Polar Bear Dreams

BRRR!!! After quite a flight, one which left late, had an unexpected refueling stop in Thompson, Manitoba. and arrived late,I made it to Churchill! Just in time for the earliest blizzard in many years!! It is amazing and all night I listened to the wind howling and watched the power going out. NOTE TO SELF: purchase and always pack a flashlight for these unexpected outages and never forget a battery operated clock.

I really was hesitant to leave the lodge this morning in a converted school bus for the tundra in the blizzard, but I decided I came a long way to see the bears so it was a good time to be brave so with great trepidation I boarded the bus. When our bus was lying almost totally on its side in a ditch I was sure getting on the bus was a mistake! Thank goodness we saw a bear along the way! THAT was amazing! I felt like I was in a National Geographic documentary!! Quite like being in Antarctica, although even more exciting to be 50 feet from my favorite animal in the wild!! A dream, for sure! Wait until you see my pictures, these have to be my favorites! I have a signed, limited edition print by Thomas Mangelson over my fireplace of a polar bear and a husky almost touching noses...today I was in the same place that picture was taken!! And supposedly I saw the dog in the picture and the bear, a different one very close today! I NEVER could have imagined that I would be in the exact same place that beautiful picture was taken! How good can life get?? What surprises there are! Seeing the bear with the dogs was special, and helped me handle the inconvenience of having the rear axle break and having to move all of my things to crowd on the other bus. What a day! Tomorrow is expected to be cold, snowy, but less windy and hopefully we will see many bears frolicking in the fresh snow. We will be in a much nicer vehicle, with a toilet that flushes, one that isn't a plastic trash bag! I hope that turns out to be a highlight of this trip! Not the toilet, but a day filled with polar bears!

Who travels this far north to see polar bears? Interesting and amazing people from all over the world! My new friends include a journalist from Vancouver, a business executive from Brazil and her boyfriend from Switzerland, some couples from England, a man from Japan, a couple from Australia, a rancher from N California with his wife, and many others whose stories I don't know.

A bit more from Winnipeg...when I went through security to fly here I met a man with my last name! Small world, Canada version! He was very nice and visited with me while I waited for my flight. He is Jewish, from Israel, and is planning to meet me when my plane returns to Winnipeg. As always, my travels hold surprises!

time to sleep and prepare for another day of arctic adventures! I hope I will get together with my friend from the Antarctica cruise, Kevin, tomorrow evening. Ciao from Hudson Bay! Brave Mitzi