At noon I was picked up at our hotel by the owner of Churchill River Mushing for my dog sled outing. I was his only client for today, and since it was the weekend ( no school ) his two daughters came along. And ... I got a "revised" tour, different and longer than the usual. We drove to his "dog yard" and while I visited with his seventeen dogs, he and his elder daughter ( age 13 ) hitched up ten dogs ( four more than usual ) to a wheeled dog sled. There wasn't quite enough snow yet to use a regular sled on skis. And yesterday's snow was rapidly melting today.
The dog sled outing was a great experience. And being the only client I had the musher all to myself. We chatted a lot about his dog mushing background and experience. From the dog yard we travelled on the shoulder of the highway towards the airport for awhile, then onto a trail that passed through an abandoned Dene community from the 1970's.
Once I was back at the hotel Joanne and I had lunch in our hotel room. While I was out dog sledding Joanne went over to Frontiers North Adventures and verified our Tundra Buggy outing for tomorrow, then went to the Northern Store and bought some groceries. After lunch we walked over to the train station to view the small museum inside. Well ... the train station was closed today. We did not know that. AND ... last night, the last employee to leave set the alarm but did not lock the front door. HA HA HA ! So ... Joanne and I walked into the train station, and ... set off the alarm. HA HA HA HA HA ! We waited around for a few minutes waiting for the police to arrive, so we could explain, but ... you know ... patience is not my strong suit. HA HA HA ... after a few minutes,
I got tired of waiting for the police to arrive so ... we left. HA HA HA !
I did some computer work online this afternoon and evening. We went out for a late supper to the Reef Restaurant at the Seaport Hotel. It was ... okay. Sort of. I guess.
Monday ; our 41st anniversary and Canadian Thanksgiving
Mostly cloudy, an hour of partial sunshine in the afternoon, warm enough to melt the remaining snow from Saturday's blizzard.
Well ! ! ! Overall ... a day with many disappointments !
We were up at 6 AM in order to be ready for the 7:30 AM pickup by Frontiers North Adventures for our Tundra Buggy day outing. They picked us up in their little bus, then drove around town picking up other clients at other hotels. A pair of old and irritating women from Australia were late, and delayed our departure from town about half an hour. I HATE GROUP TRAVEL ! ! ! We drove about 25 km. or so east of Churchill to the Churchill Wildlife Management Area on the shoreline of Hudson Bay where we loaded into a Tundra Buggy, a large, special purpose, custom designed and built vehicle used for Polar Bear viewing. We spent from 8:30 AM until 4 PM driving around the Hudson Bay shoreline tundra searching for Polar Bears. We found ... one ! ! !
It was very disappointing that we did not find more. The last few days the Tundra Buggy outings found about four bears per day. However ... the bear we found today was lazy and unconcerned with our presence. We drove to about 150 feet away, then had lunch for about an hour while watching it languish ; yawning, stretching, rolling over, occasionally lifting its head to take a look at us, etc.
We also saw ... many Snow Buntings a.k.a. Snowbirds, three Snowy Owls, a small flock of Willow Ptarmigan, and ... < insert drum roll here > ... an Arctic Fox !
Around 6:30 PM we set off for a walk across town to have our anniversary dinner / Thanksgiving dinner at Lazy Bear Lodge, an upscale resort with a "five star" restaurant. For the last three days I have been eagerly awaiting tonight's dinner there, anticipating ordering Arctic Char. When the French Canadian waitress came to take our order, she advised me that ... < sniffle > ... they had no more Arctic Char. < sigh > Upon her recommendation I ordered the roast Bison dinner with baked potato while Joanne ordered their daily special ; Thanksgiving turkey dinner. When my meal arrived, the baked potato was hot, the roast Bison was ... cold. I sent it back ! When it arrived a second time, the roast Bison was hot, the baked potato was cold. I was livid and I let them know it ! I threw quite a hissy fit and sent my meal back a second time. By the time my meal arrived a third time, Joanne was finished eating her dinner. This was an expensive restaurant where dinner for two would cost about a hundred bucks. That kind of kitchen ineptitude was completely unacceptable ! ! !
Their kitchen errors were, in my humble opinion, unforgivable. They did the best they could do by charging us nothing. A freebie ! Nevertheless, I would rather have had an excellent dinner that cost a hundred bucks than an unsatisfactory dining experience like that at no charge !
A disappointing day ! Life goes on !
Tuesday ; depart Churchill by train
Today was cloudy and cold.
This morning after checking out of our hotel room we walked across town to the Eskimo Museum where we spent the rest of the morning until the museum closed for lunch.
I bought a local history book that I am certain will be delivered to me by Santa. HA HA HA ! We walked over to the acclaimed Gypsy's Bakery & Restaurant to have lunch. Like some of the other businesses in Churchill, Gypsy's was overrated. After lunch we walked back to the hotel and while Joanne waited and read in the "breakfast room",
I went to the lobby and worked on Wi-Fi briefly. We walked over to the train station which also houses the Parks Canada "museum" on Wakusp National Park in this region and spent some time there exploring the museum, then returned to the hotel again. We spent some of the afternoon chatting with a couple from Georgia, U.S.A. who have recently become "homeless, unemployed vagabonds" but in a different way than we were. They are travelling the world, one month here, one month there, etc.
