Wednesday Jun 12 Sunny & hot - 31C Creston, BC
After coffee this morning we headed to the Creston Museum. Among other things, this museum has a HO scale model railroad display. Needless to say, I am interested in seeing what the local group has done.
Jen rode in her travel wheelchair - the museum is accessible.
We met Arnold, the tour guide on duty, who offered to walk us through the museum. He was a wealth of knowledge. We really enjoyed the next couple of hours touring the museum.
Here is the one-room school house that originally resided in Yahk, BC.
Did you notice the "Dunce" hat and the strap hanging on the wall?
The grounds of the museum are really pretty.
The museum has many farm implements, tractors, and logging industry items on display, as well as an old miner's cabin.
Arnold told us that the body and cab of this truck was built out of wood by the trucking outfit to carry boxes of fruit.
You have no doubt heard of the term "being blackballed?" But do you know where it originated?
Well, as our illustrious tour guide told us, this box was used to determine a "newbies" acceptance into a club, organization, etc.
Each member was given one black and one white marble.
If the member felt that the applicant worthy of membership, he or she placed a white marble through the hole, thereby recording their vote.
However if the member did not feel the applicant worthy, then a black marble was used, hence the term "blackballed." Interesting eh?!
Here's an old time clock that workers used to punch in to work. Arnold wasn't sure exactly how it functions, but nevertheless, it is an interesting piece of equipment. Time information is recorded on the paper tape inside.
As far as logging is concerned, take a look at these pictures of cedars cut down when Hwy 3 was constructed over the pass to Salmo in the '60s.
Apparently there are sturgeon in Kootenay Lake. Anything under 4' long can be kept, over 4' must be returned to the lake. I knew that sturgeon are bottom feeders, but I've never seen a picture of its mouth. Weird, but I guess it gets the job done!
Arnold & I left Jen behind when we went to view the model railroad on the upper level.
Front and centre is Creston as it was back the 1960s. Kootenay Landing is modelled to the left of Creston. A yard, turntable, and roundhouse are modelled inside a loop on the right side.
Overall the public part of the layout is reasonably well done however, it lacks "something." I can't put my finger on it, but it just needed a little more. Anyway, nuff said.
Back at Ali, we had lunch and relaxed for a couple of hours.
Then it was time to check out the first of 4 wineries.
Skimmerhorn Winery is well known for its white wines. We sampled all 5 of them and they were...really delicious.
And the views of the mountains from the deck were spectacular!
When we returned I worked on the blog for a while, then it was time for dinner. We decided it was time for some Indian food. We visited Memories of India Cuisine in downtown Creston. Wednesday is buffet night so we enjoyed a variety of dishes including some of our favourites. I ate far too much but enjoyed every bite.
That's it for today. Join us tomorrow.
