AVA @ BI

All season, I've been passing out flag stickers representing the Antarctic
Vexillological Association. My friend, Gid from Scott Base slapped one onto
his water bottle right away. This week, he was tramping/camping at Black
Island and wanted to make sure that the AVA was well represented on this
desolate piece of volcanic rock!

Merry Christmas!

Lockheed Martin!!!

We've just received the news:

Lockheed Martin is the new support contractor for
the United States Antarctic Program!
More news to follow.

Do You Have a Flag?

Many people who know me, or read this blog, know that
I am a Vexillologist. What is a Vexillologist you say? In
simplest terms, it is someone who studies flags. Over
seven years ago, I founded the Antarctic Vexillological
Association here at McMurdo. For many years, I was
pretty much the only member. Now, with the advent of
Facebook and it's own page, there are now 389 members!
Over the years, I've had various patches and stickers
made of the official flag. I designed the flag on a quiet,
cold day in the middle of winter at McMurdo. However,
I never had an actual "flag" made. Until now. I've
contracted with a company out of New York State to
have a really nice copy. One that will be strong enough
to put up with the wind down here and put up with the
elements. I plan to hoist it from several key places here
at McMurdo, but I also hope to have it before I make my
trip to the South Pole next month. I'd love for it to fly
at the bottom of the planet. I'm proud of my little group
and now it will have a flag worthy of the group itself.

Planning Redeployment

It's hard to believe, but the first Redeployment Meetings are
less than a month away. It seems like we just got here, and
now I'm planning not only my escape from the frozen south,
but the departure of 1000 or so other individuals as well.
Redeployment Meetings basically are a ninety minute session
describing what to expect when departing McMurdo and how
to fill out the paperwork necessary to do so. We have to hold
some people's hands more than others. Some folks that have
been coming down for years sometimes need the most help
with their paperwork, while others that are brand new can
make it through like a champ. My first step of the process
happened this week when I meeting space in the Galley in
Building 155. The Galley is the main room where everyone
eats, but it is also the largest room on Station and as a result,
large gatherings happen here. It's my job to coordinate the
travel section of the presentation, but presentations will also
be made by Housing, Finance and Human Resources. I act as
a defacto Master of Ceremonies for the whole event. We will
be having eight of these meetings during a 3-4 day period at
McMurdo and then I will be making the three hour flight to the
South Pole to help conduct the meetings there. I'll be getting
some help both at McMurdo and Pole from Janice, who is a
member of the Travel team in Christchurch. She'll be a
valuable resource since she can answer a lot of the questions
that I might not know the answers to. So there you go. This
time next month, I should be wrapping up the McMurdo stage
of the presentations and planning my trip to South Pole Station.
It's going to be a very busy couple of months after the holidays.

Ron Santo's in the HOF

Finally!

SPoT

Back in the day, we used to have almost 350 missions every
season to the South Pole. One reason is because they were
building the new Station there. The other was because almost
every mission late in the season was a tanker mission. This
means that each LC-130 was literally a flying gas tank, taking
valuable fuel that the South Pole needed for its very survival.
Then, several years ago, the first South Pole Traverse (SPoT)
trudged it's way to the Pole, literally carving an ice and snow
road all the way to the Pole for about 1200 miles. Their main
mission is to haul fuel to the Pole. This trip replaces many
many flights that would take three hours to fly to Pole each
way. This year's first Traverse took exactly a month to get
there, but typically the trip isn't that long. It's pretty much the
ultimate road trip, but there aren't any convenience stores or
gas stations along the way. Just hours and hours and miles
and miles of nothing but snow and ice. The Traverse crew
have to spend a lot of time together, driving, cooking and
entertaining each other. Hopefully not driving each other
crazy! Now a second Traverse is on its way and should
arrive around New Year's. It's far from a busy "highway", but
is on it's becoming more and more so every year!

