O’ Canada, Where Art Thou?

On November 1st, I crossed the bridge from St. Stephen, New Brunswick into Calais, Maine. I will admit that I felt a twinge of sadness as I left the country that was my home for the last 3 months. It was a great trip. Sure there were ups and downs, but as I look back at the entire experience, I feel very lucky to have been able to take this journey.

As I crossed the bridge, I saw a gas station right across the border. Only $2.25/gallon for gas! Wow, maybe I shouldn’t feel so sad (for those of you in the US, gas in Canada is about $4/gallon….yikes!). But I will miss the Maple Dip donut from Tim Hortons, listening to CBC radio, and most importantly all of the people I met and the amazing landscapes I saw.

I realize that this blog has some holes in it. I guess the photographs came first. I really enjoyed writing here, but I found that it took a lot more time than I planned. I suppose I could have just put in simple entries, but I enjoyed the descriptive text.

Thanks for following along and I hope you enjoyed reading about my Canadian experience and viewing the photographs.

Take care,
Jason

Alright. So I have learned a lot on this trip so far and one of those things is that my time management skills need some sharpening. This blog is painfully behind, so I will attempt to catch things up in a summary post right now and will attempt to back-date some posts in more detail.

Ok, picking up after the Centennial Celebration in Edmonton, AB:

* visted the world’s largest mall in Edmonton. Some of you are thinking….”I thought the largest mall is in Minneapolis”. Well, you would be wrong. See, the mall in Minneapolis is the largest in the US, but the mall in Edmonton is the largest in the world. Now I’m not much of a mall guy, but I had to make a stop to see what it was all about. Well, its a big mall and the shops are very similar to what you would expect. But what sets this mall apart are: the huge wave pool, the amusement park, the underground aquarium, the ice rink. Oh, and the poor flamingoes trapped in a glass room. It gets so cold in Edmonton in the winter that this mall lets you have a day out and have it all be indoors.

* Went to a Pow-Wow in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. I went to Meadow Lake for the Centennial Celebration but found out there was a Pow-Wow going on at the First Nation (Flying Dust) nearby. I wasn’t sure what it was all about, so I stopped by and it was pretty amazing. Tribes from all over Canada were there and the atmosphere was a mix of county fair and native tradition. The main “stage” was a circular area with risers around (where the dances took place). Outside of this structure was a ring of concession stands…..foods, gifts, coffee, etc. The best part was during the dances…..the clothing was amazing; full of color and detail. Really something. And the music, drumming, and singing….like nothing I have heard. It was a very interesting and fun experience.

* Met the Fire Chief in Meadow Lake. I stopped by the Fire Hall and talked to the Fire Chief. I thought it would be about and hour of talking and taking pictures of the equipment, get a few portraits, etc. But the chief took me all around town, showing me places of note, introducing me to the mayor, EMS workers, and other folks….it was great. That evening, the fire fighters had a training session and I was able to hang out and get some pictures….pretty cool.

* Returned to Calgary. I haven’t posted the first trip to Calgary yet. I was there in August and stayed with someone I met earlier in the trip….so very friendly. During that trip, I met with the Curling National Development Coach. He invited me back to Calgary because he was putting on a Workshop for high-end players…..so I returned to photograph that event. It was a lot of fun and got to see Curling up close and personal. The players and coaches were very friendly and allowed me to roam wherever I wanted.

* Headed to Saskatoon. This was a long drive, but got some great pictures along the way. This part of the country is fairly flat, but I think it is a beautiful landscape…..the skies go on forever. There are about a million people in all of Saskatchewan; Saskatoon is the largest city with about 200,000 people. Its a whole different scale out there. I stayed with friends of a friend of mine (Molly and Scott and their children Mac and Fin) from high school and they were super (as has everyone that I have stayed with). I liked Saskatoon; there is a very pleasant feel about it. The Univesity of Saskatchewan is major part of the city and it has a beautiful campus and the entire area surrounding is very nice with streets lined with trees and the river weaving its way across the city….very calming.

* Saw the underground tunnels used during Prohibition in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. This is where Al Capone retreated to when things got Hot in Chicago. There was also a huge liquor production going on here under Capone’s control. I went on a tour which was a “live theater” type of tour. It was just me and another couple and while the performance was good, I never really know how to react in this kind of situation….especially since there were only 3 of us on the tour. It was pretty interesting though.

* On to Regina. Regina is the capital city of Saskatchewan and is dominated by government activity. Its not quite as pleasant as Saskatoon, but not a bad place at all. I stayed with friends of a friend again (Jason and Suzanne) and they as the others were great. We had some good conversations about Canada and I learned a whole bunch. While I was here, I was able to get a press pass to a CFL game: The Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Edmonton Eskimos. I went to the pre-game BBQ and saw lots of pumped up fans and then I was able to take pictures from the field on the visitor’s sidelines…..what a cool experience! It is not easy to capture the action, but man it was fun being down there. And the game was exciting….lots of scoring and Saskatchewan won the game by blocking a field goal attempt as the time ran out. Pretty sweet.

….more soon…..

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