Arriving in Churchill

And so here I am, sitting on the plane, headed back to Denver.  How quickly my dream trip to Churchill ended.  What an amazing experience it is, each and every time I go!  So much happens in so little time.  When I get home it will be as though nothing has changed, no time has passed.  Much like the trip into the wardrobe in the "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe".  I've walked into a land far, far away, and return, the only one who has changed.

The trip was wonderful!  The flight to Winnipeg a bit late, but nothing major.  The flight from Winnipeg to Churchill was a different story however.  Up at 5:30 and in the hotel lobby to meet my group at 6 AM.  I was going to be on the bus to the charter hangar with a group, but was not part of the group tour.  The tour people showed up at 6 :30 and we all boarded the bus.  It was a special bus with TV screens throughout the bus showing wonderful polar bear videos.  That was nice, especially since we had to wait at the hangar gate for quite a long time.  Finally the gates were open and we boarded the plane.  It is a strange feeling for me to walk on a plane without security, but apparently none is necessary from that part of the airport.  We were all on the plane and it was discovered that the seat in the exit row was broken...oh no...that meant we all had to deplane and hang out in the small terminal building while repairs were made.  We were told it would be 20 to 30 minutes.  Any one want to guess if that prediction was right?  Of course it wasn't!  I have yet to have any repairs that are done quickly.  So over an hour later we boarded the plane once again and this time all went well and we really did take off.  Finally...Churchill bound!

Flying to churchill, I sat next to a lovely lady, a retired school teacher from Surrey, England.  How interesting to compare the education systems of our countries.  It seems England is starting to change back to a more meaningful education philosophy, but as my new friend said, education is like an oil tanker, hard to turn around and very slow.  So many similarities everywhere it seems.  The 2 hour flight flew by as we discussed solo travel and favorite destinations, and suddenly we were landing in beautiful, windy Churchill!  Again!  Other than the guides, I was the only repeat visitor to Churchill.  People were so excited, as was I.

There was a bit of confusion as we were at the terminal, no one was sure what I was to do since I wasn't part of the actual tour group.  Just hitching a ride on a charter takes some patience, and persistence to be sure everyone doesn't leave, with me stranded in the little terminal.  All got figured out and I was offered the opportunity to take a town tour with the group or just be driven to my friends' house.  I've seen the town so I opted to be driven to see my friends.

And so I'd finally arrived in very cold, blustery Churchill...as I walked out into a different world, a white, wintry 'other world', I'd felt as if I'd walked through the wardrobe...