July 12
Moving on to Fernie today, but before we left we decided to take a tour of Columbia Brewery. Quite interesting. Had no idea how many different beers they are now brewing there, including Bud Light, Brava and Alexander Keiths. Best part was the free, full-size beer at the end of the tour and the video of the old Kokanne commercials. Had forgotten how great some of those were. Anyone else remember Sasq, the Sasquatch; Brew, the dog; the spawning beer bottles; Mountain Patrol?
The tower accommodates a tank that holds 160,000 litres of beer (although not yet in a drinkable state). If you're in the area check it out. Nominal charge for the tour, which is donated to the food bank and other local charities.
Moving on to Fernie today, but before we left we decided to take a tour of Columbia Brewery. Quite interesting. Had no idea how many different beers they are now brewing there, including Bud Light, Brava and Alexander Keiths. Best part was the free, full-size beer at the end of the tour and the video of the old Kokanne commercials. Had forgotten how great some of those were. Anyone else remember Sasq, the Sasquatch; Brew, the dog; the spawning beer bottles; Mountain Patrol?
The tower accommodates a tank that holds 160,000 litres of beer (although not yet in a drinkable state). If you're in the area check it out. Nominal charge for the tour, which is donated to the food bank and other local charities.
We camp off to the left
Hit the road about 12:30. Leisurely stop for lunch at one of the many spots where the highway crosses the Moyie River, then continued our journey on to Fernie, and the Birch Meadow Lodge.
Funny how a personal connection with someone can change their reaction to you. We have only stayed here twice, and the owners, Marcel & Sonia, were always friendly, but we barely saw them. They had met Graham in the past; in fact Sonia admitted on this visit that at one time she had thought about trying to hook up her "adopted daughter" Jessie with Graham. She even referred to him as "a mother's dream" (makes the real mother feel proud). Well, it turns out that Graham’s new girlfriend, Janice, is Jessie's roommate, and Sonia and Marcel have gotten to know Graham quite well over the last while. Anyway, when we arrived we were greeted with hugs from Sonia (haven’t seen Marcel yet). Very nice. Got set up, then headed into town to meet up with Graham at the golf course (he had a match play game he had to get in that day).
Funny how a personal connection with someone can change their reaction to you. We have only stayed here twice, and the owners, Marcel & Sonia, were always friendly, but we barely saw them. They had met Graham in the past; in fact Sonia admitted on this visit that at one time she had thought about trying to hook up her "adopted daughter" Jessie with Graham. She even referred to him as "a mother's dream" (makes the real mother feel proud). Well, it turns out that Graham’s new girlfriend, Janice, is Jessie's roommate, and Sonia and Marcel have gotten to know Graham quite well over the last while. Anyway, when we arrived we were greeted with hugs from Sonia (haven’t seen Marcel yet). Very nice. Got set up, then headed into town to meet up with Graham at the golf course (he had a match play game he had to get in that day).
These are shots of the mountains you see from the deck of the clubhouse. Mount Hosmer is also known as Ghost Rider because of the shadow that is cast on its face in the summer evenings as the sun starts to set. As you can see (I hope) it looks like a rider on horseback. It is really quite impressive, and a bit spooky. The other mountains, from left to right, are Mount Fernie, Three Sisters Mountain (actually one mountain with three peaks) and Mount Proctor.
After some snacks and drinks, we headed back to the trailer, and Graham stayed the night. Picked up a small fan in Fernie to help us through the hot nights. We don’t have enough power to run the air conditioning here, and even so, we turn it off when we go to bed, so will be good to have the fan in the days ahead.
After some snacks and drinks, we headed back to the trailer, and Graham stayed the night. Picked up a small fan in Fernie to help us through the hot nights. We don’t have enough power to run the air conditioning here, and even so, we turn it off when we go to bed, so will be good to have the fan in the days ahead.