August 5th - On the road again!

Today was our second day of travel. We woke up at around 6:15 to everyone else on the bus grabbing their stuff and leaving. The bus driver was kind enough to drive us from the bus station to the train station. When we got there, there was not a soul to be seen and the sky was beginning to look stormy. The temperature in Thompson was one thing that surprised all of us because it’s a fair amount colder than in Baltimore. We all had to put on layers and rain gear. We unpacked all of our stuff and placed it strategically under the awnings at the train station due to the threat of rain. While we did this, we complained about how we slept and bragged about the different quality of sleep dependent on the position that we were sleeping in. We also talked about the weather and how the night before there were raging lightning storms in the distance (no northern lights ):. After we had moved everything from the bus, we thanked the driver and Julie offered to stay with our luggage while the rest of us went into the town of Thompson to get breakfast and run more errands. Our train was not supposed to come until 5pm, so we had plenty of time to do what we needed to do. On our walk to breakfast I actually saw a dragonfly that was HUGE and stuck to me for our whole walk. We ended up getting breakfast at a place called Robin’s, which was about a 10 or 15 minute walk from the train station. Breakfast was good and after Vicki, Henry, and Pablo went back to bring Julie food and keep her company, along with moving all of our stuff inside when the train station master came and opened the inside up. They also helped repackage some of our stuff because boxes started to fall apart due to the rain. While they did that, the rest of us went to Walmart and the Canadian Superstore. In Walmart we got a few necessities and a few… non-necessities. These included 11 stuffed animals, one for each member of our group. We wish we could say it was an impulse, purchase, but the group of us at Walmart did ponder it for quite a while. The Walmart was also luckily a safe haven from the rain. By the time we checked out and left, the rain was mostly a steady drizzle, so we were fine after putting on rain gear and covering our bags with trash bags. We then went to the Canadian superstore, which was a much shorter trip, and we did not get caught up in buying stuffed animals. The walk back was wet and we were all anxious because of the un-smart purchase we had made. We were welcomed back to the station with a sorted and labeled pile of all our boxes!! Thank you Julie, Vicki, Pablo, and Henry!

After we all got settled back in, it was around 1pm. We then had a group meeting discussing what to expect on the train and in Churchill and also just about how we were feeling. To help settle nerves, Carla led some yoga and afterwards we were all free to do what we wanted for a bit. I repacked my bag and waterproofed everything. Some people sorted food for a bit; others studied for our plant ID quiz that will happen tomorrow morning (eek!), and others went out to explore. Alana, Ryan, Maya, and I explored a bit by the station while John, Henry, and Liam got pizza for the group and Pablo edited pictures and videos on his computer. We had so much extra time at the train station that people slept, snacked, and freshened up a bit. At about 4, traffic in the small train station started to pick up a bit and our ISMAR friend who we were meeting, Ryan Brook, arrived with his undergrad students. Soon after, the train arrived and we began to pack all of our stuff into the luggage car. When we boarded the train, we realized that we had much more space than we expected and we were able to spread out much more. We all kept our stuffed animals with us, of course.

The train trip was absolutely beautiful. The lakes and wildlife were mesmerizing and we spent a long time just in our seats enjoying the scenery. We eventually got up to explore and found that there was a sky-car on our train, which is a car made up of only clear windows that sits above the rest of the train. This view was even better. After chilling for a while by reading, relaxing, talking, and studying, we went to the dining car to get a lovely hot meal. I got the pork dish that came with mashed potatoes and an assortment of vegetables. The vegetarian option was lasagna with naan bread, which also looked delicious. After dinner we (the students) sat and talked for quite a while. It was a good time to get to know each other a little bit more. At around 8:15, Ryan Brook and his students met with us and we all discussed polar bear and firearm safety in the field. This will be hugely important for the moment we step off the train, until we get back on the train in about 10 days. After this meeting the students attempted to study the plants but all ended up playing family feud and talking. We are now sitting in the sky-car doing our own thing, journaling, reading, or listening to music while the adult leaders are talking in the dining car below us! Today has been such a great day even though it was wet and tiring. I enjoyed continuing to get to know everyone and just being in Thompson and on the train. Being so far North is such a cool feeling. I like noticing the differences between here and Baltimore and some are huge, while others are so small and subtle that you have to be looking for them. I am so excited to be in Churchill and Wampus.

Written by Cate C

Uploaded by Liam H

Photos by Pablo Q