Barbie and Rick's Travelog: I am in Love!!!

Yes, we’re smitten. We are in the heart of "cowboy and indian" country, prospecting country, mountains, gold mines, you think of anything “western” and this little town of 1560 people has it all. Lillooet shines.

It has a farmer’s market

And did I forget the views?? Maybe THIS is what you think is the reason we fell for this little town?

Or maybe it is the Fort Berens Winery over the bridge from town? This little gem has award winning reisling and chardonnay and it is built on the exact same patch of land where the Hudson’s Bay Fort was built. How much history can we drink in on one little town?

Then there are the people who live here and love it. It shows in their gardens

It shows in their history. This is much beloved Miyazaki Heritage House, former home to a quiet gentle Canadian name of Dr. Masajiro Miyazaki. He was born in Canada but like so many innocent Japanese-Canadians during the war, he was interned with his family. An important member of an important family in Lillooet was an avid photographer taking pictures in Bridge River, where he met the doctor. He convinced the government to let the doctor and his family come to Lillooet which was badly needing a doctor at the time. It helped that the photographer was the son of the Gold Commissioner, Government Agent and prominent merchant, Casper Phair. In any case, Dr Miyazaki’s practice covered over 4,000 square miles of rugged territory. He served as doctor, dentist, veterinarian and mortician to the community. He was the first Japanese-Canadian to be elected to public office in 1950 and for his service he was awarded the Order of Canada in 1977. The community reveres his memory, and faithfully keeps his house in pristine condition, and his office exactly the same as it has always been.

Dr. Miyazaki’s garden below

Well, I suppose all of that would be enough to draw you to the bosom of this wee town, but

there is more. This is a main hub of the CNN, and for a railway man’s son like Rick, he was

fascinated by the station below.

Eight bright Canada red engines have just done the choo-choo thing up over the mountains from Vancouver.

But in addition to all this muscle power, the one who really won our hearts is the little 2 car Kaoham Shuttle, a 30 passenger only train that takes folks from Lillooet to the remote communities of Seton Portage and Shalath and back again. It winds through some of the sharpest curves on the CNN line and makes possible photographing of California Bighorn sheep, deer, bear, eagles and waterfowl. It even makes unscheduled stops just so folks can do this. Oh my heart did so want to do this, but reality says not possible this time. Perhaps now you can imagine why we have already changed the itinerary for the return trip so that we can visit it again.

Another thing to love about this town. The police drive Chevy trucks!! (note for grandson Richard)

The town itself is full of historic buildings, and some new, all the usual trappings of a small western town.

This one houses the Municipal Offices

This one houses the museum. A fine museum with very friendly staff. Perhaps the oldie goldies among us can

remember back to the firebrand newspaper editor Ma Murray in the 1970s and 1980s? I do. She wrote with a passion and aimed her darts at fools and politicans in that order. She achieved national fame. She wrote for the Bridge River-Lillooet News, and her legacy lives on in the basement of this museum below where her newspaper office has been recreated.