Sturbridge
to
Winnipeg - 1794 miles, approx 30 hours, then on to
Churchill....However, as we arrived in Winnipeg on Friday night we had
gone 1,989 miles for all the side trips, etc.| Day 1 |
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| Day 15 |
Day 16 - leaving day |
Day 17-21 |
but no Mudhens
in Toledo yet.
I'm sure someone with more
aesthetic understanding could add more but I'll just include a picture
of the outside (the pipe organ pipes are just inside the windows) and a
picture of Linda giving her first and only sermon there. 
Unfortunately, the Freshwater
Fishing Museum was closed for the season. Fortunately, the Freshwater
Fishing Museum was closed for the season. Why the apparent
contradiction? I read on a sign outside what I was to see inside: over
1000 outboard motors, over 500 pairs of oars, and need I say more. But
I heartily recommend the 1400 or so mile journey to all you fishermen.
Olympics biathalon. She is already a member of the
National Junior Team. She has been living and practicing in Maine, as
well, as the national training site is located there.
, and we were
off to Duluth (I just like saying that). We really were leaving a lot
of civilization behind at this point and the driving was incredibly
easy as there were almost no cars or trucks. In fact, jumping ahead, I
would say the linear density was about 1 vehicle/mile once we hit north
of Grand Forks, North Dakota, but I digress. Had hoped to get a better
view of Lake Superior in Duluth, just another of life's little
disappointments. But we made up for it in Bemidji where we stopped to
see the Paul and Babe statue (Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe) - as I
entered on the guest book "Another item on the bucket list crossed
off!" Saw 4 eagles today to go with the one yesterday. After Bemidji
the landscape turned to farmland, and along with North Dakota, the
darkest soil I have ever seen - talked with an old farmer while getting
gas in Drayton, ND, who explained that it was a clay base but the land
had been worked so long (I assume a lot of manure went into this) that
it now had this marvelously rich color. He also explained about Lake Aggasiz and
the only two rivers that run north, the Red and the Nile (hey, what
about the Assabet, the Nashua, and a couple of hundred others but I bit
my tongue). Backtracking, we stopped at an A&W with car hop service
(at least they have it in the summer)
- I love A&W
and you still
find them in the midwest and Canada including Winnipeg. 
Then in East
Grand Forks, MN, we stopped at Cabela's having seen some of the weather
that was going to hit Churchill plus becoming recently aware of the
wind chill - got a Mad Bomber hat as I left mine at home plus some more
thermals. Oh, another thing about most of upper MN and ND, we never saw
any stones in the fields except once where it was quite noticeable;
might have something to do with the ancient Lake Agassiz
thing and all the siltation. And another thing that puzzled me was
where were all the tractors and combines that worked the mega-fields. I
just didn't see any place where they were stored at the small farms
that occupied the corners of the humongous fields.
The Forks market was quite nice, lots of crafts and great
foods man
y of both
international. We had samosas, a very light fried dough which probably
has a more interesting Canadian name, and a long talk mostly about real
estate and world finance with a beekeeper originally from Switzerland
who told us to stop by on the way back and he would have something for
us - have to take him up on it as it will give us an excuse to sample
more food. Took a ride up to the viewing platform for great view of the
city, the rivers, Fort Garry hotel, etc. Explored a large circle with
tusk-like poles extending skyward - upon closer examination each one
had sights that would point to particular stars in constellations at
precise times during the summer. Linda really enjoyed that. 
- note to self, send
VIA Rail a note about how they number their train cars! Settled in to
our cabin which is extremely cozy as long as you don't try to both get
up and move at the same time: sink, two chairs which fold down to let
the two bunks down, toilet with a vacuum flush to rip your arm off, and
Damon the porter 
to take care of
us. Shower down the hall which was
nice especially as the sink was too small (and the faucets were
momentary ones) to wash my hair. Checked out the other accomodations
and glad we got a cabin - thanks Huey and Dottie for that tip! Had
dinner with our cabin neighbors, Susan and her nephew, Emerson, from
Toronto. Sue
takes each of her neices/nephews on a Canadian trip of their choice
when they turn 11 and Emerson wanted Churchill. Am going to teach
Emerson cribbage this afternoon - I'm sure he'll be more of a challenge
than Huey! Dinner was very nice with the four of us choosing either
salmon or pot roast. The wine incident was really not Susan's fault
despite what "Sunshine" says. After dinner we continued reading, 
a mostly sleepless
night; Linda did much better. But I've never been a good sleeper. Will
probably be tired enough tonight to do better.
