Journey to Winnipeg

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Sitting on the train
Taken a vow of silence.
Haha. Just kidding.

07:32/06:32 The clocks have turned back one hour sometime in the middle of the night.

07:01 I’ve just been admiring the view outside the window. Yesterday there were scores of lovely trees with lots of lovely reds, oranges and yellows. Today there are lots of coniferous trees (sorry to say that I never did pay attention on how to decipher a fir from a pine from a??) and little lakes. A lot of the lakes were really still and it looked like glass with a bit of steam hovering. It's pretty cool. It's too bad I'm on a moving train because I'd love to take some pictures that weren't a big blur. Oh well. Another one of those moments I'll have to remember in the "camera" in my head.

07:06 Oh wow, in one of these mirror like lakes I just saw a tiny island of trees and it just looks like they are floating there. An awesome sight to behold if only for a few seconds.

07:08 The sun's coming up even more and is casting cool shadows everywhere. It's a bummer that the ugly telephone wires are on my side of the train. It sort of obscures some of the views. Plus I have noticed a lot of them really leaning (thank goodness away from the train tracks!) and some have even fallen down.

07:14 Okay, time to get up and wash up cuz that then means I can eat! lol

07:27 Savant Lake. Km 1440. Wow! We're pretty much on schedule. There really aren't that many stops on this train unless of course you have prearranged to make a stop at least 48 hours in advance.

07:53 It’s interesting looking at some of the trees. They seem to have a bit of a silver hue to them and some of them almost remind me of my grandmother's old aluminum Christmas tree. Silly me, it's probably just frost on the needles. lol

08:21 I keep seeing this sketchy looking guy walking back and forth on the train. He sort of reminds me of Old Man Jenkins from Scooby Doo. You know the guy who'd get away with everything if it wasn't for those pesky kids...

08:42 Sioux Lookout. We're ahead of schedule and still have about six or so hours before we hit Winnipeg. We have about a half our stop at Sioux Lookout but there really isn't much to see or do and going outside really isn't getting fresh air since all of the smokers are out there. lol Plus it's chilly. I think I've made enough excuses now. 😊

09:15 Quel Surprise. The snacky couple across from me came back to the train with not one, not two but three bags of groceries! Yikes. I guess they're like me and worried that they'll run out of food. lol Mind you, they're going straight to Vancouver. That's three straight days on the train.

12:59 I think we're in Ottermere, ON which is about 1780 km from Toronto. We should be crossing the Ontario-Manitoba border in about 15 to 20 minutes. Soon it'll be bye bye Ontario!

13:18 Third and final call for lunch in the dining car. It's always entertaining to listen to the dining car coordinator come on the PA because it's pretty obvious he is not a natural speaker of French and he rushes through the French parts with a lot of um's and a few pauses as well. Oh well, at least he's trying.

13:21 Snacky and Snoozy across the aisle just woke up again and are having more snacks. I swear they had breakfast, a coffee break and lunch and are now about to have another snack break and it is only about 13:30! Yikes. As for myself, I'm glad I stocked up on fruit and some sugar snap peas to snack on to help balance out the chips, cookies and other carbs. lol

13:34 I just realized and remembered that the last Spike of the Trans Canada Railroad was hammered in on November 7th, 1885. That's 120 years ago. Wow, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to be a part of building the tracks. Quite amazing how in the past it connected BC to the rest of Canada. Nowadays even with buses and planes to get around the train runs three times a week from Vancouver to Toronto and vice versa. I overheard someone say it was cheaper for them to take the train than to fly. I guess it you have a student card or are over 60 years of age, it could be cheaper. I read somewhere that seniors get to bring a friend (of any age) with them for free! That could explain the high proportion of seniors I've been seeing on the trains. lol

14:44 Almost in Winnipeg. The time has passed quickly considering it has been such an uneventful train journey. It is a 30 minute walk to the hostel so I will opt for a taxi to get there since my bags are just feeling too heavy and I haven't done much exercise or have much movement for that matter in the last 30 hours. So I don't want to shock my system. lol

15:16 About 20 minutes before we can detrain.

16:39 Arrival into Winnipeg Terminal...they always get the times wrong!

As per usual, I made my way to the hostel where I was greeted by the friendly check in dude, Mark. I got my sheets, made up my bed and went for a little walk to the grocery store to buy something to make for dinner and some stuff for breakfast as well. I was thinking easy, so I got some raisin bread for breakfast and for dinner tonight some veggies with a quesadilla. Yum.

Back at the hostel I chatted up a couple of people. Laura, who was also on the train from Toronto to Winnipeg. A girl from San Francisco, who is leaving tonight for Thunder Bay, a guy from Victoria, Australia, Sam from New South Wales and Shonae...again. I met Shonae in Montreal and saw her again in Niagara Falls and in passing in Toronto (she was on her way to Thunder Bay.) I'm pretty sure I won't be bumping into her much more after she leaves Winnipeg since she plans on going down into the States for bit before having to go to Penticton on the 17th.

It was a nice evening in. Just chatting and then watching a movie, "Swordfish" with Hugh Jackman, John Travolta and Halle Berry. I was only half watching since I'd seen the film before and I was working on my cross-stitch...I'm obsessed!

This hostel is in an old house that has some character. My room is a little cramped but the common area is okay if the hostel isn't too full. But in the summer it'd be way too crowded. They have tons of information on Winnipeg and the surrounding area and I must admit Winnipeg looks like it'll be much better than I have given it credit! Mind you, I'm here until Sunday so we'll see how that goes. lol. It should be okay though. Perhaps I'll finally finish that cross-stitch so that I'll have something else to write about on the train journey to Edmonton. Haha

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