Sunday, September 17th. Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
Happy 90th birthday Mom!
Alarm went
off at 4am, quick breakfast, finish packing the backpack with camera, computer
et al, then disembark in the zodiacs in the dark. A ten-minute ride to the dock
where we had a dry landing. A fleet of buses were waiting to take us to the
airport which was about 20-minute drive. On the way we saw two Arctic hares.
Security at the airport was very slow. John, Bruce, and I just sat off to the
side as we didn’t want to stand in line for 40 minutes. We were just going
through security when the plane was supposed to depart. We boarded our unmarked
white chartered plane and sat one behind each other in the middle seats and
took off at 8:45. We got to Pearson by 11:30 local time (we passed through
three time zones), got a van taxi and drove to Shayna’s to pick up my car. She came
down and gave us COVID tests. I passed, Bruce passed, and John was positive.
That ended any hope of us going to Mom’s 90th birthday party. So, we
went to the Air b’n’b I booked by Earl Haig High School. We checked in and got
settled. We gave John the single room and Bruce and I took the shared room with
me on the cot. Then I bought Poke Bowls, and we went to visit Shayna in the
park so she could stay a safe distance and meet them. After that visit we drove
up to the house to visit Mom and Dad. We were all well spaced out in the
backyard. Shayna joined us in her own car, and we gave Mom her presents. I had
brought her back a mug from Greenland as she was the only person I’d ever known
who had been to Greenland (on a cruise of the north Atlantic). Then we went to
Mezza Notte where the birthday party was to take place and stood outside as
Chris, Megan, Denise, Anne, David, Eileen and Arlene all went in, as I wanted
them to meet John and Bruce. Denise was very happy to meet them and vice versa,
as she had booked the Adventure Canada trip for all three of us, their flights,
and then rearranged them when the fires in Yellowknife necessitated a rerouting
to Edmonton. Then back to the Airb’n’b for the night as we were all tired.
That ends
the Adventure Canada portion of this trip, but John and Bruce were staying with
me in Toronto for two more days. So, I will write that mini adventure up and
then I intend to write two concluding posts, one a summary of the Northwest
Passage expedition and another a compare/contrast of the north and south poles.
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