Polar Bear Adventure Day 7: Quilts and Blankets, Lunch with Friends and Back to San Diego

Lunch with Curtis and Ellen

We spent the night at the Sheraton Four Points at the airport in Winnipeg. The next morning, our friend Ellen and her husband Curtis drove over and met us at our room.

Since we'd been reunited with our luggage, we were able to give Ellen the blanket that we'd made for her.

Steven's preschool made a prayer quilt for him after his surgery and before we left for Memphis. After the quilt was made, they hung it in the lobby of the church and after services, people came out and tied knots and said prayers for him with each knot. That quilt came with us to Memphis and he wrapped himself in it every night during radiation.

My cousin Christine and her kids also made a quilt for Steven during his chemo and Steven slept with both quilts over him every night during treatment.

All the St. Jude kids are given quilts when they come there, it is a symbol of love and comfort in a time of trial.

In that same tradition, we had gone to Hancock Fabrics, a huge supporter of St. Jude, and Steven picked out some velvety soft fleece to make a blanket for Ellen, who's been going through some mighty hard times herself lately.

The blanket had fringe all around the perimeter, which we had to knot, and Steven and I said prayers for Ellen with each knot we tied. We were sure glad the blanket made it to Winnipeg with us and that we were able to give it to her.

We had a great lunch with Ellen and Curtis at the hotel, then we walked from there to the airport to catch our flight home.

We were scheduled to fly from Winnipeg to San Diego via Chicago this time. Because nothing involving air travel ever seems to go smoothly for us, bad weather in Chicago caused us to be diverted to North Bend, Indiana.

We finally made it home, arriving after midnight instead of a little before 10 pm, all luggage intact. Our friend Ginny from Make-A-Wish was waiting to welcome us home at the airport, providing service above and beyond the call of duty considering the hour we finally flew in, but we were glad to see her.

It was an awesome trip, a magical, one-of-a-kind experience, and we are incredibly grateful to all those who contributed to making it happen for us.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

- Kathleen

Polar Bear Adventure Day 6: Dogs, Bears and Farewell

The sled dogs can't wait to get going

Friday, November 4 was our last day in Churchill. We got up early and were met in the lobby of our hotel by John Stetson, winner of the 2005 Hudson Bay Quest dogsled race.

We all got into John's truck and he drove us to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre.

On our way over there, a polar bear ran full speed across the road right in front of the truck. It ran a ways off the road, then turned to watch us drive away.

At the Northern Studies Centre, John showed us a slideshow of his many previous dogsled expeditions. It was very interesting, John has been to both poles by dogsled, in addition to many other places around the world.

Getting ready to go

Then we drove to where the dogs were. John loaned us some expedition parkas to put on over the parkas we were a little overstuffed, but nice and warm.

A view from the sled

Although it had just snowed in Churchill, it was the first snow of the year that stuck, and there wasn't really enough snow to ride in a regular sled, so we rode in a sled with wheels.

Steven, Doug, me and Sean in our borrowed expedition clothing

John told us of occasional encounters with polar bears while dogsledding. Apparently an entire dogsled team is more than enough match for a polar bear.

John Stetson with Sean and Steven and John's son Nelson

After our ride we returned to the Northern Studies Centre for coffee and hot chocolate, then John drove us back to our hotel.

We had lunch with our tour group at our hotel, then we walked to the rail station to attend a presentation at the Parks Canada museum.

Our tour guide Hayley found out that there was to be a bear drop that Friday, and was calling to try and arrange a close-up and personal bear experience for Steven.

She finalized the details and a taxi came to the rail station to take us to the polar bear jail.

The sedated bear was brought out on a cart

Shortly after we got there, a sedated bear was brought out of the jail on a cart.

This bear weighed around 1200 pounds, and he'd been brought to the jail after showing up in the backyard of one of their local preachers. The bear had been in jail for about a month, and they were preparing to release him back into the wild.

Steven examining the bear's paw

They carefully rolled him off the cart and on to a net on the ground. The bear was conscious, his eyes were open and moving, and his paws were trembling, a side effect of the sedative.

Steven and the RCMP officer holding the bear's head

The sedative that is given lasts about an hour before it wears off. Steven and I were able to feel the bear's fur and examine his head and his paws.

Although he couldn't move, he was aware of our presence.

The helicopter taking the bear away

A helicopter came and the bear was wrapped up in the net and the helicopter took off to take him away from the town, where he would be released.

It was an awesome experience to be in such close contact with one of those magnificent animals.

Sunset from the tarmac as we boarded the plane

After the bear drop, it was time to head to the airport to get ready to fly back to Winnipeg. It was another beautiful sunset as we bid goodbye to Churchill.

- Kathleen

Polar Bear Adventure Day 5: Bears and More Bears!

Our tour guide Hayley, Doug, Steven and Sean trying to balance during our bumpy ride (out of focus due to extreme jiggling)

On Thursday November 3, we boarded the tundra buggy again for our second day of bear viewing.

This bear took off when the buggy pulled up

We didn't have to drive far to find bears this time.