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I did buy a book about
the building of this rail line but couldn't get into it too much as it
was very detail oriented with lots of diary enteries, etc. It's noon
and
just saw the sign for Thompson Junction which means we have made up a
lot of the time we lost yesterday or so I thought) - train has switched
to junction for
our "visit" to Thompson - moving extremely slowly with lots of
creeking!! So slowly that by the time we got there, turned the train
around, loaded cargo and more passengers, we are still a couple of
hours behind. 
Hey, just means we can sleep later before arriving
Churchil. Thompson appears to be an interesting city but the train
station only had a candy machine plus a very informative booklet.
Marketing is not a big deal at VIA rail stations.
Lots
of
excitement
on
the
train.
Note
the
varied
garb
of
our
fellow
travelers!
Yes,
the
gent
in
the
middle
is
wearing
shorts! |
 |
 |
-
we hope they see a lot of bears tomorrow! Picked up in the yellow
school bus, about 16 of us, and drove through town to about 16km
outside of town to the (wow, just saw my first guide go by with shotgun
on his back @ 1141) CNSC
(Churchill Northern Studies Center) where we
got a greeting, some ground rules, late breakfast, and settled into our
bunk rooms. 
I'm rooming with Paul and another Brian; Linda is in with
two other women - did I bring a necktie to put on the doorknob??? Lots
of neat artifacts and maps around. A domed observation hut in case any
bears come in close - they shoo them away - and in case the northern
lights decide to show up (let's hope so but not prime season). Hey, I
think I can see Sarah Palin's home from here! Flashback to last night's
sleep on the train - wow, what a ride almost like being on a sailboat -
guess the tracks are susceptible to spring and fall frost heaving.
Which is one reason the trip took about 43 hours as this was not a
bullet train! The first day was the roughest but I think we got used to
it very quickly and I wouldn't mind going back by train but we already
have out flight tickets. Tomorrow is our first Tundra Buggy ride so
should, hopefully, have some pics of real bears by tomorrow night. I
already signed up to do dishes after dinner tonight. Folks from another
group just got back from a short outside trip but only saw a snowy owl
but it was a short trip whereas we will be leaving at 0815 and not
returning until 1730 tomorrow.
which Carol,
Isabelle, and I looked for using my PN-60 - it wasn't hard to find
purposefully as who has time to wander around looking when there might
be bears in the area - we did have 3 staff with 12 gauge shotguns with
us.
Easy find especially
as Isabelle kicked it! A number of other people crowded around to see
what it was all about and I think we got a couple of converts. Took
some items, left some items. Back to base station for lunch and then a
trip in the snow to the polar bear jail, airport, and LIQUOR STORE. If
this cold keeps up the next few days the bay will be freezing over and
the bears will be on their way out onto the ice. Which means we had an
incredibly good day yesterday as once the ice forms the bears are out
of here. Incredible listening to all the other visitors and the places
they have been - all over the world including Antartica. After a great
dinner - french fries with gravy, Waldorf salad, pork chops plus a
whole slew of other things but those were my favorites and butterscotch
pudding - had a lecture by Rupert, he's our guide and resident bear
expert, on bears other than polar bears. He also read the poem Flanders
Field which is about WWI and written by a Canadian. BTW, there are 8
types of bears in the world - can you name them? I couldn't. Then we
made up bag lunches for tomorrow's dog sled rides which will be on
sleds with runners as we got enough snow today. Plus a trip to the
Eskimo museum, the Canadian History museum, shopping in downtown
Churchill, and meeting up at world famous Gypsy's Cafe at 1700 but more
on that in tomorrow's edition. It's very quiet outside the room now
which means, I suspect, everyone is down in the kitchen sharing all
their wine, booze, and beer. We finally were able to buy a case of
Rickard's Red along with some wine, Bailey's and, of course, mango
margarita. So I think I'll join them plus I did not go to bed until
0045 this morning (stopped in to have a drink about then with some of
the staff including Rupert after working stupidly on this blog - I made
a tired mistake that kept me confounded for a couple of hours as I was
tired.)
od including an old video of
two natives removing a caribou stomach, emptying it, and converting it
into a cooking pot! Amazing. Then hit the souveneir shops, the Post
Office for stamps and a probably illegal polar bear stamp on my
passport (hope I make it back into the US - seriously). And we all met
up at Gypsy's Cafe, world renowned, for beer, caramel coated fritter (I
was only one who got it but made sure everyone helped me eat the
gigantic thing), saw Martha Stewart's pic on
the wall as she was up here last week for a whirlwind
tour (haven't met anyone yet who thought she was nice), then back to
station for Italian night and a lecture by a very old Denee woman - if
you saw Rabbit Fence, she along with a lot of other Denee children were
taken from their homes around Churchill and sent to Winnipeg for over
10 years pretty much destroying a lot of culture - I bought the book
about it so if anyone wants to read it... Gave Rupert my pics of bear
snouts in case any of them are useful to the researcher who will be
talking to us tomorrow night - I smell Noble Prize.
