Get update alerts
Locations
- .All Trips
- Art
- Car Culture
- Central America/Caribbean
- Food
- Food Tour
- Pic of the Week
- Sl;ovenia
“Pic of the Week”, January 20, 2023: Bighorn Sheep, Highwood Pass, Alberta
I came across this herd of bighorn sheep while exploring Kananaskis Country, a stretch of the Canadian Rocky Mountains south of Banff National Park. Bighorn sheep aren’t rare, but also aren’t see every time you hit the road.
The groups consisted of a bunch of ewes and their lambs who seemed to be on the road to lick salt. Traffic stopped as people got out to photograph them. Especially cute were the youngsters.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge)
Jan 19, 2023
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, January 20, 2023: Bighorn Sheep, Highwood Pass, Alberta
.All Trips / Central Canada / Manitoba / North America
Seven Sisters Hydroelectric Dam, Manitoba
Almost all of the electricity generated in the province of Manitoba is clean hydroelectric power. Some argue that the plants are large and unsightly, but once they have been built, they churn our clean power. There are a number of such plants in Manitoba, many of them located on its eastern edge.
The Seven Sisters Generating Station is the largest hydroelectric plant on the Winnipeg River. I’d first visited this plant when I was a young boy and have been back a few times since, my last visit a few years ago.
Constructions on the Seven Sisters station started in 1929 and the plant was operational, generating power, in 1931 — 75 megawatts from three turbine-generators. An expansion of the station began …
Tagged Hydroelectric, Seven Sisters, spillway, Winnipeg River
“Pic of the Week”, December 30, 2022. Hayfields near Anola, Manitoba
I spent many years of my life on the Canadian prairies, so the sight of harvested hay is nothing unusual.
In the old days we saw small rectangular bales (about 70 pounds) dotting the hay fields, but more recently it seems most farmers are storing their hay in these gigantic rolls; these can weigh over a thousand pounds and require heavy equipment to be lifted and moved.
I enjoy seeing and smelling harvested hay — something about it appeals to me.
(Click on thumbnails below to enlarge photos)
Dec 29, 2022
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, December 30, 2022. Hayfields near Anola, Manitoba
“Pic of the Week”, February 4, 2022: Lady in the Park, Winnipeg
I enjoy interesting pieces of public art. Sometimes a bookish scene like this can qualify as interesting, at least to me.
Located in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, inside the English Garden, you can find this statue known as “Lady in the Park”. It’s a bronze created in 1994 by Prince Monyo Mihailescu-Nasturel, a Romanian-American artist. For years the statue was located at the Winnipeg home of entrepeneur Izzy Asper. After he and his wife Babs died, the Lady in the Park was donated to Assiniboine Park by the The Asper Foundation.
The cold and snow make the setting interesting, more so than a warm green summer scene. I like how someone placed a woolen hat on the lady’s head.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right …
Feb 3, 2022
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, February 4, 2022: Lady in the Park, Winnipeg
“Pic of the Week”, January 7, 2022: The Manitoba Maritime Museum, Selkirk
Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised by things you didn’t know existed.
So it was when I came across all these beached ships off the bank of the Red River in the town of Selkirk, slightly north of Winnipeg. I’d lived in Manitoba for the first 24 years of my life and had no idea it was there. My dad and I were on a drive exploring the local roads when we spotted it — dad can’t drive a car anymore but still loves to go for a ride, so I try to take him around as much as possible when I visit. The scene was surreal, these ships crowded together as if warming themselves on this cold snowy day.
This is …
Jan 6, 2022
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, January 7, 2022: The Manitoba Maritime Museum, Selkirk
“Pic of the Week”, December 10, 2021: The Duck Pond, Winnipeg
The duck pond is a popular gathering spot in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park. The character of the pond changes greatly with the seasons. In the summer it’s home to lots of ducks and geese, but with the coming of winter (when the wise waterfowl head to warmer climes in the south) it becomes a popular place to skate.
When I visited with my father a few months ago we drove through the park on a cold day and came across these scenes of people skating on the pond — everyone from kids just learning to people very experienced and fast on the ice.
(Click thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
Dec 9, 2021
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, December 10, 2021: The Duck Pond, Winnipeg
“Pic of the Week”, November 5, 2021: Fresh Snow, Victoria Beach
My family owned a small cabin in Victoria Beach when I was young, located on this very lane. We spent a lot of time here in the summer, enjoying the quiet of the place, fishing, riding our bikes, hiking, and swimming at the beach.
When I visit my elderly father in Winnipeg, we enjoy going for rides to visit places that touched our lives. This past winter we revisited this holiday community after a fresh dusting of snow had covered the roads and pine trees. I thought the soft light of winter made the scene quite pretty.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
Nov 4, 2021
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, November 5, 2021: Fresh Snow, Victoria Beach
“Pic of the Week”, October 1, 2021: Fall Colors, Birds Hill Park
There’s a nice deciduous forest in a small park just north of Winnipeg known as Birds Hill Provincial Park, which only covers about 8300 acres (3400 hectacres — tiny by Canadian standards). It’s rich in aspen and birch, and even has some oak trees, so when the leaves change color the scenery can be very nice. While it’s not nearly as dramatic as the colors one sees in eastern North America, where maple trees add beautiful shades of crimson and reds, the scenery is pretty nonetheless.
Birds Hill is a small park but because it’s so close to Winnipeg it’s quite popular, receiving about a million visitors a year. Besides a small lake, it has opportunities for camping, hiking, picnicing, horseback …
Sep 30, 2021
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, October 1, 2021: Fall Colors, Birds Hill Park
