Day 21: Cherries and Cream Soda

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I spent the morning doing laundry. I stayed to watch my clothes, though I noticed that most people did not bother to do so, and I was able to help a teenaged boy who wasn't sure what settings he should choose on the washer. There was a separate laundry building, shared by the Pinot Lodge backpackers and the Chalets RV park. Laundry was a reasonable $6 a load -- three to wash; three to dry. Unfortunately, once again my wash did not dry in an hour, even though I selected Perm Press rather than Delicate. So I had a long wait, especially since it was hard to read Plum in the sunlight. The benches near the laundry were a bit low, too.

In the afternoon, after trying and failing to chat with Jim -- I do hope the Internet is more reliable elsewhere on my trip! -- I set out to see Old Town Cromwell. Old Town Cromwell, "lovingly restored," as its sign says, is a street of 19th-century buildings rescued or recreated after the flooding. A map shows where the buildings originally stood. You can see the foundations of some of the drowned buildings, deep in Lake Dunstan.

Some of the buildings have modern stores, with smaller signs, inside them. Others are set up in 19th-century style. The most interesting exhibit was the office of the Cromwell Argus, which published weekly from the mid-19th century until 1948. A small sign listed all the paper's editors-in-chief.

Apparently the Argus got off to a lively start. The first editors announced their intent to start a paper, and two days later another man came to town and announced that he would be starting a newspaper too. For nearly four months the two papers, the Argus and the Guardian, duelled for readership and advertising. Obviously, the Argus won.

But the best thing that happened today happened before I ever got to Old Town Cromwell. As I was trudging down the street, one of the ladies I had met in church popped out of her house, ran after me, and invited me in for tea -- which, as it turned out, meant cream soda and cherries (though I think she would really have served me tea if I'd wanted it). I spent a happy half-hour with her, her sister, and their three five-week-old kittens. At least I think it was half an hour; it was such a pleasant experience that I didn't watch the time. Cherries are a traditional Christmas food here.

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Photos

War Memorial
World War I, expanded to WWII.

Captured German gun
Not sure which war.

Lake Dunstan
The lake that drowned Cromwell

Old Town Cromwell
As lovingly reconstructed