After being shooed back
in (at least no one scolded us for breaking safety protocol) we headed
up into the observation dome to take more pics. Breakfast came and
excellent as usual. Then, while the first group took their heli rides,
we watched The Snow Walker, a movie based on Farley Mowats book of
another title - a number of wet eyes by the end. But, having seen it
before, and now having been exposed to this area - roughly the area and
native culture where the movie took place (and it was filmed around
Churchill so one shot had the Ithaca shipwreck in it) - I was much more
appreciative of the movie especially the native culture. After drying
eyes, a quick lunch as we were heading out on the helis at 1230. Very
modern Ranger heli, seats 5 plus pilot although we only had 3 of us
plus the pilot. Headed out towards the coast taking us through the
forest - moose! 
Some big racks. Neat
seeing them from the air and moving plus all their tracks in the snow.
Then came the same thing for polar bears as we got closer to the coast.
Saw 10-15 bears at least, some on the move, some resting. Got a good
look at the shoreline and the state of the ice or grease ice in the bay
- it will still be a few days or more before the ice can freeze up
enough for the bears to head out.
BTW, the flight
itself was fantastic. What a way to see things. Coop was right, we
should have had some helis for water quality work!
Folks went
out for a short walk this afteroon (guarded, of course). Then later Dr.
Jane Waterman will be giving a lecture on a bear identification method
she is testing out - identifying bears by their whisker patterns. We
can try out the software as well as submit pics for use in the study.
She hopes to use pics to track the bears eventually.
I was cajoled into it
after having a few nips of Bailey's.
Rupert, our bear man, was a bit concerned given all the noise and
potential mayhem from the group - mostly wanted to ensure the safety of
their new projector. All injuries were suffered only by the
participants. Have heard there will be a repeat tonight although they
might be playing Tablespoons. Wouldn't be surprised to see more
participants and more booze.
this time with only 3
years experience so we got stuck! 
With us as lookouts he got
out - in the freezing water and mud - to hook up a tow chain to the
buggy in front of us which got us out. 
Then we started seeing
bears. Not quite as great a day as the first time out but we saw
plenty, some up close, some sparring, but no cubs. 
And there were some bonus sightings - but you'll have to
wait for the slide show. Even though my writing doesn't indicate it, it
was an exciting day for most everyone although a few people were
becoming bear blasé. We had another coffee cup disaster!
Apparently no one in Canada has heard of using bungee cords or rope to
tie things down. On our two trips we must have lost close to 60 coffee
mugs. Had our bag lunch which we have to pack ourselves the night
before, two coffee/hot chocolate breaks with the last one the
traditional Bailey's Irish Cream one (item 15 on the list in bold of
things to bring onto the bus by the staff). Coming back as it was
getting dark we came across a tundra buggy that had broken down,
apparently a tie rod. 
Under armed guard they
were repairing it in the field. A couple people threw out cookies to
them which was appreciated. Then, we got stuck again but got pushed
out. After dinner not much going on except a movie but we can all
use
the down time. The movie, The Fastest Runner, is an Inuit film that
gathered many accolades and is available here to either watch or
download. Also available as DVD on Amazon. It is in the native
language with subtitles. A little
confusing but very interesting cultural insights. Maybe another game of
Spoons? Drinking a Rickards Red as
I write this - nothing Yankee Dave would get excited about, though.
Tomorrow is Linda's birthday,
btw.
Good
night,
everyone.
