It was late morning by the time we headed out to do a little exploring around Cranbrook. Our first stop was at the Visitors Centre which was back down at the highway where we had turned off to come to the park.The Visitors Centre is adjacent to Elizabeth Lake in Confederation Park, a 5.9 hectare wildlife sanctuary...a popular birdwatching wetland and grassland habitat. The park is within the City of Cranbrook parks system and features popular walking trails and birdwatching blinds. 
The Western Painted Turtle, the only native freshwater turtle in BC, is a common inhabitant of Elizabeth Lake. There is quite a story about the turtles...apparently they needed to cross to the north side of the highway to reach their historic nesting sites which, of course, was very dangerous and few made it. So to reduce the turtles’ need to cross the highway, volunteers built turtle nesting sites on the south side of the highway...thus increasing the turtles nesting success and longevity. The Western Paint Turtle is considered a BC “blue-listed” species at risk mainly due to their specific nesting behaviours and habitat loss.
The couple at the Visitors Centre were very friendly and helpful, marking on a map where the local RV dealer was (a service of the 5th wheel is way overdue) and where the Provincial Access Office was where Steve could renew his driver’s license (it expires on his birthday in August).
We thought we should get “business” over with first, so after finding the Access Office, Steve went in while I sat outside in the truck. I was wondering where BC Assessment’s Cranbrook office was (BCA is where I retired from after 35 years in their Head Office in Victoria) so I thought I would look it up using the internet browser on my cell...hmmm...it’s somewhere on the street we are on. As I looked up...there it was...right across the street! Too funny!
Our next stop was Runners RV Sales and Service. We had done an Internet search of RV companies in Cranbrook and were surprised to find this to be the only one...which really surprised me because with so much outdoor recreation in the Kootenays, I would have thought there would be more, especially with Cranbrook being the major city in the region. Consequently, we were a little sceptical on whether it would be the best place to have a major service done to the trailer.
We were pleasantly surprised, though...in addition to a huge sales area, there was a large parts and service department housed in a nice building that included a waiting area. We booked the trailer in for an “18 point inspection” on Tuesday morning...hopefully they know what they are doing and we are happy with the work.
Okay...now it was time for a little touristy stuff. It was just before 1pm when we arrived at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel ( www.trainsdeluxe.com ) The Museum’s collection of deluxe railway passenger cars is recognized as one of the great railway heritage collections in North America. It has the only surviving set of cars from the Trans Canada Limited, which at its time was the fastest train across North America. The set includes the dining car Argyle, sleeper car Somerset, a solarium lounge car River Rouge, and a combination baggage and crew dormitory car. Inside...the lobby area...
We took the deluxe tour...a guided tour taking over 2 hours...and very interesting...
The Museum also boasts the restored Royal Alexandra Hall which was originally built in 1906 as he cafe of the Royal Alexandra Hotel in Winnipeg. The hotel was demolished in 1971 but the dining hall was dismantled and stored in a semi-trailer for over 25 years until purchased by the museum and reassembled and restored. Today it is rented out for wedding receptions and dinners...
Here is a car that has not been restored yet...can you imagine the work involved?!!
The Caboose...
This car had been modernized in the 1960s/70s...all the beautiful wood has been painted over...
"Hotel-on-Wheels"...the sleeper bunks drop down and the seats also fold down into beds...
The left side of this picture is the restored original...on the right is how it looked when it was "modernized"...
This picture shows all the different stages of remodeling the wood went through...all the different layers of paint over such beautiful wood!
There was a picture in the gift shop of the Nasookin on Kootenay Lake...the decks are now the house we took a picture of on way into Nelson...reference our blog Saturday, July 23...
A quilt made by the Quilting Club in Cranbrook...incredible...
It was almost 3:30 by the time we had finished the tour and also checked out the rest of the building that contained more history on Cranbrook itself. We walked down the street to take a few more pictures...
The Cranbrook arches replicate an original set that straddled the highway from the 1930s to the 1950s....
The statue of the elephant was one of several elephants who escaped from a visiting circus in the 1920s, and the last to be retrieved after a period of wandering the local woods...
We arrived back at the campground shortly after 4:00...time to relax in our lounge chairs with a drink. Unfortunately some clouds had come in...hmmm...I hope they don’t stick around....
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