Antarctic Tourism

We were surprised the other day to hear helicopter traffic outside
our window. It was a Sunday and there weren't supposed to be
any helo flights scheduled. It turns out that tourists had arrived
from the Kapitan Khlebnikov tourist ship and were visiting Hut
Point and the historic Hut. If it looks rather dangerous in the
photo, that's because it is! The helicopter and tourists are actually
walking on ice, over fairly deep water that is not as thick as it
should be this time of year. I'm happy to say that everyone had a
safe visit and the helo took off with no incidents.
We get visited in the Ross Sea Region by a couple of cruise ships
every year. When it's convenient, numbers of McMurdo residents
volunteer to lead tours of the town, including the station store,
science facilities, historic sites, etc. It's really the only way to see
McMurdo unless one is a member of the US or NZ Antarctic
programs. Most cruises also cost upwards of $10,000 to take.
It gives one a new appreciation of spending time here and being
able to take in the local attractions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All Seasons Cashel - Room 202

On February 22, 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck
Christchurch, New Zealand. Life has not been the same
for the citizens of the city. This includes many friends
we have made there over the years. Lynn was staying at
the All Seasons Cashel hotel in the Central Business
District when the quake struck. Because the entire area
was devastated, including her hotel, she was not allowed
to return and gather her belongings. Over the last
several months, almost all of the USAP people that were
staying in Christchurch at the time, have received their
belongings from hotels in which they were staying. All
but those staying at the All Seasons Cashel. Today,
(exactly 9 months after the earthquake) Lynn received
word that her belongings were being retrieved and that
they will be returned to her soon. We consider her very
lucky. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are
with the people of Christchurch.

The Perfect Gift for a King?

The King of Malaysia arrived today and will be spending
the next few days at Scott Base. Reportedly, one cannot
have alcohol or wear yellow near him. I wonder if he
would like this shirt! Probably not.

Evening Tea at Scott Base

It's always a pleasure to receive an invitation to a
meal at Scott Base. Especially when it's their evening
meal. While our food has been pretty good at McMurdo
this year, the Kiwis don't have to cook for 1100 people,
so it has a lot more of a personal touch. Our counterparts
and friends from Scott Base, David and Gid, invited the
day shift ATO office workers over for the evening. They
must have planned the meal in advance, because we had
real hamburgers and chips for dinner. Really delicious.
Like you would make at home, and not institutional.
Afterwards, I was able to practice my barista skills on
their espresso maker. After doing this for several years
now, it never has gotten easier to foam milk made from
powder! Everyone had an enjoyable time and far too soon
it was time to come home. I'm looking forward to our
next visit to our friendly Kiwi neighbors.

Baseball is Coming!

After several weeks of speculation, it was confirmed
that Grand Junction will be getting a minor league
baseball team! The team formerly known as the Casper
Ghosts will leave Wyoming and make their new home in
Grand Junction. A member of the Pioneer League, which
is classified as a Rookie League, the team will be part
of the Colorado Rockies organization and will play a
short season, starting this June. Most of these players
are right out of college or high school but some of them
will make it to the big leagues eventually. The team will
start its existence as the Rockies, but then a fan vote will
take place to give it a more unique, local name. It will
be a lot of fun to watch them play games at Suplizio
Field, as Grand Junction has been waiting to get a pro
team for a long time now.

Chock Your Seal

Cartoon by Matt Davidson
A few years ago, a Leopard Seal caused the death of
a British Antarctic scientist when it dragged her to the
bottom, while the scientist was studying it in the ocean.
While Leopard Seals can be seen as dangerous predators,
we only have rather docile Weddell Seals in the McMurdo
Sound region. Although apparently one Weddell acidentally
became non-docile. A scientist's leg was injured when the
Weddell innocently rolled over on them, precipitating this
really funny comic from local cartoonist Matt Davidson.
I've heard that someone is actually trying to devise a
"chock" system as a result and I shake my head rather
dubiously. An urban myth? Only time will tell.

Australians at McMurdo

Last week, McMurdo was visited by two groups of
Australians from the Australian Antarctic Division
(AAD) on their way to Casey Station. The AAD and
the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) has an
agreement in place where the AAD flies USAP personnel
from Christchurch to McMurdo via their A319 Airbus.
USAP then reciprocates by flying AAD personnel to
Casey via our LC-130s. This set up has been in place
for a couple of years now and it seems it is a win/win
situation for both parties. It was fun for us to see
all of the yellow-coated Australians enjoying themselves
at McMurdo. One of the two 26 person groups was delayed
for a couple of days due to bad weather here. It was
fun to imagine if we would be stranded at Casey for a
couple of days and were able to explore the area there.
Before he left, our friend Simon gave me a couple of
the 100 year commemorative patches for the AAD (pictured
above). Lynn and I have a special place in our hearts
for the AAD since we were able to receive a really nice
tour there last year during our visit to Hobart. I hope
the folks that were here felt just as welcome as we did.