Today, our tour company had again planned something special for Steven. Polar Bears International, an organization created to protect polar bears and their habitats and to educate people about polar bears, was doing a web conference that day for middle school students in Rhode Island.

There were three world-known polar bear experts present, and they were doing the webcase from the tundra lodge.

The Adventure Learning Program webcast

We were invited to join them on the tundra lodge and watch their presentation. After the presentation, students came to the microphone to ask questions of the researchers.

After a few minutes, they brought Steven and Sean up and introduced them to the students. The students then asked Steven a bunch of questions about his experiences with the bears and why he'd chosen that trip for Make-A-Wish. Steven did great.

The Polar Bear Cam and the bear that followed it around

We got to eat lunch on the tundra lodge (lunch was great, they treat their guests well), then our buggy returned to pick us up.

There was a ringed seal waaayyy out on a rock out on the tidal flats which was causing much interest. Ringed seals are the primary food of the polar bears, and the bears we were watching are very hungry, having been fasting for several months.

The wind was blowing away from the seal, so the bears weren't able to smell him. Dennis was tracking the seal, hoping to catch a polar bear hunting the seal on camera.

We waited for a while, but none of the bears seemed to know the seal was there. Dennis eventually got what he was looking for, he wrote about it here.

This was a big bear that was hanging out next to our buggy for about an hour

We moved so we could get a good look at another bear taking naps in between eating kelp out on the tidal flats.

The bear taking a closer look at our buggy and its inhabitants

The bear became very interested in us and came over for a closer look.

The bear and our driver, Jarred

He seemed particularly interested in our driver, Jarred.

Our tour guide Hayley with Steven and Sean (helicopter arriving in the background)

Our tour guide, Hayley, had arranged a special surprise for Steven. She had talked to Hudson Bay Helicopters, who had very generously agreed to donate two helicopter rides, for Steven and a parent. There were other people in our group who had arranged for helicopter rides also, so two helicopters were coming to pick up those who had arranged rides.

They had to drive us to an area of the tundra where they don't expect bears, since we had to get off the buggy and walk to the helicopters.

Steven in the co-pilot's seat

We got on the helicopters and they took off. I've never been on a helicopter before and I have a tendency toward motion sickness. I spent the first few minutes of our ride trying to figure out how to switch the digital camera away from the 100 film speed it was set for, but had to give up because it was making me queasy. So, the pictures from the helicopter aren't great.

Bear on Cape Churchill

The helicopter took us out over Cape Churchill, an area where the buggies are prohibited from going. It was stunningly beautiful from the air, and going out at sunset was the perfect time to go.

We saw 13 bears on our helicopter ride, most of my photos were too blurry to use because of all the motion, but it was a treat to see all that beautiful tundra and the bears lit up pink by the sunset.

Sunset from our helicopter

After the sun set, we headed inland and saw several moose, incuding a baby.

It was a beautiful ride, as it got dark they took us back to town.

Steven and me and other tour group members at the end of our ride

It was the perfect ending to an awesome day.

To Be Continued...

- Kathleen

Polar Bear Adventure Day 4: Bring On The Bears!

Tundra buggies on their way to find bears

Wednesday morning, November 2, we got up bright and early and boarded a bus to take us to the tundra buggies. There were 19 people in our tour group, and we were assigned to our own tundra buggy.

The tundra buggy seats 40 people, has a gas heater/stove and a bathroom inside, and the base of the vehicle is 15 feet off the ground.

Our driver was taking bets to predict what time it would be when we saw our first bear. It turned out we saw our first bear around 10:45 am, waaay off in the distance.

Three male bears, tidal flats and the Hudson Bay in the background

We drive for another 15 minutes, and were rewarded with several bears, much closer to us.

Polar bear with the tundra lodge in the background

There was a large mostly frozen area of ice where most of the bears hung out all day. The tundra lodge is parked out on the tundra for the duration of the bear season, some who go to Churchill choose to stay in the tundra lodge, which has bathrooms, showers, a kitchen, dining room, and bunks for up to 40 people at a time.

We stayed in the area near the tundra lodge for several hours. There was more than enough for us to watch right there.

A beautiful and immaculately clean young female approached us closely

Our female bear friend found a dead bird to eat

We watched the bears for hours. Out on the ice, four male bears sparred with other.

The bears are just like kids playing

They would spar with each other for hours at a time

Reminds me of Steven and Sean

Shortly after lunch, Dennis Compayre, author of the Buggy Blog and operator of the Polar Bear Cam, the source of the live photos that used to be displayed at the top of Steven's web page, showed up in his buggy to take Steven and Sean for a ride.

Dennis Compayre with Steven and Sean on the Polar Bear Cam

He drove them around to see the bears and got them to stick their heads out the top of the buggy for a live photo that showed up on the polar bear cam (the photo at the top of the web page).

Steven at the wheel of the Polar Bear Cam buggy

He even let Steven and Sean drive the buggy, although I heard that Sean gave it a little too much gas when it was his turn.