, and, this time,
the polar bear horn
went off but we, I guess fortunately, didn't see one although we all
wanted to as you can imagine - just think of the footage I would have
got - or the lunch the polar bear would have got! Then a lecture by
Jane Waterman on
polar bear "play" and some of the research on why they
do it - and only in the Churchill area, the southern reach of polar
bears throughout the world. Lunch followed by a group pic with some of
us wearing requisite polar bear research gear (see below). Then back to
the lecture
hall for more by Jane including some beta use and critique of her polar
bear whisker identification software and website. Some of us are
playing Spoons instead. Tonight after dinner we will have a
sampling of regional foods (bannock,
smoked arctic char,
local
jams)
and
wines
and
a
wrap up with all of us
leaving for either the airport or train station at 0900 tomorrow. Those
going to the train station actually have to spend two more nights but
in the town of Churchill as the train does not run every day - so they
will get back to Winnipeg Saturday.
We really
did luck out with the weather which was great for humans but not so
great for the polar bears who are anxious to get onto the ice and find
seal dinners. However, by the 17th the weather in Churchill took a
sharp turn to the bitter cold and by now (Nov 22) Hudson Bay should be
frozen and all the bears heading out to the ice - I will try to get a
confirmation on this from Mike at CNSC. A number of us fly back on Calm
Air - the flight might have been calm but, boy, was it noisy especially
as we sat directly across from the propellors. In retrospect we would
have stayed in Churchill another two days - despite the bitter weather
that developed - to spend more time at the Eskimo museum and local
shops especially Gypsy's Cafe and to enjoy the train ride back which we
had come to appreciate.
Back in Winnipeg we took a cab ride to our hotel which
was across the
street from the Union Station where our car was parked. Lo and behold,
it was still there with all 16 parking stubs on the dashboard. By now
the parking ticket dispenser was working correctly - would have saved a
lot of angst. Nice hotel, Humprhy Inn. Walked over to The Fort Garry Hotel and
rang up our new friends from the UK, Ali and David, who came down to
join us for dinner and drinks. What a posh looking place! We tried to
get reservations but they were impossible to come by but, if we get up
here again, we will book way ahead of time. Plus The Fort Garry was no
more, and actually less, than the two places we did stay. Oh, and the
piano player, Robert Naumko,
he
of
the
long
white
hair,
was
soothingly smooth. Back to our hotel for
a good nights sleep after Ali and Dave left to see a Scottish comic.
They picked up the check, btw, which was very nice so we are hoping
they come back to the US so we can take them to Fenway for a ball game.
Holy Grail of Meats,
the Spam
Museum. We had to drive two hours south of Minneapolis for this and
it was worth it. 
All you wanted to know
about Spam, very well done, but
the gift shop at the end (admission was free to the museum) just sucks
you in - hope all my girls are wanting Spam memoriablia for Christmas!
They had some varieties of Spam I had never heard of. Stopped at Jerry's
Other Place Restaurant where I had beer battered Spam strips which
even Linda said were good although she mostly ate her salad. Also
across from the museum was Johnny's Main
Event Spamarama Menu which I'll go to next time. Back to
Minneapolis, 2 hours, to have dinner with John Erdmann at the Market BBQ, his
favorite BBQ joint (I'll be sending him pics of mine, Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse).
Then we went back to his house to meet Diane where we had dessert and
played a Tibetan
singing bowl - you can get CDs on Amazon!!! Amazing. After we left
John and Diane's we worked our way back around the lakes and convoluted
roads to where we were staying with Lynda and Bill, 
our hosts from the UureHome association of B&Bs
of Unitarian Church members - we will probably list our house
eventually. Beautiful home and very nice people and Lynda has
Massachusetts and Maine ties. Great night sleep. 
- although I'll be checking it against LL Beans big boot! Nice little
Uffda town, great accents, nice meal at Bev's, then ended up buying a
pair of boots at the Red Wing
store that might displace my LL Bean bean boots. Still had a long
way to go to get to Madison, WI. Along the way we travelled along the
Mississippi River for quite awhile, marveling at how wide it was and
coming across hundreds of swans (Linda thinks they might have been trumpeter swans
but I couldn't get close enough to tell) along with as many or more
ducks all in this one area. And the bluffs cut out by the river were
very interesting.
where after a
little wait - waiting and smelling the aroma of BBQ - we split a 3/4
rib with fried green tomatoes, chili, and cajun salt potatoes. Soooooo
goooooood! Sated, it was a 4 hour trip further to home. Where we found
waiting for us a polar bear huffing and puffing in the kitchen! Melanie
and Andrew got us an inflatable Christmas polar bear - very cute and
much safer than the real thing!
I'll be putting
together some lessons learned
which I'll be glad to share with anyone who might be thinking they
would like to go on this adventure - be sure to check in with me.
