.All Trips / Alberta / Central Canada / North America

Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens, Lethbridge

Karl on May 31, 2015 with Comments Off on Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens, Lethbridge
01b Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Lethbridge. Pavilion

I’m fond of visiting gardens and enjoy their beauty and tranquility.  This seems especially true of the Japanese Gardens I’ve visited, which combine the various elements — carefully pruned trees and shrubs, flowing and still water, and meticulously positioned rocks — in a balanced and pleasing manner.

One of the last places I expected to find a beautiful Japanese Garden was on the vast Canadian prairies, specifically in the small city of Lethbridge, Alberta.   The Nikka Yuko garden opened in 1967 as part of Canada’s 100th birthday celebration.  The garden covers just 4 acres in Henderson Park, but seems larger.  It was built to recognize the contributions of the Japanese community to Lethbridge, and as a symbol of international friendship …

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“Pic of the Week”, September 26, 2014: The Lethbridge Viaduct

003 Lethbridge Viaduct 06-2014

You wouldn’t think the small sleepy Alberta city of Lethbridge, situated on the southern prairies just north of the United States border, would have it’s place in railroad lore, but it most certainly does!  To rail buffs, Lethbridge is best known as home of the High Level Bridge, a.k.a. the Lethbridge Viaduct.  The viaduct was constructed between 1907–1909 and replaced preexisting wooden trestle bridges (which had a lifespan of only 10 years).

This massive trestle bridge spans the Oldman River valley.  It’s so long it’s actually hard to get it all framed in a photo, even with a wide angle lens.  The viaduct was engineered by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the steel for its construction was fabricated in Ontario and shipped (by rail) to Lethbridge.  A crew of 100 …

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Karl on Sep 25, 2014 | Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, September 26, 2014: The Lethbridge Viaduct

“Pic of the Week”. June 20, 2014: “Black Beauty”, Drumheller, Alberta

2014 25c June 21 T. Rex. Royal Tyrrell Museum

One of the most amazing Natural History museums I’ve ever visited is the Royal Tyrrell Museum in the small town of Drumheller, just over an hour’s drive northeast of Calgary.  The museum sits in the “Badlands” and it’s here in the hills around the museum (and throughout Alberta) that the world’s most extensive deposits of fossilized dinosaur bones are to be found.  I’ve got to write a full blog post on the museum and Alberta’s dinosaur country soon, but as a teaser I thought I’d share the Tyranossaus Rex exhibits at this museum with you today.

One of the highlights of the museum is “Black Beauty”, a rare nearly completely intact T  Rex skeleton, one of a few ever found in …

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Karl on Jun 19, 2014 | Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”. June 20, 2014: “Black Beauty”, Drumheller, Alberta