Tag: Japan

Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone Provincial Park

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Last weekend Julie and I traveled South to visit the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens in Lethbridge, as well as Writing on Stone Provincial Park. We set off on our journey at 9:00am. Lethbridge is only a 2 hour drive away along Highway 2. It’s typically a fairly boring drive, and this was no exception. There’s a few weeks out of the year where I find it pleasant to drive, and that’s the first few weeks of August when the canola fields are in full bloom before harvesting. If you go during the right time of year it looks as beautiful as shown below. 2017-07-01 Yellowstone 01_luminar When we arrived in Lethbridge we stopped at the Firestone Restaurant & Bar at the Coast Hotel. I had the Sonoma Chicken Sandwich and Julie had the Chicken Burger. After lunch we drove to the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens. The Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens overlook Henderson Lake. They were designed by Dr. Masami Sugimoto and Dr. Tadashi Kubo, both from Osaka, Japan. The pavilion, shelter, bridges, and gates were built in Kyoto, Japan by five artisans, who eventually re-assembled them in the garden. It was opened on July 14th 1967. The gardens took 21 months to construct. While we were there there was a Taiko percussion instrument demonstration, which was fantastic! 2020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 012020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 032020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 072020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 082020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 112020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 132020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 152020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 172020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 212020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 222020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 232020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 242020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 25 After visiting the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens we drove about 1.5 hours to Writing On Stone Provincial Park. The last time I went to this park was 6 years ago. We completed a small hike / walk that took about an hour to complete. Writing On Stone became an official UNESCO World Heritage Site last year, and is a very sacred park to the Blackfoot Tribe. The beautiful, yet small, park has a tremendous amount of sandstone outcrops, which were deposited along the edge of a large inland sea from about 84 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous epoch. 2020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 262020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 272020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 302020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 322020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 352020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 372020-08-23 Lethbridge Japanese Gardens & Writing On Stone 38 After visiting Writing On Stone we started the long 3.5 hour drive back to Calgary, with a quick stop in Lethbridge for dinner at Chopped Leaf. Stay tuned for my next blog, which is the next installment in my hiking series; Iceberg Lake! If you like the content that I produce and want to donate money towards the upkeep of my site, or buy me a cup of coffee please feel free to contribute towards it. I really appreciate it.
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