INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 23)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … Exploring the Prairies

We had stayed overnight in Medicine Hat. As we drove down the foothills, Judi and I were amazed by the views! One such view caused us to stop the car on the side of the road for a better look. We both stood there in awe. Finally, we grabbed the camera and started taking photographs! In front of us lay a "sea of yellow"! There were fields of sunflowers as far as the eye could see! Reluctantly we climbed back into our vehicle and resumed our journey. Our next stop was at Cypress Hill Provincial Park in Elkwater. After touring the park, we continued on to Moose Jaw, where we had a meeting scheduled with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. Business had once again dictated our traveling plans. After a great meeting with the Federation, we drove to beautiful Regina, Saskatchewan's capital. As we drove through the city, we passed big old homes with lush lawns and gardens. In Regina we took the opportunity to visit the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History. The interpretive displays inside the Museum were amazing and very informative! Before leaving the area, we visited the Motherwell Homestead National Historic Park. On the way to our next destination, we were able to tour Riding Mountain National Park. Like all of the National Parks we visited on our trip, Riding Mountain was showplace of Canada's rich natural heritage. The park is a beautiful and well maintained with flowers galore, a scenic lake, horses and, of course, lots of wildlife. We even had a "close" (but not too close) encounter with a large black bear! From there we wearily motored on to Winnipeg. This time there were no escaped prisoners interrupting our sleep! We had pre-book a hotel room, so we had a quiet restful sleep and a hot shower in the morning! So much for "roughing it"! The next day there were several meetings to attend, the Assiniboine Zoo, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation and Ducks Unlimited.  One of the highlights of our stay in Winnipeg was an "up close and personal" tour of the Assiniboine Zoo with one of the main zookeepers! What an experience! Tired, but happy with the day's events, we headed off to Ontario and the Town of Kenora. Who knew that we would have another encounter with the POLICE!