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| Lost, lost, lost, lost... somewhere on Highway 533. |
On the way to the Brooks Medieval Faire I missed my "short cut" turn onto Highway 22x in Calgary that would take me through Gleichen to Brooks. I keep forgetting the 22x sign was replaced by Stoney Trail. No problem. I'll just go down Highway 2 instead. There's got to be a parallel road that links to Brooks, right? Not so much. Realized by Nanton that I was not getting to Brooks by 9:00.
My wayward travels were even more interesting by the forest fire smoke settling in from BC, Washington, California, and Ontario. Could barely see a kilometre ahead. Feeling safe inside my air-conditioned rent-a-car, kind of like a space-traveller who doesn't leave their ship until they're sure of the air quality, I took a few photos of some of the landscape. There are also quite a few old and abandoned buildings in the area. And wildflowers. And a hawk or two. It might be worth getting lost there again.
After going through Vulcan and Lomond (who for a small town know how to do road signs properly!) and coming into Brooks from the south end... I got lost again. [sigh]
Eventually, I hooked up with my brother and his friends at the Faire grounds.
As usual, there were lots of vendors, medieval costumes, sword-play, and
Knights of Valour. I even managed to almost not notice the heat wave (+34) while shooting the knights jousting. When I got home, the cool, breezy thundershower was wonderful!
I discovered it's difficult to edit the pinkish/green smoke hue so that it looks nice. So I decided to go b&w for most of my photos.
Click on the little photos to get a bigger one.
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| A piper wandered and played throughout the grounds. Made the place seem more authentic. |
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| A maiden and little owl from the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre. |
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| Medieval village resident. |
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| More medieval village residents. |
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| A couple more medieval village residents. |
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| My brother and his friend trying to score bullseyes at the axe throwing display. It wasn't as easy as they thought. |
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| Sword play. |
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| A squire tends a jousting lance. |
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| Even the kids had fun in battle. Yes, the little girl hit her opponent. |
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| Lost knight searches for his peasants. "Bring out your dead." |
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| Sir Knight. |
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| Squires holding rings that knights have to capture with their lances. |
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| Got one, three to go. |
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| Just one more. |
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| A gallant knight shares his gold covered chocolate winnings with the common folk. |
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| Squire braking system. |
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| A barn owl from the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre was one of six live raptors on display at the Brooks Medieval Faire this year. [Kind of reminds me of a high school portrait.] |
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| Knight entertaining the crowd. |
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| Suiting up for the jousts. |
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