Hello All

   Well Tom and Holly Adventures continue. All of our flights went perfectly with some amazing sunset photos. The next day we took a day tour of Winnipeg. It was cold, make that COLD. Saw an amazing museum and have a great photo of us hugging a polar bear for hopefully Jim to photoshop for us. The next day we flew to Churchill, a 680 mile trip north. You fly over frozen nothingness for two and a half hours. But it was a chartered flight so there was no security at the airport.  After a short stop for lunch and hotel to dress for dog sledding, we were off. What fun, and for cold weather, it was gorgeous. I did dress properly, so I was not cold. We took a mile ride with enthusiastic dogs. All of this guy’s dogs were rescue dogs. I wish we had had more time to ask questions about dogs, but he was more interested in his ancestral heritage. I learned from a recent movie and him that his dogs eat raw frozen whole chicken plus kibble, specially made in Newfoundland Canada and shipped to Churchill, worth 500 calories per cup. Sled dogs eat around 10,000 calories per day. The frost created by the fog coming off the Hudson Bay left a frozen frost layer on the trees, and I have to admit it was beautiful. The day, weather wise, was perfect with no wind. The poor people last week had 50 mile an hour winds. Dog sledding outside in that weather would not have been fun.

  When they first mentioned that we might be able to see the Aurora Borealis, I wasn’t too excited.  You usually go out about 10 pm and stand outside for a hour and half, the usual viewing time.  On some Aurora Borealis viewing trips, you go out about 2:00 am.  I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down, because standing outside in freezing temp, past my bedtime, did not sound like fun.  But as fate would have it, at our 6:00 pm lecture on polar bears, the word came in that it was visible. So, the whole town springs into action. The polar bear town guards go out of town on the road where the buses stop, and search for bears. Yes, they have guns with rubber bullets. We are told to stay near the bus, don’t go off the road, and if the guards yell to get on the bus, leave everything and “Get on the bus!!!!” The guards will collect the tri pods and cameras.

When we got out of the bus in pitch black, freezing temp, I see a gray cloud stretching across the sky. Okay everyone is excited, cameras flashing and people cheering. I, like I found out others, wondered why all of fuss. So Tom is clicking away and the camera just can’t capture the image. Just a gray cloud stretching across the sky. Then he took a photo with the phone and WOW. Fantastic, green and red colors. The phone was capturing what my eyes could not. Our guide was very excited. He told us he has only seen the Aurora Borealis four times during bear season when there is usually more clouds, and never where it stretched across the entire sky. So if seeing the Aurora Borealis was on my bucket list, I can cross it off. Perfect day for sure.

More to Follow,

Tom & Holly