Some Like it Hot - Some Not...

I'm nervously, hence the 'reluctant', anticipating my upcoming trip to Churchill, Canada. I leave tomorrow afternoon and fly to Winnipeg where I will spend the night before boarding a very small, Calm Air, flight to Churchill, on the shore of Hudson Bay to see the polar bears in the wild. If you know me well, you know that polar bears have been my favorite animal for many, many years and although I watched documentary after documentary of the polar bears of Churchill, I never in a million years dreamed I'd be visiting them in person. And yet, here I am packing all of my 'cold weather gear' that I purchased for Antarctica, for the journey to the subarctic destination. Last year I walked with the penguins of Antarctica and this year I will be watching and photographing the polar bears in the Arctic. A thrill beyond words for a polar bear lover like myself!

On the Antarctic cruise I saw the midnight sun in Antarctica, on Christmas Eve, after we had sailed past a large pod of humpback whales. It is a memory I will have forever, the thrill and the beauty of the bottom of the earth in December in their summer. Now, if I am lucky, I will be seeing the northern lights at the top of the world in the winter. I was actually farther north when I was in Norway than I will be this trip, but there were no polar bears in that part of the world. And it was summer so there were no northern lights to see that trip. So this is my first adventure to the north in the winter.

I will be staying at the Lazy Bear Lodge in Churchill and taking their 3 day tour. I met a man from Churchill on the Marco Polo cruise to Antarctica and he shared a lot of information with me about this adventure. I am hoping that we will be able to visit when I am there, he has lived there his whole life and worked with the bears the whole time. Maybe I won't be alone and will see my old friend Kevin from the Antarctic cruise. What adventures await this reluctant adventuress!

Some like it hot...I was at the hotel where Marilyn Monroe filmed that movie when I went to San Diego early in the week. It was a short 2 day trip, to visit with my friends Alec and Diana, who are also friends from the Antarctic cruise. They are from Suffolk, England and visit California a couple of times a year where they have a condo. It was wonderful to meet up and the day included great Mexican food for lunch, the afternoon in Coronado, touring the hotel where the movie was made, and a wonderful seafood dinner at the Fish Market. What a nice escape, but so short!

And now I am headed to the place where I will like the weather better, the 'some not' place!

More later from the journey to come!