Saskatchewan - Roamancing

Clouds, Natural Beauty the World Over

August 31, 2012 by Emme Rogers 2 Comments

This week’s #FriFotos reminded me of the beauty created by clouds the world over. In celebration, here are a few moments in my travels from the past year, where the clouds made me smile!

From the Air

Setting my sights on the beautiful blue waters & gentle skies of the Caribbean for the 1st time.

Peeking through the clouds at the Middle East for the first time.

Clouds over Canada

Beautiful in BC

Big Sky Saskatchewan

Cloudy reflections in Ontario’s North.

Elegant over Egypt

Peaceful skies over Egypt

Magnificent skies over the Sphinx.

Colombian Clouds

Bogota Courtyard Clouds

Clouds over Bogota’s Old Town

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, BC, Canada, Carribean, Colombia, Egypt, Emme Rogers, Middle East, Ontario, Our Travelers, Saskatchewan, South America Tagged With: BC, beautiful clouds, bogota, canada, clouds, cloudy beauty, colombia, Egypt, frifotos, Ontario, Saskatchewan

A Healing Moment in Travel

June 10, 2012 by Erica Hargreave 4 Comments

Something I haven’t been ready to write about until now, is my last year, and how I have flung myself into travel to distract myself with something fun, that makes me feel good. Now I should state that we have had the idea for Roamancing for a number of years and had been planning it’s launch for this very week a year ago. That didn’t happen, because my Dad died, the third death in my family in a month (including Sara the golden retriever and Charlie the cat). Needless to say the launch of Roamancing was put on hold, and when we did return to it, it was an outlet for fun and light-hearted laughs, at times a busy escape from dealing with a lot of loss in the last year (which included a number of beloved friends), and as we move forward an outlet for doing good and opening people’s minds and hearts up to people around the world. And along the way, it has introduced me to many new friends from around the world, that have found a spot in my heart, and returned me into the open arms of old friends. It is these old friends across Canada that inspired two road trips from BC to Ontario and back again, that and the need to reflect, cry and process.

This last Spring’s #CrossCanada road trip finally allowed me to do that, and on a day that I was driving to the hospital in Saskatoon to tell a very dear woman that I loved her one last time, I happened on the most beautiful scene on Saskatchewan’s Yellowhead Highway. It was exactly what I need in that moment. I pulled over and sat in the quiet, watching the beauty that lay before me for the next hour. It brought a sense of calm and peace to what was a difficult day.

Saskatchewan Beauty

Now as the tears for Dad finally flow for me, my mind keeps taking me back to that sunny afternoon and the peaceful beauty at the side of the road in Saskatchewan.

Focusing through the cattail.

Spying pelicans through the cattail.

A healing moment.

Many of our tales are about the people we meet in our travels, but it will always be quiet moments, like this in nature that will allow me to reflect and bring me peace. And it will be through the music, that I will remember Dad with joy, even if tears are flowing down my face.

Gentle landings.

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Canada, Erica Hargreave, Our Travelers, Planes, Trains ..., Road Trips, Saskatchewan Tagged With: canada, death loss, healing, healing through travel, healing with travel, pelicans, processing death, processing loss, Road trip, Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan beauty, Saskatchewan waterfowl, travel, waterfowl, yellowhead highway

Unwinding with the Beauty of a Saskatchewan Sunset

June 3, 2012 by Emme Rogers 8 Comments

Unwinding after a much needed lazy weekend, enjoying a glass of wine and flipping through photos from our Spring #CrossCanada road trip.

I wasn't the only enjoying the beautiful sunset.

With still recovering from last weekend’s escapades at the Yorkton Film Festival in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, somehow it feels fitting to share a beautiful, tranquil Prairie sunset, inspiring a bit of r&r until the next adventure begins.

Love the Prairie sky!

*sigh*

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Canada, Emme Rogers, Our Travelers, Planes, Trains ..., Road Trips, Saskatchewan Tagged With: Prairie Beauty, Prairie sky, prairie sunset, prairies, Saskatchewan, saskatchewan sunset, sunset

Yorkton Film Festival Road Tripping Shenanigans Inspired by Paddock Wood

May 28, 2012 by Emme Rogers 8 Comments

In case you had not noticed, our lives seem to attract more than a little bit of the ridiculous, which seems to be magnified 10 fold with our yearly pilgrimage to the Yorkton Film Festival to pay homage to our most beloved Canadian film community. This only seems to have been made worse by the likes of Katrina German and the augment of our now Annual Road Trip from Saskatoon to Yorkton, Saskatchewan (yes, google maps says this trip is only meant to take 3 hours and 37 minutes, but when done by Kat and I, it’s epic).

