August - September, 2002. Off again on one of our trips to "lesser known" places. This one was to Churchill, Manitoba, located on the shores of Hudson Bay.
We started by driving from our home in eastern Washington State through Idaho, Montana and into North Dakota, turning north at Belfield, and visiting the North section of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. This is located in a small area of Badlands, not as well known as the ones in the main section of Teddy Roosevelt at Medora, ND, or those in South Dakota but just as impressive. One of the highlights of our visit was a moderate sized herd of buffalo, who were not at all bothered by this car that was attempting to use "their" road. We had to weave in among them, almost pushing them out of the way (which would not have been a good idea at all). After exiting the park and driving a few more miles north we turned east again and drove to Rugby, ND, which is proudly proclaimed as "The Geographical Center of North America". It could very well be; it's far enough away from everywhere to be the center of something. There's a small museum with the requisite buildings representing blacksmith shop, dentist, post office, etc.
From there we turned north again, and drove to the Canadian border, crossing at the International Peace Park.
The Peace Park is not exactly International; it's completely in and maintained by North Dakota. There are camping areas, monuments to the existence of the relatively open border, a beautiful little chapel and a surprisingly small trickle of a creek that has been identified (by somebody) as the source of the Mississippi River. After leaving the park we crossed the border into Manitoba. This was a completely painless process, much simpler than we had heard it was to be. After the standard questions about residence, nationality, guns, drugs, there was a request to "enjoy your visit to Canada".
We drove north again, through some pretty country, and arrived in Winnipeg. We easily found the hotel where we were to spend the night - we thought. It turned out that we were at the Fort Garry Motel; what we wanted was the Fort Garry Hotel, which was about six miles further into downtown Winnipeg, through rush hour traffic. The Fort Garry Hotel is one of the chain of hotels originally built across Canada for the convenience of the train passengers. Architecturally it is similar to the castle at Lake Louise or the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec but not as large. Our room certainly was luxurious enough to please the most hardened traveler. (For a photo of the Chateau check our description of the Erie Canal trip.) Next morning after an excellent breakfast we walked around Winnipeg, particularly a tourist-oriented area known as "La Fourche" or "The Fork". This is because it is located at the confluence of the Asiniboine and Red rivers. It contains restaurants, farmers' markets, curio shops, even a chance for a boat ride on both rivers.
Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba, and atop the provincial capitol building there has stood for many years a statue of the "Golden Boy" symbolizing the future of the province. When we were there, "Golden Boy" had been removed from his lofty perch and was in one of the buildings at La Fourche for renovation and a new coating of gold leaf. I had never seen gold leaf up close before. It looked primarily like a shiny coat of gold paint. I'm sure it was a lot more expensive. In late afternoon we hauled our luggage across the street to the railroad station and
met the rest of our tour group; surprisingly only eight of us in all. Then we climbed on board the train for the next stage of our journey.
This was the beginning of our 1600 mile ride to Churchill. We eight (three couples, a single lady and our tour guide) had almost exclusive use of a sleeping car - except for a honeymooning young couple that we didn't see often. We were told that we were the kings of the train. Although coach passengers were not allowed in our sleeping car, we could enter and sit in any of the coaches, which rode more smoothly and with larger seats than the sleeping car did. The sleeping compartments were small enough during the day that it was more pleasant to go sit in a coach or the dining car, they turned miniscule when the beds were turned down for the night. The lower bunk was wide enough and comfortable, with good vision out the window. The upper bunk was narrower, reached only by a short ladder, and had no window at all. As habitation for two people it was extremely crowded. One would have to crawl into bed so that the other could move around, or one could retreat into the tiny bathroom. That is the only bathroom in memory where I bumped my forehead when I attempted to sit down. On the plus side, the dining car was pleasant, the service adequate and although the menu was limited, the food was well prepared. There is no highway that reaches Churchill, therefore people who live in this area necessarily depend on the railroad for transportation. As tourists it was interesting to watch the local people treat the train as a normal part of their daily lives.
Churchill is basically a pioneer city, overlaid with the trappings of tourism. There are the usual conglomerations of hotels, restaurants, gift shops along with the establishments necessary to maintain the local people in their daily lives. There are basically only two paved streets, bordered by gravel pathways where just about everyone rides on four-wheel ATV's. One of the remarkable features of Churchill is a giant grain terminal. It has a capacity of six million bushels! It is supplied by two or three long trains per week, using the same tracks that we rode on. Huge ocean-going freighters make their way from the Atlantic past Labrador Strait and across Hudson Bay to load and carry their bulk cargoes of grain to Europe and beyond. (But not in winter!)
The big tourist attractions are the polar bears that gather each fall, and the Beluga whales that congregate in the estuary of the Churchill River. The bears arrive at that particular spot to wait for the winter freeze-up, when they can spend the winter on the ice, hunting seals, their winter food of choice. The river, being fresh water, freezes first, giving them a head start on their hunting.
The Belugas spend the summer in the brackish water at the mouth of the Churchill,feeding on small fresh-water fish, then leave before the big freeze and head for open water.
Unfortunately for us, most of the Belugas had left when we were there, but there were enough left to provide an unforgettable sight. As for the bears, there were a few in evidence but it was just a little too early for the mass influx that would occur later. We did see some of them from a helicopter that was included as part of our trip. We also got to ride in a tundra buggy, which was larger than the biggest bus you ever saw, and found some bird life and a solitary caribou.
By the way, the year-round residents of Churchill refer to the bear season as "The Crazy Season" not only because of the antics of the polar bears, but because of the really weird things the tourists do.
Was the trip a disappointment because of the lack of animal life? Not at all! We still saw people and places that we had only heard about and never expected to see. We also had our first experience with train travel as an alternative to planes, boats and autos.