An Overdose of Polar Bears

I put my whole polar bear photo and video album onto Google Photos, because I went a bit overboard and put in way too many photos of bears doing the same thing from image to image. Open the "Info" panel to read along and see what you're looking at.

Here's an explanation of what I was checking out, from a children's atlas I wrote in 2007.

POLAR BEARS IN MANITOBA [PAGE 23]

The tiny town of Churchill in the Canadian province of Manitoba gets an influx of carnivorous furry white visitors every autumn. There's a reason the sign welcoming visitors to the town says "Polar Bear Capital of the World."

Churchill sits smack-dab on the migratory path of hundreds of polar bears, which roam the frozen plains of Canada in the summer, but make beelines for Churchill as soon as it starts to ice over in October. Why? Because it's right next to Hudson Bay, a polar bear's favorite restaurant!

Where's the Bear? Over There!

 Your daily bears. 

How Klondike Bars Are Made

Your daily bear. Baby bear makes a bed in kelp.

Traffic Impediment

Here's a fun video from yesterday.

Lounging

Morning miracle. I am at Winnipeg Airport at 5 a.m.

Offline

I can only upload a few things on the local signal but I’ll be back on the grid tomorrow night.

Caffeinated

I made the Uber driver stop at Tim Hortons en route to the charter flight hangar.

New high or new low? I can’t decide.

Over the Border

I’ve had three Covid tests since Friday. Travel is fun!

(All negative.)

Heading North

The plan is to fly to Manitoba today, see polar bears, then fly back to Burbank on Thursday.

But it’s oh-so-complicated. Everyone wants proof of vaccination. Cool, no problem. But Canada also wants a covid test. So I stroll up to the Air Canada counter with my passport, my vaccination card, my ArriveCan QR code, and a printout of the covid PCR test (negative, of course they want the expensive kind). Then I get to fly to Winnipeg via Vancouver, and I’m nervous about the arrival in Vancouver because I have to show all my proof again. I don’t know why I’m nervous. I don’t plan to lose my phone or my proof before boarding begins.

I stay two nights in a Winnipeg hotel, and on Monday morning before work, I get to take an antigen covid test so I can get back into the US on Thursday morning, then I work all day on my laptop.