Well, I am not sure who had the bright idea of asking Kat and I to pick up Yorkton Film Festival’s Golden Sheaf Beer from Paddock Wood … but let’s just say I wouldn’t be asking us. I suppose they thought with Annelise Larson and Erica Hargreave along for the ride, we’d behave ourselves. Fat chance (especially after I’d tasted the rather scrumptious brew – yes, it was 10 am, but thanks to Kat, I needed the hair of the dog)!

Now, I suppose I should state at this point that I was not driving, so a 10 am beer was perfectly acceptable. Kat, however, was, which is why she hashtagged the road trip #HowToDeliverBeerWithoutDrinkingBeerBecauseDriving, while I preferred such hashtags as #HowToDrinkBeerDeliveringAsKatDrives and #HowToMockKatAsSheIsDriving.

Here’s how it all went down:

And they're off! Kat - 0 : Me - 1

If the question is, do we leave 6 boxes of beer behind, it is amazing how tight the space I'll manage to fit. Kat - 0 : Me - 2

The head rush isn't as tasty as the beer. Kat - 0 : Me - 3

Strategy Stop - if Kat leaves we still have a ride. Kat - 0 : Me - 4

Singing the Paddock Wood Blues. Kat - 0 : Me - 5

Okay Princess, you can have a beer! Kat - 1 : Me - 6

Really not too sure why Kat didn’t just hand the wheel over to Erica who thought it too early to hit the cases of beer, but then we’re not here to judge Kat’s intelligence. Especially as said intelligence thought it wise to leave three cases of beer in my room.

Kat - 1 : Me - 3 cases

PS. In Full Disclosure: As always, the opinions and thoughts shared here are our own and honest ones. We are bought out by no one. In the spirit of disclosure, it should be noted that on this trip, our expenses were paid by the Yorkton Film Festival, where we were speaking.

Filed Under: All Aboard!, Around the World, Canada, Emme Rogers, Events, Katrina Ham, Our Travelers, Planes, Trains ..., Road Trips, Saskatchewan, Taste Bud Teasers, Tasty Morsels, Television / Film Festivals Tagged With: Annelise Larson, emme rogers, Erica Hargreave, Golden Sheaf, Golden Sheaf brew, Kat, katrina german, paddock wood beer, paddock wood brewery, Road trip, Saskatchewan, saskatchewan road trip, Saskatoon to Yorkton, yorkton film festival, yorkton film festival road trip

#CrossCanada Wildlife Sightings

May 20, 2012 by Emme Rogers 14 Comments

I know more than a few people thought I was a little nutso when I decided to road trip back and forth #CrossCanada this year for work in Ontario, as opposed to flying. Well, I have to say I’d do it again in a flash. Not only did I get to enjoy Canada’s wide-diversity of landscapes and natural beauty, snippets of our countries cultural diversity and the food that comes with it, reflective time to my road tripping library of Canadian musicians, but I saw an insane amount of Canadian wildlife (each day, that many only read about in books).

Here’s a taste of what we saw on our Spring #CrossCanada Road Trip from Southern Ontario to Southern BC.

Days 1 & 2: Northern Ontario

We probably saw more wildlife than anywhere else in Northern Ontario, but much of this was at dusk, so we didn’t catch it on camera, just in our memories. Sightings included: fox, coyotes, eagles, a hare, a bear and a moose. The fact that we saw all these animals around dusk by the side of the road was a good reminder why we needed to drive with extreme care and alertness between dusk and dawn.

Early Morning at Fort La Cloche

Footprints at Fort La Cloche

Tranquil Canadian Shield Beauty

Day 3: Manitoba

Our drive through Manitoba was a quick one, with most of our time spent in The Exchange in Winnipeg, but we did see deer and enjoy the beautiful spring birch.

Spring in Manitoba

Day 4: Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan was definitely one of the favourite parts of our drive for it’s gentle natural beauty, including red-winged blackbirds, beaver lodges, and a number of striking waterfowl.

Greeted by beautiful song in Saskatchewan Marshes

Canada's favourite rodent at home in Saskatchewan

Pelicans! Such an amazing treat!

Quackers for our last look at Saskatchewan

Day 5: Alberta

Amazing the difference you see in the landscape when crossing into Alberta from Saskatchewan, even before you hit the Rockies. This drive held sightings of magpi, bison, elk and deer, magnificent beasts that reflected the magnificence of the Rocky Mountains that we were approaching.