You don’t have to venture far for some of the best experiences!
Two stampede visits in one season! That’s totally crazy for me, but it has been fun. Nora, Robbie and I checked out the stampede so Nora could see it. We had coffee, mini donuts, ice cream, popcorn and onion rings. Ugh… and yum. It was quite busy this evening too! There sure was a lot of drinking going on around us, which made for interesting people viewing and eavesdropping of conversations. Wow.
All in all though, good times 🙂
I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Calgary Stampede, but there’s something to be said about how it brings the city together. This is especially true post-flood; there may be lots of clean up left to do, but everyone needs a bit of fun amidst the unfortunate situation. And even though I say I’m not a fan of the Stampede, I always do enjoy the events when I go. There’s a happiness in the air, and the city embodies its name Cowtown… or The Heart of the New West… or The Stampede City. Side effects include huge belt buckles, cowboy hats, boots, and daily drunkenness. But it’s just part of the event!
Last Thursday, Robin had some free tickets for the Stampede’s Sneak-a-Peak event. That pretty much meant early admittance to peruse the grounds, eat lots of food, and preview the Grandstand Show. Whenever there’s free food I tend to gorge, and this was no different: a chicken fajita, veggie burger, and a hotdog, one after the other. Ugh, but yum. The Grandstand Show was great and included a moving tribute to the resilience of the city. The fireworks display was impressive as usual.
Then two days later…. Paaaaalllllllaaaannnccceee!
That’s a song that refers to the music of my people :D. A bunch of us decided to attend the Stampede Soca ’till Sundown fete downtown at the Soho Bar and Grill. It’s rare that I go to a Caribbean party, but I’m so glad I went. Lots of fun ” whinin’ and limin’ ” to the sounds of soca and reggae. I felt close to my roots that day :). I even tried to order a Carib, but all eight crates of it was sold out! Next time… 🙂
Earlier today I was perusing this and that at MEC when a friend texted me: “Are you affected by the flooding?” This was the first time I had heard about a flood, but it certainly would not be the last. I took to Twitter and had no idea that parts of Calgary were being evacuated due to rising water levels near the Elbow River. Six communities to start, including Mission. I called a few friends right away who lived in Mission. They also didn’t know. It turns out they would have to gather some things from home and get ready to leave their apartment for 72 hours.
In the many hours to come, I would learn much more about this impending disaster. At first, I wondered how serious it could really be. But then I learned that the situation was definitely more dire. A state of emergency was declared for many areas. Areas like High River, Black Diamond, and Bragg Creek had been hit quite hard, with ridiculous amounts of flooding and loss of homes. Cougar Creek in Canmore had dangerously high levels and destroyed homes as well. The TransCanada Highway was closed both east and west of Banff and residents and visitors of Banff were told they should stay put. The highway collapsed outside of Canmore. Videos and photos of those areas show quite a bit of damage, and it’s difficult to believe that rain and melting snow could do this in Alberta. The water levels continued to rise in Calgary. One by one, communities were ordered to evacuate.
After what seemed like hours of watching videos and reading Twitter feeds, I decided to go take a look myself. I headed down to Edworthy Park to take photos of the Bow River. I was not the only one. People were parking and getting out of their cars to look at the super high water levels. It’s very odd to see; on a normal day, there are mini islands in the Bow River and the banks of the river are quite high. Today, they were all non-existent and completely flooded. I then headed to a vantage point overlooking Bowness, which was being evacuated. I scoured the city for other views: the stairs above Sunnyside; the 14th street overpass; and eventually, Memorial Drive and 10th street in Kensington. This is where I saw the craziest flooding of the night. The water had risen over the banks and were spilling onto the paths. Crazy! Apparently the water levels will be up to 3 times as much as the flood in 2005 when all is said and done. Though I wasn’t here in 2005, it sounds like it was bad.
I now find myself at 3 am refreshing Twitter and continuing to read what many Calgarians are saying and showing about this flood. There have been many photos from Bowness, Mission, Memorial Drive, Discovery Ridge, and many other locations. As of now, 25 communities have been evacuated. Travel to the downtown has been discouraged. Transit has been disrupted. Bridges have been closed. The rain is expected to continue.
What I have found absolutely incredible about this situation is not the sheer force of the water, or how quickly the floods are rising, or how much rain continues to fall. I have been amazed by and proud of the people of Calgary. There has been an outpouring of support about how to help with clean-up efforts; Calgary Police (@CalgaryPolice) and the City of Calgary (@cityofcalgary), whose efforts throughout the day and night have been ridiculously impressive, have had to turn away volunteers because there have been just too many offerings; and the community has offered up their homes through kijiji or #yychelps on Twitter to anyone who needs a place to stay for the next few nights. Mayor Nenshi (@nenshi) cut his trip to Toronto, flew back, and an hour ago (2 am) he was touring around the flooded areas of Calgary with John Mar (@aldjohnmar) and Richard Pootmans (@pootmans). At this moment, I believe they’re investigating the dam at Glenmore. All of the folks involved have worked tirelessly to keep Calgarians informed and up to date. Information has travelled at light speed and Calgarians have evacuated safely as a result. The mayor and his staff have been amazing, and I have been so impressed with and thankful for their efforts and work. The generosity of Calgarians has been outstanding and incredibly moving to say the least. It’ll be interesting to see what I wake up to tomorrow. But today, I’ve realized once again how much I love this city.
Yesterday was a fun day in the city. A few months back, Robin came up with the idea to register a team for The Underwear Affair’s Booty Hunt race. The Undewear Affair (www.uncoverthecure.org) in Calgary is sponsored by the Alberta Cancer Foundation. The purpose of the event? To fight cancers below the waist, such as testicular, prostate, colon and ovarian. And the most fun about it? You get to complete the events in your underwear! In addition to the usual 5K Walk and 10K run, the Booty Hunt was added this year, which is described as a “challenging scavenger quest through the city”. Fast-forward to yesterday where, dressed in Cookie Monster underwear, we ran past unsuspecting citizens of the city in our skivvies to complete a bunch of tasks.
The team, consisting of team captain Robin and fellow members Rachna, Samir and Shari, arrived at the Max Bell Centre early and ready to race. It was amazing to see the level of comfort some people had with their bodies. Many were pretty much wearing nothing but tight underpants and running shoes. But whether ripped or not, everyone was there to participate in a fun event and raise money for a great cause.
After a quick orientation, the teams were released into the city at 2:00 pm. We opened up our clue package (teehee) and read the clues. The goal: complete 10 of the 11 tasks and receive a charm for each task completed. Then race back to the Max Bell Centre for the finish. Sounded easy enough, but boy was it a lot of running and deciphering! The tasks were scattered all around the downtown core and included events like a World Health workout in Eau Claire Park, finding a man with a giant bag of nuts in a market, visiting a yoga studio to learn some moves, re-enacting the Lady and The Tramp noodle scene at a mediterranean restaurant, taking photos of different monuments around the city, and spraying colour into Robin’s hair at a salon. All in all, it was exhausting and took us 2 hours, but it was so much fun! We raced to the finish to discover we had come in third place, yay! Too bad we misread a clue and did much more than we needed to. I’m convinced we would have had a first place finish if we slowed down and read more carefully. Typical Amazing Race-style error.
We then stayed, celebrated, and accepted our third place medals. Thanks to Robin, Shari, Rachna and Samir for an awesome day; and to Robbie and Tushna for coming out and supporting us. What a great event for a great cause! And truth be told, it was kind of fun to run around the city in our unmentionables… 🙂
I think I found my new favourite viewing spot in Calgary… 🙂
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 