In the winter, I accompanied the brothers in a unique vehicle called a caboose. This was a horse-drawn, covered sleigh, complete with an airtight wood stove and smokestack. Often, starting out before daybreak with as many as six aboard, we traveled through deep snow for 20 miles [35 km] or more, calling at farms along the way. The driver had to be alert because snowdrifts could tip the caboose on its side, spilling out the occupants along with the hot embers from the wood stove.

Through the years, I have traveled by light aircraft, by fishing boats, by large snowmobiles with track and skis called bombardiers, by snowplanes (vehicles with a propeller behind and skis up front for steering), and by more conventional means​—train, bus, and car.