Driving in a Winter Wonderland

We have a really nice light near our city each December. It is called the Canad Inn  Winter Wonderland.

I have gone many times with family and friends and as well we usually take a small bus from the Personal Care Home I work at. It is a winter traditions for many Winnipeggers. The exhibitions consist of over a million lights and is arranged into 26 different theme areas along a winding 2.5 km road with plenty of places to stop and get out of your vehicle for a photo opportunity. The exhibit has several sponsors but most important is that the money raised by this huge undertaking supports  two important programs in Manitoba – Last year it was KidSport Manitoba and the Riverview Health Centre.

You can see the lights glowing from a distance as you approach the park.  It is only a couple miles outside of the city and located where we have an exhibition area, sports complex and the race track. As you reach the entrance to the park you pass through the gate where you can purchase your ticket, price based on type of vehicle or give your ticket that you purchase at a slight discount ahead of time.  Kids receive a coloring sheet that they can enter for a big prize packet to be drawn in January.. 

I small bit further you find a concession area where you can buy some food - a big favorite is bucket of hot cinnamon sugar mini donuts. You can tune your radio to their channel and listen to Christmas music or  put on your own favorite Christmas tunes. There are fantastic skating areas and a warm up shed, or perhaps you would like to go on a horse drawn carriage ride!

We like it as an outing for our seniors because they get on the bus right by the door of our building and then they can see all the lights of the city during our drive out and then the fantastic displays of the park and they don't have to worry about getting off the bus at any time until we are home again. It is easy on aching bodies and more relaxing for people with dementia who might become anxious if they were walking around unfamiliar territory.

When we go with our Grandkids we are sure to get enough of the coloring sheets and after our trip we go home to turn on the lights of our Christmas tree, put on a Christmas movie, make some hot cocoa and color our contest entries. It feels like Christmas is almost here!