Start of Trip and International Peace Gardens ----- Day 3 drive to Dauphin, MB and Day 4 drive to The Pas, MB ----- Day 7 - 10 Churchill, MB and the Polar Bears ----- Day 12 drive to Grand Rapids, MB-----Day 13 -15 drive to and visit Winnipeg
The guide book said to watch for Beaver, Eagles and Moose we watched but didn't see any. Again we passed through several small town, a provincial park or two and we crossed the 54th Parallel. I realized we were getting up to where the Earth circumference was getting smaller and the parallels were getting closer before we passed the 55th Parallel about 167 miles later.
We had been advised that Pisew Falls Provincial Park was a scenic view so we pulled into the park and went for two short walks before returning to the rig and continuing on our way. We talked about stopping again on our way out and taking a longer hike but that never happened as snow and colder weather intervened.
From there is was only fifty miles to Thompson and the Mcreedy Campground our truck and trailers parking location while we continued to Churchill. We arrived in the campground and got in line for dumping and water refills. Then were guided into our spot in the parking lot with electric hook ups. That night the group was taken for dinner at a local restaurant. The food was OK but service was slow. The next day about half the group were driven to the train station for the overnight journey to Churchill. I went to refill my propane tank, not that it was empty but I had not been in weather this cold in this rig and never even in ouyr old rig without me being present. We took some extra precautions with insulation around windows and covered our vents. Most of the others were able to close their slides but we could only close the living room slide as our second furnace vents are under the desk which is blocked by the bed when the slide is in. The fear was that snow could fall and ice up preventing the slide from closing when it was time to leave. As it turned out several people had a problem, not us, as it snowed the night we returned from Churchill and although most slides were closed while we were away we all opened our slides when we got back to the campground and a few froze up that night. The next morning those slides that froze needed some external heat provided by hair dryers to close. We once had a similar problem in Alpine Texas when the sewer holding tank handle wouldn't open and I ruined Debby's hair dryer in the process of unfreezing it. When I returned from getting propane, Debby and I drove to the Museum, parked the truck and went for a walk on the "Spirit Way" walking path.
Thompson is a relatively young town it was founded in 1956 when nickel was discovered. The Town known as the "Hub of the North" is mainly a mining town although it does provide shopping for the surrounding areas including those mainly first nation people living further north. There are no roads going further then the suburbs, anyone wishing to come or go from the North must take a plane or train. Thompson also has the dubious distinction of having Canada's highest crime both violent and general. We fortunately experienced none of this, did not see a heavy police or Royal Mounted Police presence and the few people we met gave no indication that a problem existed. Our walk took us past apartment buildings, stores, the police station , a school, the United Steel Workers local Union Hall, ceramic wolves and a seaplane memorial.
Click on the seaplane for pictures of Thompson's Art including ceramic wolves and murals
In fact we almost walked all the way back to the campground which was on the other side of the river. That second night after our arrival in Thompson several of us went out to dinner at another restaurant. Big mistake, food wasn't so good and service was slow. We should have gone for pizza we would have been better off. The next morning we gave the keys to the truck and trailer to the Campground Manager who would watch our heat situation and care for any of our groups pets. A real nice lady who when we offered her a gratuity had to be forced to take it. She also organized our transportation to the airport where we boarded a Calm Air Charter for the one hour flight to Churchill. On our way we were able to see one of the reasons there were no roads beyond Thompson and why this was a great area for beaver trapping in the 18th century, lots of little ponds and not a lot of solid land. We even got to see a circular rainbow which I had never seen before I was so busy ogling it that I almost forgot to take a picture.
By the time I did it wasn't the same. The people who had taken the train arrived in Churchill shortly before we did and they saw three polar bears from the train. We were met by a brown refurbished and painted school bus and were driven to the Tundra Inn where we would stay for the next three nights.
Start of Trip and International Peace Gardens ----- Day 3 drive to Dauphin, MB and Day 4 drive to The Pas, MB ----- Top of page (Day 5) ----- Day 7 - 10 Churchill, MB and the Polar Bears ----- Day 12 drive to Grand Rapids, MB -----Day 13 -15 drive to and visit Winnipeg