Northern Observations

By Wes

During my stay here in Manitoba I have made several observations that make life here distinctly different from my previous life in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado - Colorado where it snows (occasionally), gets bitter cold (occasionally), is sometimes windy (occasionally) and is often sunny...

- 10° F is not considered by the locals to be "cold"... Only when they see -30°F and below will it meet the definition of "cold"

- In Colorado - surrounded by the ski areas - we used to say: "Oh! -10°F out today, its TOO cold to snow!" That... is... not... true...

- You have to be prepared to accept that (if you choose to go out in -30°F temps) your facemask will freeze to your face - here they call it an exfoliating treatment

- Snow drifts (many of them) in your lane of traffic is a "normal" obstacle and swerving into the other lane of traffic to avoid them is the like weirdest game of chicken ever

- Those Toyota commercials of trucks blasting through snow drifts (making you think you are invincible in winter) - are fake - likely Hollywood CGI animations

- There are ~4 liters in a gallon. What at first seems like an amazing bargain at $1.36 on the gas station price sign - is a little confusing at first

- 6 packs of beer come in 8 packs. I try not to over think it

- Dinner means lunch

- Hats are tuques

- They have interesting town names... I won't even get close to pronouncing the town in the attached photo

I am confident this is good preparation for our Arctic Expeditions! ;-)

Keep checking back - we will soon be posting some "Hakluyt Wanderer" and Hakluyt updates!!

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