Getting there - we might as well have bought a Baby Polar Bear for the same cost.

Baby Polar Bear for sale.  No, not that one, he's not expensive enough

Now that Mom was on board, it was time to book some tickets.  I wanted to visit Winnipeg since we were going to be passing through anyway.  I have never been there so I wanted to at least be able to say I have seen the sights.  And, even more importantly,  we have some family there, Uncle Paul who we haven't seen for year and cousins I have never met and Mom hasn't seen in decades. 

We negotiated.  Mom has been there and doesn't seem to think the hub of Canada deserves more than two nights.  I tried for three but acquiesced to Mom's superior Winnipeg wisdom.  Once we had calculated the travel costs, I could hardly request higher hotel costs too. 

So, first we checked out Via Rail.  Bird Camp is June 5 to 10.  A train leaves Winnipeg on June 3rd and arrives in Churchill on the morning of June 5.  (The CNSC people meet us at the station and Bird Camp begins right then and there.)  We looked at the Via site and some YouTube videos of various sleeping accommodations on the train.  Since it is two nights and I, for one, have learned my lesson about sleeping upright in chairs on various forms of transportation, we went for a sleeper car. And for some unknown, magical reason, they have discounted fares.  Why?  Who knows.  It saves about $500 so we booked a cabin for two before the magic went away. 
Via Rail Cabin info

Cabin for two - beds down

Cabin for two - beds up

 

But, the dates for the return train don't match up with the end date for Bird Camp.  We had three choices.

1. Leave Churchill on the train on the 11th but have to stay in Thompson overnight.  So that means two more nights in hotels, one in Churchill (not cheap) and one in Thompson (also not cheap).  But I figured maybe Thompson might be worth a visit so I checked out the city tourism website to see what's going on in Thompson MB. Thompson city website.  Well, I'll tell you what's going on according to "City Highlights":  Street lights are out and there is a plastic garbage bag ban.  Hmm, sounds fun.  To be fair, they do have some stuff to do, a zoo and a golf course and a bunch of trails and a beautiful waterfall but not enough to entice us to stay, especially since all of the good stuff is beyond walking distance.

What we are missing in Thompson

2.  Stay two nights in Churchill.  When I mentioned this as a possibility to Mike, our CNSC contact, he was not encouraging.  I got the idea that we would have seen the whole city by the end of Bird Camp and there was not reason to stay longer.  Plus, we get booted from CNSC on the 10th.  So two more expensive nights in a hotel. 

3.  Fly out on the 10th on Calm Air (you just know that name is going to be the subject of a future post likely with vivid descriptions of its lack of Calm Airness but I am getting ahead of myself).  Calm Air tickets were a couple hundred more than the train but balance in the cost of hotel/food and it works out.  Mike also mentioned that people may not want to spend another 45 hours on the train if they have already experienced it on the way up.  He is very diplomatic. 

So, we booked with Calm Air, one way from Churchill to Winnipeg.  Everyone (Via, CNSC & the airlines) recommends we have at least a day leeway between train and flight since the train is sometimes not so much on time as super-late.  So, despite my travel math and my 'balancing' of costs, we have an extra night in Winnipeg (yay, I get my third night!). 



Calm Air (let's hope so, anyway)

Ok, almost there.  We are set for round trip from Winnipeg to Churchill and back again.  But we need to get to Winnipeg.  Because we always need an excuse to visit our super-awesome, always welcoming even though we never book through her, travel agent, Mary-Lyn, we went to her to see if she had any deals for Victoria -> Winnipeg.  Marylyn's contact info. Great visit, no deals.  She advised us to just book our own tickets. 

We went home, checked Air Canada (boo) and WestJet.  Same price so my legendary dislike of AC tipped the scales for WestJet tickets.  We fly out of Victoria on June 1st at 2:50pm.  Arrive back June 11th.  Same price to fly out of Victoria as Vancouver so that was a nice bonus, nobody wants to take the ferry. 

WestJet - you better be better than Air Canada.

Last piece.  Where to stay in Winnipeg.  Our good friend Google came through for us.  The Marlborough Hotel is right downtown, a few blocks from everything according to their website.  Close to the train, close to The Forks with a nice river walk right there.  Plus, it is cheaper than most and has a bit of history (centennial this year).  So, I just called them to book.  The phone conversation was not reassuring but we managed to get reservations.  Mom and I are booked for the 1st, 2nd and 10th.  .

Marlborough Hotel exterior

Marlborough Hotel interior

Whew!  This is definitely happening.