Barkerville in the Snow

We spent the day yesterday at Barkerville. The weather helped give a slight hint of the hardships of life for the desperate prospectors. Barkerville gets on average 26' of snow in the winter. Piles of snow remain in spite of the rain falling. The streets were muddy with water running in small streams, boards here and there helped us navigate and we watched the ladies in costume dragging their long skirts through the mud. It was cold and miserable, especially inside the cabins where prospectors lived. We hugged the wood stove in the general store. The main restaurant was closed because of water (we don't exactly know what that meant) Since we came early for their breakfast, we were disappointed momentarily but soon felt better at the sight of plate-sized cinnamon buns and hot coffee served at the bakery across the street.
One of the highlights for the four of us was a lesson in the Chinese school. Our patient young teacher taught us four mandarin phrases, how to write 10 characters using brush and ink, and learning how to count using the abacus.