golf course I haven't been on before

Well, not only did I play mini golf on a course that I haven't been on before... my whole family did!

'Twas the Sunday of the Labour Day long weekend and we decided to head to the Nipawin Regional Park for lunch down by the river. Unfortunately, the restaurant was full right at noon, so we headed back to the park entrance for a round of 'Nipawin-themed' mini golf to kill some time and whet our appetites even more.

The mini golf course is a fun and fairly new course that highlights things you'd see in and around Nipawin such as the water tower, Newfield Seeds elevator, the old CPR bridge, and so forth. We all enjoyed 'touring' the town as we played, and Daren won the round.

Item #39 - done!

Item #32 - Visit a Canadian National Park I haven't been to before

My sister Susan and I finished our whirlwind Manitoba trip with a visit to Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP) and, in particular, Clear Lake.

It was a cool, windy day and the breeze off the lake made it feel even chillier... We walked out to the pier and tried a couple of the paths, but one was flooded and the other wasn't sheltered enough from the wind to make it enjoyable. So, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping, right? Absolutely!

We visited the gift shops and clothing stores, sorted through all kinds of souvenirs, looked through an used book store, and tried a few of the local delicacies like fresh cinnamon buns, huge slices of pizza and hard ice cream, which was available in a lot of new and interesting flavours.

We only spent a few hours at Clear Lake, but it was enough time to decide that we need to come back some day. It's a beautiful place!

  

Item #20 - Stop and smell the flowers at a garden I haven't been to before

After touring Carberry, my sister Susan and I drove to Neepawa where we planned to stay the night. Surprisingly, Neepawa was the highlight of the trip - it's a beautiful town surrounded by rolling hills and full of historic buildings, green spaces and lots of lilies.

We came across numerous beautiful planters, flower beds, gardens and parks full of lilies in this 'Lily Capital', so I had my choice of places to stop and smell the flowers!

The annual Lily Festival had just taken place the weekend before we arrived in Neepawa, so there were hundreds (maybe thousands) of lilies in full bloom for us. This might have to become an annual trip!

Item #23 - Learn more about my family history

Today my sister Susan and I drove to Carberry, Manitoba where our paternal grandfather was born. Neither of us had ever been here before, so we were eager to explore this town.

Tip #1: Make sure you know which time zone your destination is in.

We started out our day an hour later than we planned on, but by the time we arrived in Carberry we had lost another hour. Saskatchewan time doesn't change, but Manitoba time does! Ah well, we carried on...

Our first stop was the Carberry Museum which included a tour of the 'gingerbread house' - one of only three such styled houses in Canada. This was my favourite part of the town tour actually - it was so pretty and unique on the outside. We began our tour of the museum, but never did finish it as we had other places we wanted to see, such as the library. There we scoured through the history books of the area as quickly as we could, but no reference to the Laycock family was found.

Looking back at the records my dad's cousin Clarence had provided me with, we saw that my great grandparents had only lived in Carberry for eight years (1902-1910) before moving to Saskatoon. My grandpa was born in January 1910, so was only a few months old when the move occurred.

We realized we weren't going to learn very much, so we turned our attention to the historic main street of Carberry, which has stood for over 100 years. Between walking the street where my great grandparents would have walked and seeing a picture in the museum of how the main street looked in 1904, I felt we had gotten a good view of the little town of Carberry, Manitoba.

More information on Carberry can be found here: http://www.townofcarberry.ca/.