Hanging out in Creston Valley

Returning to Creston Valley is coming home more than being on vacation. The view on the wide valley at the bottom of Kootenay Lake, Goat Mountain, Mount Thompson and the Skimmerhorn are just puzzle pieces that fall together.

When taking the turn in Canyon or descending the summit from the west, it's with great anticipation I look in front of me until the view on the valley opens up and the familiar sights reveal themselves. Immediately everything feels so natural and routine. 



While we had a short 24h stop in Creston when coming from Cranbrook, we left quickly for some nearby visits in the Kootenays after which we returned for a few more days.  Most of our suitcases we had simply left behind at my host sister's home where she did some of our laundry for us. Sweet.

Hwy 3 summit at Kootenay Pass

Walking around in Creston brings so much teenage memories back alive. I remember dreaming back then of one day bringing back my family and walking with them hand in hand through the main street.  Check. 

The 2 downtown grain elevators... a landmark and one of the few grain elevators in BC

The murals at Pharmasave had been renewed!

We hang around in the water park on the hot days and were chilling wit our friends.  The park was new the last time we visited.  We also enjoyed simply being part of a household and not spending time in a hotel room for once. The children bonded with their new Canadian friends and their toys.  







The days flew by with a lot of visits to friends and families so we ended up running around with quite a timed schedule.  Yet we did free up some time for a good hike in the Creston Valley Wildlife Center wetlands. My host sister kept her oldest son out of kindergarten so he could join with his new European friends and show them around. 

Even though it was turtle season we spotted only 1 turtle. On the other hand we found right at the start some fresh snake skin and later on Kabouter picked up an owl's feather.  We did less birdspotting than I would have expected ...our canoo trip previous time was better but we had an awesome walk that challenged the children a bit, but we all made it back.

I was a bit shocked to learn that it's probably the last time I saw the beloved Wildlife Center buildings that are currently already closed because of stability problems in the old building. It will get destroyed and I hope the organisation finds the funding and location quickly to get a new building nearby the wetlands. The ecosystem there is of high educational and recreational value!











We made also a stop at the  Ktunaxa, lower Kootenay Band, heritage/cultural gift store to buy my traditional pair of handmade Manitobah moccasins...the only footwear I wear at home since my adolescence.  We had some wine tasting at the local wineries and stocked up wines for the rest of the vacation.  And finally we completed our "food tour" with a visit at the Alpine Cheese farm where we did a lot of visiting of the animals and admired the milking robot before we stocked up some superb cheeses as well.  Traditions are there to keep





Time flew by much too quickly. I could not visit all the people I knew but it felt really good to be here again. It was with lots of sadness and gratitude that we turned east again to continue our vacation.  Until next time...








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