More on the World Rogaine Championship in Latvia

Here's a link to the article in the Williams Lake Tribune.

More Cariboo Gold Swing Night

Shiny Stockings

Or this link for bigger and better

Strutting with Some Barbecue

or this link for bigger size and better sound

Gentle Rain

Or this link for bigger and better

Swing Night at the Limelight

I like how this photo shows the eponymous "limelight" of the theatre.

The Cariboo Gold Dance Band had our annual concert/dance at the Limelight Theatre this weekend with special guest star soloist Tom Keenleyside, a well-known saxaphonist/flute player from Vancouver.  Well, well known if you listen to Hot Air on CBC radio every Saturday at 5 pm while you're making dinner.

That's Tom in the black shirt on the left.

We had a sold out show again this year, we even had to turn people away from the door.  And we even had a full dance floor by the end of the evening.

If it looks like I'm in the centre of every photo that may have to do with the inherent bias of the night's official photographer (Leo).

We all agreed this is the best the band has played in all 33 years of its existence and we are playing more difficult charts.

It was a fun evening!

Weekend in Richmond

Boardwalk on Finn Slough

On the last weekend in October, Leo had an ALS fundraising workshop in Richmond, so I came along for the ride.  

On Friday we checked out Granville Island with friends Ken and Sue.

While Leo was workshopping on Saturday I went touristing in the Richmond area.

First off I went to Finn Slough, an old Finnish fishing community located on the water on the south end of Lulu Island.

There are still shacks and houseboats and a few fishing boats on the slough.  To the west you can walk along the dike.

After that I headed to Steveston for lunch.  Then I discovered the Cannery museum was free till the end of 2017 (as part of the free National Parks for Canada's 150th anniversary).  So I spent a few hours checking out the displays and learning how a cannery worked.

It was interesting to read about how the cannery jobs were divided up based on ethnicity (White, First Nations, Japanese and Chinese) and gender and paid accordingly.

On Saturday evening we were invited to dinner at friends' Ann Marie and Andy's house, and what a sumptuous spread it was!

Food all eaten, but cool tablecloth, eh!

Sunny Fall Day in the Cariboo

A couple of weeks ago we went for a walk along the Fox Mountain trails, with great views down to Williams Lake.

Cariboo History Tour

Leo and I signed up for the Elder College's History Tour of the Cariboo.  There were 3 days of bus tours.

The first day we drove down to Dog Creek with Dot Unrau as our guide.  Dot grew up on  a ranch in Dog Creek, and her family were pioneers in the area.

Typical Dog Creek scenery

What I learnt on this trip is that the (white) community of Dog Creek once had 500 people.  It was a supply point for the Cariboo Gold Rush, they grew wheat and had 2 grist mills operating! In the winter many of the miners would leave the cold and snowy Barkerville and spend the winter in shacks in the warmer locations, including Dog Creek.

Our second trip was south to 100 Mile House, with stops at 108 Mile House,

108 Mile House with longest log barn in BC in the background.

100 Mile House, where the whole town was once owned by the Emissaries of Divine Light, the personal religion of the Marquess of Exeter,

and various other roadhouses in between, with our final stop at 

Tthe restored one-room schoolhouse at 150 Mile House.

Guide Barry Sale holds forth in the schoolroom.

Our final trip was up to Quesnel, stopping at a number of roadhouses and old ranches on the way, including lunch at the Australian Ranch, and finishing off at the Quesnel Museum.

Not a roadhouse, but an original ranch house in Kersley.

On our way back we drove down the west side of the Fraser, crossed at Rudy Johnson Bridge, and back to town along the Soda Creek Road, passing through an area devastated by the recent wildfires. Approx. 7 houses were lost there.