05 Sept 2012

Creston to Crawford Bay B.C. 50 miles (TNV 156 miles)

I cannot figure out how it is that it feels like at least 8’o’clock in the evening and yet my watch only says 5 pm. Maybe it was the hilly 50 miles pushing at least that many pounds of steel and panniers that has done me in. Or perhaps the lovely glass of red wine served to us by the friendly owner here at the Wedgwood Manor B&B, where we are enjoying a warm, cozy space protected from the rains that have been falling since we arrived. I wonder, is it too late in the day to take a nap?

This Wedgwood Manor is certainly a delightful place. Being a board-and-batten style home built in the early 1900’s, it feels like we have stepped directly into a game of Clue. Was it Professor Plum with the Candlestick in the Library? Or Colonel Mustard with the Dagger in the Ballroom? I’m sure if we poked around long enough we’d find the secret passage from the Study to the Kitchen. In fact, I think that’s how the wine appeared so mysteriously outside our room. With the fireplace burning, the aroma of a fine red wafting, and light jazz playing in the background, it could easily be Thanksgiving around here rather than a few days past Labor Day.

Before the rains came down, our cycling route took us under mostly clear skies from the wide open cherry-producing valley of Creston up north along the shores of Kootenay Lake, one of the largest lakes in British Columbia. And I would believe that, as the road continued on and on and up and down and back up and back down again, the lake always present over the left shoulder. Traffic was relatively sparse which was a blessing, given that the shoulder was relatively sparse too. Not a ride I would relish during the summer vacation months but an enjoyable route to tour now that the kiddies are back in school and Dad’s 5th wheel is parked in the driveway.

Along the way we passed The Glass House. This is a strange home indeed, built of 500,000 discarded embalming fluid bottles. I think I’d rather take my chances with Ms. Peacock in the Conservatory than spend a night entombed in those.