— DANIELLE O'HANLEY

After reboarding in Winnipeg last night, I went back to my room and finished Water for Elephants, a book that was quite fitting for the train, since it takes place on a travelling circus in the 1930s. The story follows a vet school dropout who hops a train and suddenly finds himself working for the circus.

I awoke this morning to find us paused at Sioux Lookout. I headed to the dining car for breakfast, and was seated with two men from Oklahoma who had just gotten on the train. They were headed somewhere about two hours away to go on a fishing trip.

If the theme for Day 1 was “mountains”, yesterday was “flatland”, and today was “wilderness”. We’ve been in the middle of nowhere all day, and I haven’t been able to pick up a cellphone signal since we left Winnipeg last night. The forest stretches on for miles, and every few hours we catch sight of a barely used dirt road. The land is splattered with the occasional body of water. Marshland, rivers, and a lake appears every once in a while.

At lunch, I was seated with a couple from Calgary who seemed fascinated with my job in Banff. It was a relief to be talking to someone who knew what the Centre was without my having to explain it, and they promised me that they’d go check out the Banff Summer Arts Festival when they got back out west (something they’ve been wanting to do for years, but have never made the time to do).

We stopped in Hornepayne for about 20 minutes just before dinner. It was good to stretch out my legs and walk on solid ground. I’ve really noticed a difference today in the smoothness of the tracks. We’ve been bouncing back and forth all day, and I’ve almost spilled a few cups of coffee on myself. I have no idea how the servers manage to carry around trays of soup and hot coffee without scalding themselves/passengers. Quite the skills.

This morning, I started reading The Book of Negroes. I have been hearing about it for months, and finally picked it up before I left Banff. I’m blasting through it really quickly – I’m 400 pages in already. I’d forgotten how nice it is to just sit down and lose yourself in a book. One nice thing about being on a train is that there are no distractions. I immediately noticed the difference yesterday night in Winnipeg. As soon as I stepped off the train, my mind seemed to fragment. You can see the difference in the writing in my blog post from yesterday – distractions like the internet, email, and bustling people had me focusing on a few things at once, and my writing suffered. Good mental note: lock yourself away, without an internet connection and phone signal, and let the ideas flow. You’re less likely to let sentences drop off, or give up on an idea, if you have nothing else to distract you.

Tonight is my last night onboard, and we arrive in Toronto tomorrow morning at 9:30. After that, it’s back to reality, job searching, and apartment hunting. I am enjoying my last night onboard with a final bottle of Granville Island Pale Ale in the Sky Lounge car, and chatting with some girls from Edmonton and a family from Halifax.

Day two is almost behind me!

Here is a video of my cabin in the nighttime position. The bed folds down pretty easily and it’s a cute little spot to sleep (surprisingly comfortable, too).

I woke up early this morning and grabbed breakfast – a roasted red pepper omelet with feta cheese and green onions) with Annie and Jaro, the two people I had dinner with last night. Afterwards, I had my first show experience on a train. VIARail supplies you with a shower kit that includes some soap, shampoo, towels, and facecloths. Showering was not as challenging as I had feared – I was having nightmares of falling over during a sharp turn, but it was surprisingly steady.

This afternoon, we had a beer tasting in the activity car, where we tried out four different types of beer: a lager and IPA from Granville Island Brewery, and an IPA and dark ale from Fort Garry Brewing Company (brewed here in Winnipeg). The activity director talked us through how each of the beers is made, and explained what makes up the difference in taste between the beers. Delicious! I think my favourite was the IPA from Granville.

We stopped in Winnipeg this evening, where I’m taking advantage of the free wireless to take care of a few things. My domain expired without notice, so I scrambled to get that renewed, and I had some fixes to make for a poster I was making for a friend on a tight deadline.

Winnipeg is beautiful. We are by Forks (I think that’s the name of the area), which reminds me of the St Lawrence Market in Toronto. It’s right by the waterfront, so I went for a walk along a path there and watched the sun set. I also caught some Indigenous dancing/singing:

Today has mostly been flatland. We’ve passed quite a few junkyards that are filled with old (I’m talking vintage) tractors and cars. The family I sat with at dinner was into agriculture, so it was great to have someone pointing out what all these fields were filled with – mostly canola, but some cabbage and beans, too.

We’re about to start boarding again, and tomorrow will mostly be Manitoba.

Will post again when I have an internet connection. I am taking loads of photos (realtime on my iPhone, but nicer ones on my DSLR to be posted at the end of the trip).

– End transmission.

The past few months seem to have flown by. Winter and the faraway promise of summer seem like yesterday, and yet here I am, 5 months later, with my life stashed away in 3 bags and moving back to Ontario.

I checked out of my apartment this morning, and Heather and Alex picked me up to begin the long journey towards Jasper (and ultimately, the train). It was a huge favour to ask – the roads along the way are long and winding, and there is a lot of construction along the highway at the moment.

As we left Banff, we started to discuss the good and the bad of my time out West. I mentioned that I hadn’t had the chance to see any bears, and that it was disappointing because I always hear that they are out and about. About 20 minutes later, we saw some cars stopped on the side of the road and slowed down. We looked over, and lo & behold, there was a grizzly bear galloping through the woods! My first (and likely last) bear jam!

A quarter of the way into the drive, clouds started to creep in and obscure the mountains. They started to darken, and looked increasingly threatening. We heard a crack, and then a torrential downpour started. We stopped at a gas station/grocery store/restaurant/hotel (weird) to grab some snacks and hoped that the rain would let up. It finally did, but had cut into our speed driving to Jasper. We were starting to get worried about making it in time.

We actually ended up making perfect time, and got to Jasper about 45 minutes before I was supposed to check in. Perfect amount of time to go grab a bite to eat (we’d been sustaining ourselves on chips most of the day). My bags were *just* under the weight limit, and I boarded on-time.

I have a cute little cabin to myself for the duration of the trip. During the day, it’s a seat and footstool (which doubles as a toilet) with a sink and countertop. At night, a bed pulls down – I have yet to try and figure this out, but I’m sure one of the lovely attendants will help me. Very cozy, and it has electrical outlets so I can plug in my phone!

Dinner in the dining car was great. I was seated with a girl from Quebec and a guy who was travelling from Japan. They seem to make an effort to ensure that you aren’t sitting alone for meals. On the menu for tonight was pan-seared pork tenderloin, wild mushroom crepes, or wasabi halibut. I went for the pork, which had an amazing wild mushroom sauce to go with it. Desert was a chocolate/caramel torte which may contribute to an early heart attack.

We are somewhere outside of Edmonton at the moment – scheduled to make a stop there tonight around 11:30. The sun is just beginning to set, and I think I’m going to head up to the viewing car to watch the stars and try and get a glimpse of the Northern Lights (hopefully).

Stay tuned for Transmission #2.