Tags
Alberta, Calgary, Canada, children, Diana Schwenk, Edmonton, family, happy, humour, Hump Day Chronicles, kids, laughter, life, living in the moment, love, memories, Red Deer, Relationships, Tourist in my own city
On Saturday morning I got up at the crack of when-I-was-good-and-ready. I made myself some coffee and managed to get out the door and into my car by 9:30AM to go to downtown Red Deer, Alberta where I would meet up with Michaela and Werner.
Upon arriving in Red Deer, I quickly found a parking lot on 48th Street and it was free to boot, thank-you-very-much and walked the four blocks to Hudson’s Pub where we had agreed to meet. We enjoyed a nice lunch and then headed out the door to walk the streets of downtown.
But first we picked up Werner’s truck and drove it to the lot I was parked in. Werner had recently gifted Michaela with a guitar and she’d brought it so I could see it. It’s been a long time since I have played; and I never really learned to play well, but I had to try it out. Then Michaela played two songs for us. I’d forgotten what a beautiful singing voice she has.
Seriously Michaela, you need to get out there and start busking for twonies while you’re waiting to hear back from all those places you’ve applied to!
We were actually surprised (sorry Red Deer) at how cool and quaint and well laid out downtown is. There are statues throughout the downtown area that they call ghosts. They tell the story of Red Deer. One of them has good ole Reverend Gaetz, founder of Red Deer sitting on a bench. Another is a wagon hitched to spooked horses. Another is a child feeding scraps to a dog.
And just as the video I featured on last week’s post boasts there are many shops, benches and trees! We passed an ice-cream store vowing to come back after our tour of downtown to have one. Sadly when we went back they were closed, so we opted for iced coffee on a sidewalk café patio.
Our coffee time quickly became an adventure when the gorgeous sky suddenly turned dark and a gale force wind pushed through town. We helped the Café owner close the sun umbrellas that threatened to blow right out of their stands before rushing to the truck to figure out our next move.
Michaela pulled out her trusty iPhone while remarking, sarcastically I might add, what a fine example of modern technology my BlackBerry Q10 is, to google ‘what to do in downtown Red Deer.’ I could mention that her so-called superior iPhone is the one that took all the itty bitty, low resolution photos above, but that kind of tit-for-tat discourse would be childish and is below me.
Anyway, we settled on visiting the local art museum. Werner drove us there, past the 10,000 Villages store, past the bus depot, past the Spray Park that we’d visited earlier on foot, to the museum.
What a cool museum! It tells the stories of the early settlers in very creative ways and has interactive activities for kids, or adults if you happen to be us.
By the time we got out of the museum it was sunny again. We hugged out our goodbyes and headed back to our respective homes.
Hey Michaela, that was a lot of fun. We should meet up in downtown Red Deer more often so I don’t have to miss you so much. What do you say kiddo?
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
What’s your favourite not-too-far place to catch up with family friends?
Jean said:
That’s great you, daughter and son-in-law could visit and enjoy Red Deer. We understand that Red Deer has some great bike paths in their parks areas too…which is good for a small prairie city.
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dianasschwenk said:
There was a pathway in Rotary Park. I didn’t follow it though to see where it goes Jean. ❤
Diana xo
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denisfeuerstein said:
Great post and funny pictures!
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dianasschwenk said:
Thank you Denis and welcome to TALKTODIANA! ❤
Diana xo
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Andrea Stephenson said:
Sounds like it was a great day Diana with lots of interesting things to see.
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dianasschwenk said:
It was, I don’t see my kid enough Andrea. ❤
Diana xo
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utesmile said:
That is a good idea, do it again soon! Looked like fun for all of you!
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dianasschwenk said:
It was fun Ute – thank you! ❤
Diana xo
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cyclingrandma said:
What a lovely day! Lucky you to spend it with your daughter.
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dianasschwenk said:
Yes, I sure am lucky, blessed, grateful and happy to know it Lisa. ❤
Diana xo
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Chatter Master said:
What a wonderful day Diana. I love exploring towns and their history. I love spending time with my kids. So this would add up to a great day. 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
And it added up for me too Colleen! ❤
Diana xo
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Healing Grief said:
Looks like you had lots of fun Diana. So nice to be with family! You have a beautiful girl. 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
She’s amazing Karen. Beautiful, smart and kind. ❤
Diana xo
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russtowne said:
Thank you for the fun tour, Diana. It looks like Werner is proposing to a statue, and based on the apparent reaction of the statue he might get a “Yes!” ;-D!
As for the small shots from Michaela’s iPhone, she probably has three or four size options and just CHOSE to give the smallest ones to you! ;-D! (It might have something to do with you making them pose for photos!) ;-D!
I’m glad you had such a fun trip and can all do it again soon.
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Deb Weyrich-Cody said:
Yup, just what I was thinking too Russ, LOL. Or she may have sent them via text with equally poor results, hey?; )
Most people are a little overwhelmed when I choose to send the Original (instead of small, medium or large format photos; )
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dianasschwenk said:
Deb, she usually sends great pics 🙂 Just the right size. See my thoughts in response to Russ. ❤
Diana xo
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Deb Weyrich-Cody said:
Just kidding!😘
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dianasschwenk said:
Actually the camera feature of her phone is not working for some reason, so she used snap chat or something else to take the pictures. On her phone all the pics look great so she didn’t notice.
We had fun Russ and thanks for the interpretation of what Werner is doing!
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joannerambling said:
Getting up at the crack of when I am good and ready is when I like to get up, family reunions let me think I have been to two in my life time one when I was a child the other as a young mother of one, can’t remember much about either of them. My immediate family are all bloody close though and we get together often
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dianasschwenk said:
I know you do Jo-Anne, you got that whole family thing down pat! ❤
Diana xo
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vanbytheriver said:
Love those family reunions…no matter how long the drive. ☺☺ Cute photos, Diana. Your happiness shines through. 💛 💙 💜
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Van. Red Deer is only a 1.5 hour drive on the outside, so it’s a good place for us to meet. ❤
Diana xo
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Louise Gallagher said:
I’m blessed my youngest daughter lives in the city. So our favourite place to meet up is Divino on Stephen Ave mall. 🙂
Alas, Alexis is in Vancouver so that means we meet up in one of the two cities. 😦 Not as often as I would like.
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dianasschwenk said:
Half way between Vancouver and Calgary is still quite the distance too. Louise, I wonder where half way would be Golden? Revelstoke?
Any chance we get to see our kids is wonderful. Especially since we know that once they move out, they have already spent 93% of the time they will ever spend with us. ❤
Diana xo
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Jean said:
Revelstoke offers a broader variety and is lovely spring to fall. It’s impressive what the mountain town offers. We took the bus out and rented bikes there.
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dianasschwenk said:
My best friend Helga loves visiting Revelstoke in the summer. I’ve only ever driven through. I need to check it out some time!
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Jean said:
You would love it. It has a slightly upscale, hippie feel to it. Locals actually bike around town…which I don’t consider typical in a small town. It’s picturesque on side streets and downtown. Then there’s all that great wilderness and mountains.. BE sure to drive up to alpine flower meadow in late summer up to end of Sept. near top of Mount Revelstoke in the national park. It’s lovely…ethereal..
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