Ghost Towns, Sternwheelers and the Return of the Steller's Jay

The last week was a bit of a whirlwind-we had lots of visitors (my brother and his family, and then my parents). It's been so nice to be able to share some of the town with my family! We made crepes for breakfast and ate nachos and fries down at the RV park (it was going to be pizzas, but I didn't know that nearly everything in town is closed on Tuesdays, including the two places that sell pizza).

Jordan's brother and his wife played an intimate acoustic show that we went to with my parents. It was on the Moyie, an old sternwheeler that is docked on the shore of Kootenay Lake right in downtown Kaslo. The SS Moyie is an incredible old boat that went all over Kootenay Lake from 1898-1957. It's one of the national historic sites in Kaslo and apparently the world's oldest 'intact' passenger sternwheeler (I think this refers to the fact that it's still seaworthy-well, lakeworthy). The Moyie carried freight and passengers around the lake and was run by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was pretty amazing to see a musical performace (especially since it was family) on the boat. The show was in the ladies saloon. At the front of the boat (in the men's saloon), there was a display of personal items that passengers had used to prop open the windows and fell down into the window wells. Old cigarette packages, magazines. Before the show and during the intermission, we were allowed to explore the boat (complete with the numerous creepy mannequins staged in the rooms). My dad, a history buff if there ever was one, was in his glory. The music was beautiful, the stories about the Moyie were interesting (I liked the one about how they had to prop the dance floor from underneath with big timbers when the passengers got too rowdy), and all in all it was a great night.

We took a trip to a little ghost town called Sandon, said to be one of Western Canada's most famous ghost towns (never heard of it), about 40km from Kaslo. The town, in its heyday, had about 5,000 people. Most of them were attracted to Sandon by the galena in the mines (never heard of it), and like all good ghost towns, it was filled with tons of saloons and brothels. We visited the 3 businesses in Sandon. First, the little shop and cafe that runs out of the old fire hall, where the owner mentioned that she is one of four residents currently living in the town. Next, the power station (Sandon's most visited tourist site), where we learned that the enormous turbine there has been running NON-STOP (except for scheduled maintenance) for the past 120 years. Actually, Sandon generates all its own power in addition to powering about 500 homes in the area. It's eco! We heard ghost stories (the area is called the 'valley of the ghosts'). Apparently the judge and the librarian make regular visits. They like to walk the old main street, I've heard. It was a really interesting day. You could almost hear the saloon music.

Sandon Fire Hall (built in 1901)

Also in the past week, I've discovered another great resource in Kaslo: the river trail system. I don't know who maintains it (actually I do-volunteers), but there is a really impressive system of trails that run alongside the Kaslo river. Jordan and I took Nico (our dog friend) for a jaunt. The trails are extremely well maintained and there are loads of beautiful flowers, berries, and plants I'd never seen. I collected a small bouquet (inspiration for my next painting!) As usual, I had my eyes open for bears. And cougars. Apparently someone's pony was attacked in the night this week by something (poor little thing had a couple good claw marks and chunks taken out of its back).

In wildlife news (other than the pony attack), I'm happy to report that our healthy population of Steller's Jays are back (maybe I didn't mention that they were gone-someone, probably a bear, took their feed the other day and then they stopped visiting). Never in my life seen so many of these birds. And I thought it was 'stellar' jay. You learn something new everyday! I would say about 15 times a day you see them out the window, sitting in the pear tree, chowing down on their suet cake (another new word I learned this week). Also, the woodpeckers here are enormous.

Last night as I was out for a walk and chatting with my uncle on the phone, I saw a darling baby deer (a "fawn," if you will), looking lost in the parking lot of the hospital. I watched her for a few minutes as she looked left, looked right, and walked around in circles. Then, down the street a few blocks, a family of about 10 deer were all crossing the street and heading down into the empty forested lot. The fawn's ears perked up and she took off running to join her pack. It made me wonder if the fawn's parents were like, "Oh, little Susan. If we don't leave her behind every once in awhile, she'll never learn to keep up!" Or maybe they don't put that much thought into it.

Here are some photos from the week that I stole from my dad's camera: thanks pops!

Me and mama on Front Street

Me and mama on our front porch!

Me and papa on the front porch!

This guy's property is full of cool old signs.

What are these? Oh nothing, just some boring old driftwood...

Ohhh, nothing, just my new favourite hobby. Driftwood creatures!

I'm way too excited about this.

Making my famous outdoor corn soup. Other items on the menu this week: beef stew, chicken soup, pear/plum sauce, quick bean and cheese quesadillas (what a novelty having a microwave!)

Supposedly one of the old fruit loading stations on the railway (really?)

Jordie and pop and a nice, green view.

Me and my tall drink of water (this is a funny phrase-nothing as flattering as comparing someone to a drink of WATER).

And that's all for this week! Coming up next time: Leah's trip into the big city (Nelson, population 10,000) for a haircut and to cash a cheque, a bear safety seminar, and fun on garbage pickup day (Tuesday).