At 6 PM we left the hotel with our luggage and went to the train station. At 7 PM we boarded the ( slow ) train back to Thompson which departed at 7:30 PM. We had a "snack supper", then I worked on updating and reconciling investment statements, and downloading and processing my Tundra Buggy / Polar Bear photos.
Wednesday ; arrive Thompson by train
Mostly cloudy, cold.
Once again we had a mostly sleepless night on the train. We arrived in Thompson about 11:15 AM, about fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled. We waited with our new California friends for the campground owner to come pick us up, as arranged. She didn't ! After half an hour or so of waiting, I phoned her. No answer ! Voice mail box full ! We took a taxi back to the campground ! The campground owner had screwed up, but held herself accountable, was apologetic, and reimbursed me for the taxi fare. Fair enough ! Our new California friends picked up their car which was parked at the campground, and headed for Winnipeg. Long, tough 800 km. / 500 mile drive, especially starting at noon, after a night of not much sleep on the train.
Joanne and I napped for two hours, then started our day over. After showering and having lunch we drove to Safeway to replenish groceries, then refilled Lanoire with diesel at the Co-op Fuel Bar. We thought it might be easier to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater tank at the municipal sani-dump station than it would be at the campground, so that's what we did. BRRRRR ! Very cold and windy while we were doing that late in the afternoon. Driving back to the campground, we decided on impulse to stop at the laundromat in town and do laundry. That turned out not to be such a wise decision. Doing the laundry took much longer than expected, and delayed our supper until almost 9:30 PM. I had already been feeling rather ill yesterday and today with a colitis flare, and not eating supper until 9:30 PM just made things worse.
I’m feeling pretty ill tonight !
Thursday ; Thompson to Devil's Lake Rest Area, Manitoba
Sunny, VERY COLD ! When we left the campground in Thompson this morning the temperature was 21º F / -6º C. It was probably colder than that a few hours earlier.
We headed southwest on Hwy. 6 out of Thompson. At Pisew Falls we stopped, not to view the falls again, but this time to hike a short distance to the suspension bridge built over the Grass River by the Thompson Rotary Club. We had missed seeing the suspension bridge a week or so ago when we were northbound. After hiking to the suspension bridge, and collecting some wild mushrooms to identify ( Deadly Galerina ? ) we continued southwest to Ponton then the highway turned south. We stopped for lunch at the small village of Wabowden. We stopped at a "rest area" on the 175 km. / 110 mile long stretch of nothing between Ponton and Grand Rapids for me to have a very brief nap. Joanne commented on the difference between a rest area on Hwy. 6 in Northern Manitoba versus a rest area on an Interstate highway in the United States. HA HA HA ! We stopped to refill with diesel at Grand Rapids. We stopped to have supper and boondock overnight at Devil's Lake Rest Area, 450 km. from Thompson, about 350 km. more to Winnipeg.
A long time ago I had asked Joanne to buy me the CD version of Pink Floyd's album Dark Side Of The Moon, as a gift. It was a favourite of mine when I was a teenager. She bought it for me for my recent birthday. Today we listened to it while driving. As a teenager, I was fascinated by the instrumentals, and paid little attention to the lyrics. That's how I am with most music. Joanne is the opposite. Today, using the album liner notes, she sang all the lyrics to me as the album played. Because ... Lord knows ... Roger Waters' vocals are indecipherable. After singing through the entire album, and noting its dark mood, she said ...
"You listened to that when you were 16 years old ? No wonder you're a depressed, crabby old man". HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
Darn ! I have a cold !
Friday ; Devil's Lake Rest Area to Winnipeg, Manitoba
DAMN ! Now we both have colds !
Sunny and cold.
This morning we left the Devil's Lake Rest area and continued heading south on Hwy. 6. At Eriksdale we stopped at the municipal campground to have lunch, dump our waste holding tanks, and refill our freshwater tank. Back on the highway Joanne noticed that the Esso station had a car wash with a tall door. We washed the truck and camper. They were really filthy ! We also refilled both propane tanks at the Esso station. Eriksdale was a productive stop.
We arrived in Winnipeg very late in the afternoon. Coming into the city from the Perimeter Highway 100, on the south side of the city, northbound onto Pembina Highway, we stopped at a Safeway store to buy some groceries. And ... two pairs of jeans for me at the Salvation Army Thrift Store beside the Safeway. We arrived at Joanne's sister's home about 6:30 PM.
HELLO BO ! We missed him ! There was just enough time before dark to take the three dogs for a walk alongside the Red River on the Churchill Drive parkway. We had Lorraine's home all to ourselves this evening ( and tomorrow morning ). Lorraine had already left for a weekend away, and the nieces were already gone to their father's for the weekend.
We had supper. Joanne worked on laundry. I worked online. Doug brought Madeleine home to pick up something she had forgotten. We visited with Doug briefly, discussing our Polar Bear viewing trip to Churchill and his recent honeymoon trip to England and France.
DUE TO INTERNET ACCESS CONVENIENCE, I AM POSTING THIS JOURNAL ENTRY AS A "SIX DAY WEEK". NEXT WEEK I WILL POST AN "EIGHT DAY WEEK".
DSK
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