Caught in Chicago

Waiting in Winnipeg:

Caught in Chicago:

Caught in Chicago

Patient in Phoenix:

Automatons in Anchorage:

The journey we were hoping would never occur has started in the way we hoped it wouldn’t. (What I mean is that we kept on hoping for a change of the schedule.

Thompson – Winnipeg 16 + hrs on train. 5 hours sleep if lucky.

Saturday 13^th

Winnipeg – Chicago 4.30am start

Chicago airport 5 hour wait

Chicago – Phoenix 3pm start

Phoenix airport 3 hour wait.

Phoenix – Anchorage 6 hr flight

Pick up our 4 wheel drives when we arrive (?1am Sunday) and take them to the hotel where we will spend the first night of our Alaskan escapade.

Yesterday we started the journey south at Thompson when the train left on time. Never mind! It lost 2 ½ hrs on the way. The seats were not as comfortable this time as a porter man told us we could not combine seat groups so we could spread out and try to sleep almost horizontally. Meany! But we had more leg room and opportunities to move around for our 16 hours on board than we would have in any plane. At 2am there was a general kerfuffle in our carriage when 1 member of our tribe saw the Northern Lights and woke up everyone around. They were bands of brilliant green and occasional pink swirling across the sky. Sometimes they came together and seemed to stream to earth. It is easy to see how the Inuit (Eskimo) shaman (witch doctor) used their appearance to reinforce beliefs in spirits and things of the super-natural. The lights were absolutely spectacular. Those who had opted for an upgrade to sleeping berths didn’t get to see them as they didn’t have windows that allowed them easy sight. Those of us who saw them had our faces stuck to the window and our heads covered by coats and stuff.

I went to the rail staff and asked if the lights in our carriage could be turned down or off so we could see the lights easier. He was adamant that, as an OH&S issue, the lights had to remain on to protect all who traversed the aisles from trip hazards. I tried to reassure him that we only needed them out for a short time while we looked at the lights. I failed and therefore will not consider international peace-keeping and hostage negotiation as a new career.

Once that excitement was over we slept reasonably for 4 hours.

Our rescheduled flights south meant that ½ the group went on an early flight (with all their luggage) and were in the hotel in Winnipeg before we left Thompson. But we all arrived with our luggage some hours later. Both planes were full. Not bad for a small airport way up here by Hudson Bay.

Washing clothe prior to Alaska was important and sleep had to wait. By the time I put the clothes in the dryer it was nearly midnight so I walked off once the machine started. They were still there the next morning at 4am. Clean and partly refreshed we took off for Chicago.

I’m going to write small blogs for this day so the map shows the route. If I don’t it will show a straight line from Winnipeg to Anchorage and that just ain’t right.