Friday, August 12 Castlegar, BC
Welcome back!
To be honest, we haven't really done a lot. With the current spate of hot weather - in the mid-30s C - we've been keeping a low profile.
However, having said that, Wednesday Aug 3, we drove 30 km south to Trail (elev.: 416 m / 1,367'). After coffee on the banks of the Columbia River and a short walk, we drove up the hill to Rossland (elev.: 1,043 m / 3,422'). That's a climb of 626 m / 2,055') in 9 km!!
Then we did something we have not done before; we drove along Hwy 3B from Rossland to Nancy Green Provincial Park and Hwy 3. From there, it was essentially downhill along Hwy 3 to Castlegar. There were some dynamite views along Hwy 3B.
Our girlfriend Donna is visiting us from Richmond this coming weekend. Donna, from the UK, has never been to the Kootenays. So when she visits, I will take many more pictures. We're going to tour Castlegar, visit Trail and Rossland, then visit Nelson and go ziplining.
In the meantime here are some pictures taken over the last few days.
Around KRRV:
Some big rigs visited the RV park in the last week. The one (left below) looked like a converted transport truck and trailer. The one (similar to right below) was towing a 5th wheel toy hauler (RV with garage in the back) that I estimated was over 40' long. They unloaded two Harley motorcycles from the garage - a regular 2-wheeled version and a trike.
We did reaquaint ourselves with the Humble Bean Cafe in downtown Castlegar. Great coffee and superb Chocolate Croissants!
We sat outside the front of the cafe in really comfy chairs, in the shade, and looked out on rest of the seating area.
Now, does anyone NOT like Gin? You might remember last month when we visited the Wynndel Craft Distillery. Well, I have been meaning to take a couple of pictures of their Butterfly Blue gin. The basic recipe is infused with Saskatoon berries.
So when you pour a shot it looks like this: Then when you add tonic, it looks like this:
It not only changes colour in the glass, it's also very, very, very tasty! Right Sparky?? Right JJ?? ;>)
Last Wednesday (Aug 10) we visited Nelson and the Farmers' Market. You see that blue stuff above? Well, it's all gone so we had to replenish it. We already knew that the Wynndel Distillery has a booth at the Nelson market.
We really like Nelson. Years ago it was frequented by the "great unwashed". Downtown Nelson has a vibe; the architecture is old world. The bank building we parked beside has 1899 on its facade.
Castlegar's Sculpturewalk frequents Nelson's downtown.
On the way back to Alfie, we passed this storefront.
We thought lunch at the Prestige hotel, on the waterfront, was a great idea. We did this back in 2019.
We parked Alfie and walked to the restaurant entrance. As we waited to be seated, we looked over the menu. Hmmm, something's changed. We didn't see anything appealing so we left and walked back to the cafe just outside the hotel's front entrance. This hotel is definitely doggy friendly!
The trolley line that runs from the hotel to the bridge turns around here. Here it comes!
If you have followed our blog, you might remember the fun we had with the trolley staff back in 2019.
We'll be back in Nelson next weekend. Join us then.
Last Thursday, while Alfie was having a vacuum check valve replaced, I wandered up the main street. I noticed this 'Patient Hunter'.
