Again, we did not drive far. Our destination was the "smallest city in British Columbia"... Greenwood, population 708.
Saying goodbye...
Us with Betty and Jim.
And movin' on down the road.
Highway 3 is a great drive.
Scenery along the way.
Yesterday's drive, 66 kms (41 miles).
We made it to Greenwood, and found a spot that I had read about that said it appeared to be free camping at the Municipal Ohairi Park. But now, there is a new sign up saying that it's $10 CAD ($7.60 USD) a night. We're okay with that, and it said that someone would be by to collect the money.
Sherman, parked at GPS 49.091726, -118.678507
We went for a walk around town. Greenwood was an old copper mining town that was booming in the 1890's. But it was left pretty much abandoned until WWII when Canada put Japanese Canadians into prison camps and Greenwood became one such camp.
Greenwood City Hall.
Barrett House. Some nice old homes in town.
And some fixer uppers!
There was a book sale going on in front of the library that is located in this building.
We went over and looked at the books. Bought six books! They were by donation, with no prices, and we gave them $10.
The old Windsor hotel.
Main street.
Right behind where we are camped is the Kettle Valley Railroad, which has had the tracks removed and is now part of the Trans Canada Trail. So we took the bikes off, and went for a ride.
Ruth on the trail.
Me, with my bike!
Old road tunnel.
This old road tunnel used to have the railway going over it. In the year 2000, Greenwood had a millennium project to clean up the graffiti covered eyesore, and they did. The cleaned off all the old graffiti and painted on 212 flags from the world's countries. But I guess the graffiti criminals didn't like that, and you can see the current state of affairs.
We ended up doing 11 kms (7 miles). We sure do like our new bikes!
Deer walking through the campground.
Today, we're headed into the United States! Only for a few days to get Sherman's lower control arms installed, and fill up with cheaper fuel... and maybe some cheaper beer and wine as well!
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Nice deal on an inexpensive set of binoculars...
And in Canada...
There must be some serious readers there for such a large library in a town of 708. I thought we were the only ones who put our Japanese citizens in camps during the war:(
ReplyDeleteThat building doesn't just house the library, it is also home to the community hall, Kettle River Art Club and the Royal Canadian Legion.
DeleteNope, Canada did the same thing. :-(
I love Greenwood! Too bad that they grafittied that tunnel again. The flag mural was very colorful and cool. The youth of Greenwood have too much spare time on their hands I guess. Haha. What! No more free camping? Oh well, still a pretty spot in a nice historic Town. Maybe for another time there "was" and possibly still is some nice free camping in Midway, the next small town and near where you probably crossed the border. Glad to hear that you are enjoying the bikes on the trans Canada trail and KVR trails. Truly one of the Jewels of this area. Have fun in Oroville USA. I know I always do. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteWalking around Greenwood, we said we could live here!
DeleteYes, it is a shame about the tunnel, usually when you do a nice painted mural on a wall the graffiti artists tend to leave it alone, a sort of an unwritten law but I guess not in this case. :-(
It doesn't seem that way now, but $10 is still a very reasonable price to pay, although it ends up being free if an attendant doesn't come around to collect the money. Midday was another town that we said we could live in as well as the Rock Creek area, we really love the scenery in these areas.
We have really been enjoying our bikes and the trails.
Looks like an interesting old town. You all look like you are enjoying the bikes.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting town and the area is too. We would have loved to have gone up the mountain to see the old Phoenix pit mine but we didn't want to chance it with Sherman until we get his ball joints fixed. Definitely lots of history in the area and some great hiking and biking too. :-)
DeleteWe are loving our new to us bikes.
So glad to see you enjoying your bikes. Pedal on! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe are definitely working them in. :-)
DeleteI was also unaware of Japanese internment in Canada as well as the US. Fear often makes us do things we regret later.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you want to stop graffiti, you have to jump on it right away, every time. You have to make sure that the vandals realize it's pointless and won't stay. Eventually they get discouraged and quit.
Creigh, Nah!! The way they "eventually get discouraged and quit" is through sentencing them to community service and fines. The first order of business is make the vandals clean up their mess. But, how are you going to catch them with only a small police force supported by a small town with a population of a little over 700? Maybe a citizen's arrest? Is that lawful in Canada?
DeleteWe totally agree with you Creigh! You need to stay on top of it and get rid of it quickly and if they catch the person doing the vandalizing then they need to be tough with them, and they should also be made to clean up their graffiti as well as others. We have been to towns and cities where they are tough on it and it works.
DeleteDee, getting rid of the graffiti right away does work, we have seen the effects of it in some towns and cities that we have traveled through. Not sure if Canada has a law for a citizen's arrest but if you see them doing the vandalism, then you report it right away and probably getting a picture or video of the person doing it would also go a long way in charging them after the fact.
There's been graffiti since the stone age...we call them newspaper rocks or walls hahaha. The scenery looks like Idaho. The huge library for 708 populations is probably cuz there is nothing to do in winter but read.
ReplyDeleteKevin has also said the same thing about petroglyphs whenever we see them. We look at it as history but maybe it was teenagers when back then and they got in trouble for writing on the rocks, lol! ;-)
DeleteThe building houses not only the library, but the community hall, the Kettle River Art Club and the Royal Canadian Legion. They have plenty to do in the winter providing they like outdoor activities, there is snowmobiling, hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and they also have downhill skiing right behind them on the big hill which is less than a 10 mile drive.
You learn something new everyday. I didn't know that the Japanese were in internment camps in Canada. I guess like the First Nations and people of color, racism continues to exist in North America and that includes Mexico.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad but true
DeleteYes, it is sad that this happened but I guess in the day they were scared that the Japanese were going to harm Canada or the USA from the "inside". They didn't know how strong the ties were with their home country. :-(
DeleteGotta love the relaxing way of life in small town. Enjoy your books.
ReplyDeleteYep, nice friendly people and a very relaxing pace of life.
DeleteWe cycled over in the morning to say hi, but you had already left ! We live in Greenwood.
ReplyDeleteAs for the $10/night, I don’t think they’d ever charge it. They unfortunately had to put that sign up last year, as it started looking like a homeless camp, tarps and the all.
Thankfully they all moved on.
We met you in La Parota a couple of years back .... safe travels !!
Alex & Lorraine
Ahh, that is too bad, sorry that we missed you. We even hung around a bit that morning rather than taking off first thing like we do sometimes.
DeleteLooks like that has helped as a deterrent then because there certainly weren't very many campers around when we were there. We certainly didn't mind paying the very reasonable price of $10 for the night though.
Yes, I think that we remember talking to you for a little bit when we were at La Parota. We stopped by again last winter but didn't stay at the park, we did go in to see a couple that we staying there for the winter though. Do you go down to Mexico every winter?
Can you tell me what app you use to find your amazing free spots to spend the night? Thanks. Loving your posts.
ReplyDeleteMostly iOverlander, and ultimate campgrounds.
Delete