This guy was hot and decided to cool down on the ice

Polar bears have black skin, their fur isn't white, it's clear but it has a property that causes it to scatter light, making them appear white

Polar bears are vicious carnivores, the most carnivorous of all the bears, but they don't look like it when they're sleeping

Later in the day, some of the bears took naps, maybe tired after all that sparring.

Steven concentrating hard on keeping the tundra buggy on the road.

Eventually it was time to head back. It takes about an hour to drive from where they keep the tundra buggies to where the polar bears are. They drive on existing dirt roads, formerly used by the military.

Sean at the wheel

Our driver most kindly let Steven and Sean drive the buggy back. Actually, they weren't bad at offroad driving.

I had to go through over 250 photos to put together this day's story, there's much more, but this is the Reader's Digest version. Suffice it to say we had a wonderful time, this trip was pure magic from beginning to end. We are ever so grateful to all the folks that helped make it happen for us.

To be continued...

- Kathleen

November 2 - A Historical Perspective

Steven on the roof of the Peabody as honorary duckmaster

As I was going through the photos from November 2, 2005 in preparation for the next installment in our polar bear trip series, I came upon photos I took on November 2, 2003 and November 2, 2004. How things change.

On November 2, 2003, Steven and I were in Memphis. It was a Sunday, the previous Friday was Halloween.

My wonderful sister Janet had come to visit us, arriving on Halloween and after Sunday brunch, Steven and I had driven her to the airport to catch a flight home. We were so homesick, visitors from home were something special to be cherished and putting Janet on that plane was one in a series of sad experiences from that fall.

Steven and I had pledged to keep each other happy during his radiation and our separation from all our family and friends, usually when one of us was down the other would step in and try to provide comfort and humor.

After we dropped Janet off, Steven was terribly sad. In an effort to cheer him up, I took him to the Peabody Hotel in Memphis in time to see the afternoon duck march. The man at the hotel who walks the ducks noticed Steven and invited him to be the honorary duckmaster, and walk the ducks from the fountain to their home for the night.

Steven and Regina at Target House

On November 2 of last year, we were in Memphis for Steven's followup MRI's. Our friend Regina was living at Target House then, doing the chemo / bone marrow transplant portion of her treatment.

Regina's mom invited us for dinner with them at Target House. Regina is going back to St. Jude on Sunday for another followup, we are praying for her clear MRI's.

This year on November 2, we were in Churchill for Steven's Make-A-Wish trip, but that's the next part of the story...

- Kathleen

Polar Bear Adventure Day 3: A Tour Of Churchill

Finally, by popular demand, the continuation of the story of our polar bear trip.

From the last installment, "We arrived in Churchill around 9:30 am, got off the train and onto a bus, and began our adventure..."

Eskimo sled dogs in Churchill

Our first stop was the gift shop operated by Frontiers North, the tour company, where our luggage had been delivered after it was flown to Churchill. We brought our luggage onto the bus, where we were able to swap our Value Village jackets and tennis shoes for our own parkas and boots.

We stopped then just outside of town where the Eskimos keep their sled dogs. The adult dogs sleep outside without cover, the little lean-to's in the photo are for the puppies.

Then on to the Hudson Bay. You can see the area where we were here. Churchill is located to the right of where the Churchill River flows into the Hudson Bay.

Steven (under duress) touching the waters of the Hudson Bay

The bus stopped and we walked across the rocky shoreline to the bay.

We were in one of the Polar Bear Alert areas, but the bus driver, armed with a shotgun, kept watch for us.

Steven and Doug on the shore of the Hudson Bay

It was lightly snowing but not too terribly cold (except for taking our gloves off). Then back to the bus.

Sean with "Miss Piggy" in the background

Our next stop was an area known as the Churchill Rocks. In the photo behind Sean is a plane, a wrecked Lambair C-46 which crashed without fatalities in 1979 in a botched attempt to land at the airport. The locals call it "Miss Piggy" and in the summer its a party spot.

Polar Bear trap

Next was the polar bear jail. Bears in Churchill that hang out at the dump or that enter the town are put in jail, and kept there for varying lengths of time. People aren't allowed to enter the jail because they don't want the bears to become habituated to human contact, and so as not to upset them.

Sometimes traps are used to entice problem bears into captivity, the bear traps are baited with ringed seals, then the bears are either brought to jail or released away from the town.

Doug and I in front of the jail

Bears in jail aren't fed, they are only given water, so as not to encourage them to want to return. The bears are kept in jail for varying lengths of time, up to a month, after which they are helicoptered out to the tundra and released.

Sean walking along the banks of the Churchill River

The kids quickly discovered that the funnest thing about traveling thousands of miles to the north was that there was snow on the ground, snowballs to be made, and snowfights to be had. Although California has lots of snow, they acted like they'd never seen the white stuff before.

Steven, armed with two snowballs to be thrown at his dad

It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too cold. After many snowball fights, we got back on the bus and went to lunch.

Stuffed polar bear in the Eskimo Museum

After lunch we went to the Eskimo Museum, to learn something of the native people and the history of the area. Then dinner with out tour group at a local restaurant. Then off to bed in anticipation of what we'd come there for, boarding the buggy to go see some real bears ...

To Be Continued...

- Kathleen