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Goodbye from Dylan and Andrew
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So this marks the end of our fine journey. Dylan and
I fly out of Oxford House Monday afternoon. We have
been on the trail with Dave, Adam, and the dogs for
three memorable weeks. This experience will be one we
will look back on fondly for the rest of our lives.
We owe a lot to Dave and Adam and all they exposed
us to here in Manitoba. We got to sleep in our first
-30 degree F temperatures, drive our first dogsled team,
drive our first snowmobiles, ice fish for the first
time, and the list goes on and on.
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Click to enlarge!
Dylan and Andrew taking a break on their last
day of driving the dog team!
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Click to enlarge!
Andrew's toes start to burn as Dave massages warm
blood into Andrews cold feet. Don't worry, Andrew
will return south with all of his fingers and toes
in good working order!
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This trip has taught us a lot about ourselves: we had
to live in very tight quarters with two other guys we
had never met before; we pushed ourselves physically
and mentally while snowshoeing across Knee Lake in 40
mile-an-hour winds; we had to eat the same foods over
and over again (there was never a whole lot of variety,
just a lot of quantity); and we were humbled by the
gratitude expressed towards us in the Cree towns--never
did we expect an assembly to be held in our honor as
one was in Gods Lake Narrows.
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| Yesterday was somewhat of a microcosim of our experience.
We left Knee Lake Lodge (we were offered bunks in the
employee trailer for the night) with our stomachs full
from a great breakfast prepared for us by the lodge's
head chef, skiied thirty miles mainly on unmaintained
winter roads, and arrived to a warm welcome in Oxford
House. Granted, we may not have slept in the tent or bushwacked
our way through old portages, but yesterday just seemed
like the perfect day to finish our traveling part of the
trip. |
Click to enlarge!
When we arrived in Oxford House we recieved a
warm welcome and were given a tour of our new home,
the Oxford House High School. Since this week is spring
break we have the whole school to our selves! Ping
pong, Internet access, showers, a full kitchen, and
much more!
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Click to enlarge
Fennel and his new friend take a break from the
action during a round of dogsled rides in Oxford House.
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So in conclusion, we want to thank Dave and Adam for
inviting us along on part of the Wilderness Classroom's
Boreal Forest Project and try to express how much we
enjoyed our time. We also want to say thanks to all
the classroms who were so interested in our joining
the trip. We hope you had fun durning these three weeks
because we sure did!
So long, Dave, Adam, Munchkin, Daisy, Thistle, Lichen,
Fennel, and Saylix. We hope you have a safe and wonderful
jouney to Cross Lake and then to Norway House.
Andrew Jones
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