It was a typical warm and sunny weekend in Cranbrook and as I did not work on Saturdays, Geneene and I decided to take a tour of Fort Steele. This seemed like a good way to make the best of a weekend away from home since the choice to be in the East Kootenays was not ours.
Fort Steele was once an important out post in that area, but except for the blackmail and bribery of Colonel James Baker in having the railway go by his sawmill instead of Fort Steele it may have still been that today.
The resulting skullduggery relegated the out post to slowly turn into the ghost town that tourist love to visit today. This may actually be a good thing in its own way as it still provides a point of interest for the region and a historical adventure for anyone that chooses to spend time visiting the Cranbrook area.
Geneene and I enjoyed poking around the various shops and reading about the early days of the settlement. At certain times of the year they put on shows in the Wild Horse Theatre and there are any number of things you can do such as taking a wagon or train ride, or eating in one of the many restaurants.
While doing our tour I noticed out of the corner of my eye a large thunderhead that was slowly drifting our way. Suddenly with little warning it started to hail and I mean hail.
Geneene and I headed into the nearest doorway post haste, to escape from getting a severe bruising. The heavens let loose with hailstones the size of flattened golf balls. They were pinging of the boardwalk and flying everywhere. Quite an amazing site and one that I have not seen since.
I realize there is a time to be cautious and even a time to fear but I must say I was somewhat amazed a few days later when Geneene and I were checking out an area on a narrow dirt road. The road went up the side of a mountain where you could look over the edge forever. The challenge was how to drive around a huge boulder that had slid down from above and blocked the road. The answer was either to turn back or proceed by creeping around the cliff side with the outside wheels of the Suburban driving slightly over the edge. I chose to carry on but this was too much for Geneene and she begged to get out. I granted her request but for fear of sounding a bit chauvinistic I must say I thought she was a bit of a wuss.
As with all things you have to do what you have to do and sometimes the decision of the moment may come back to haunt you but then again it may have been what saved your life. Time has a great way of putting things into their proper prospective.
Fort Steele was once an important out post in that area, but except for the blackmail and bribery of Colonel James Baker in having the railway go by his sawmill instead of Fort Steele it may have still been that today.
The resulting skullduggery relegated the out post to slowly turn into the ghost town that tourist love to visit today. This may actually be a good thing in its own way as it still provides a point of interest for the region and a historical adventure for anyone that chooses to spend time visiting the Cranbrook area.
Geneene and I enjoyed poking around the various shops and reading about the early days of the settlement. At certain times of the year they put on shows in the Wild Horse Theatre and there are any number of things you can do such as taking a wagon or train ride, or eating in one of the many restaurants.
While doing our tour I noticed out of the corner of my eye a large thunderhead that was slowly drifting our way. Suddenly with little warning it started to hail and I mean hail.
Geneene and I headed into the nearest doorway post haste, to escape from getting a severe bruising. The heavens let loose with hailstones the size of flattened golf balls. They were pinging of the boardwalk and flying everywhere. Quite an amazing site and one that I have not seen since.
I realize there is a time to be cautious and even a time to fear but I must say I was somewhat amazed a few days later when Geneene and I were checking out an area on a narrow dirt road. The road went up the side of a mountain where you could look over the edge forever. The challenge was how to drive around a huge boulder that had slid down from above and blocked the road. The answer was either to turn back or proceed by creeping around the cliff side with the outside wheels of the Suburban driving slightly over the edge. I chose to carry on but this was too much for Geneene and she begged to get out. I granted her request but for fear of sounding a bit chauvinistic I must say I thought she was a bit of a wuss.
As with all things you have to do what you have to do and sometimes the decision of the moment may come back to haunt you but then again it may have been what saved your life. Time has a great way of putting things into their proper prospective.
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