Mary Chipanshi (Nursing, KHS, Psychology – Archer Library): Discovering Saskatchewan
“All the vacation plans, conferences and weddings were either cancelled or postponed. It was March 2020, and the lockdown had begun. It was going to be a long summer!
With the children gone and only my husband and I in the pandemic “bubble”, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to discover what Saskatchewan had to offer. Armed with sandwiches, a cooler, wipes and masks we ventured on the road!
A couple of days in each of two parks, Cypress Hills and Prince Albert were what we needed to get out of the city and connect with nature. A trip to the mystic-looking Castle Butte in Big Muddy Bandlands was so captivating. My feeble attempt to climb to the top ended with me sliding down unceremoniously. Some spiked shoes would have helped!
An invitation to a socially distanced and scaled-down wedding in Saskatoon gave us the opportunity to visit the Crooked Bush near Hafford. The drive was long and many times we questioned ourselves if we were going in the right direction, in spite of having a GPS. Seeing the unexplained phenomenon of eery looking twisted aspens made the drive worthwhile!
As the summer drew to a close, we decided to take a drive to Lebret, situated in the scenic Qu’Appelle Valley. I managed to tackle the hill of crosses and was rewarded with the most spectacular views. On the way back to Regina we stopped in Wolseley, a town with the one and only swinging bridge in Saskatchewan.
Looking back now, the summer was not so bad after all. Maybe we will make this a yearly adventure!”
If you are interested in sharing your Humans of UofR Libraries story, please contact us at arlysse.quiring@uregina.ca