McMurdo Birthday

Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday for the 6th time
in Antarctica. I feel much older than 6 years old,
but I'm pretty close to 6 years old in dog years I
guess. Anyway, the Air Services Reps were nice enough
to decorate the Flight Board in honor of my day and
also did some nice decorating in my desk area. As you
can see, my desk is a fairly bleak cubicle, so any
decorating certainly helps liven things up. When you're
on the Ice and from the United States, you technically
get two birthdays. One in Antarctica, and for me, one
in Colorado since it's nineteen hours behind us, on the
other side of the International Date Line. Our Kiwi
friend, Gid, from Scott Base brought me over a delicious
piece of chocolate mousse cake from the Kiwi baker in
honor of the day as well and everyone enjoyed it. I've
had more momentous birthdays, but this one was very
calm and enjoyable.

Happy Halloween!

Dumpster Diving

There are literally dozens of recycling categories here
at McMurdo and because we sort everything that is discarded,
65% of our waste we generate does not end up in a landfill.
In comparison, only 32.5% of total waste in the United
States is recycled. We pretty much live, breath, eat and
sleep recycling. We get used to seeing dumpsters outside
that have the familiar labels: Plastic, Glass, Wood, etc.
However, lately someone has gotten creative and created
several new dumpsters. One for "Glitter" and one for
"Urine Soaked Pants". I understand there are also dumpters
in town that are for "Dreams" and "Trashy Romance Novels"
but I haven't seen them yet. One thing I love about McMurdo
is there are always people mixing things up...keeping it
interesting!

The Ice Pier's Been Found!

Earlier in the year, when there was still open water
in McMurdo Sound, the Ice Pier broke away from its
moorings and drifted away. Most people thought that
it had either melted in the area or drifted far enough
north that it would melt in warmer waters. Apparently
not, as a helo mission spotted it between here and
Marble Point. It's still relatively intact, including
equipment and a Jamesway that were in place when it drifted
away. I've heard there are plans to remove the equipment
so hopefully the whole thing doesn't continue to drift
away or melt in the meantime. As it is, it's pretty
well locked into the Ice, so it should be at least a
couple of months from now. Now there is a new Ice
Pier in place at McMurdo that they hope to have ready
by the time the Re-Supply Vessel arrives in January.

2011-2012 Passenger Services

The last member of our Passenger Services team arrived on the
C-17 yesterday, so we are now a complete unit. Each person in
our group has a unique personality, so we have a bit of diversity.
I think that this will help keep us working well as a team.
Pictured in the front row are Jamie and Talia. In the back row
is Tricia, Christen and me. Jamie and Talia will start the first
half of the season on the day shift, working 6am to 6pm and
Tricia and Christen will start on the night shift, working 6pm
to 6am. They'll all be on 5 days a week. I will be working 6
days a week from 7:30am to 5pm. I miss those weekdays off,
but I get to have the same schedule as Lynn this year!

Home Again

Well, we're not really home. That would be our cozy
little house in Grand Junction. However, over the years we've
spent so much time in Antarctica, that our room in Dorm 208 is
our second home. After a couple of weeks for me, and a couple
of months for Lynn, we were finally able to move into our summer
home in Dorm 208 after our Winterover friend Mark left the room
and headed back to civilization. Of course, we have to do a
bit of furniture moving, box moving and general decoration to
make it "ours". It felt good to back in the neighborhood again.
Lynn was in a temporary room during the six weeks of Winfly, and
I joined her when I arrived several weeks ago. No more walking
down the hall to the bathroom since we share a bath with our two
suitemates. We also know most of our neighbors down the hall
since you have to have a fair amount of months with the program
to reside in this dorm. I'm looking forward to settling in.

Full Swing

photo by Jean Varner
We're almost two weeks into the summer season and
we've already had nine C-17 flights. There have
been very few weather delays and the station's
population has soared to 869 people! It definitely
feels like things are in full swing!

Back On The Ice

I landed today at McMurdo, marking my 12th season
on the Ice. It was really one of the easiest, most
uneventful trips I think I've ever had down here.
We did have a one day delay in Christchurch due to
the weather in McMurdo, but overall the whole trip
was pretty seamless. After two days of orientation
in Denver, we hopped on a relatively short flight to
Los Angeles and a six hour layover. Then a 13 hour
flight to Auckland, where I enjoyed some really good
airport sushi and then down to Christchurch. I'll
post some more photos of the damage in Christchurch
soon, but to sum it up in one word, that would be
"devastating". Having that extra day in Christchurch
meant that I was able to visit some of my favorite
places in Christchurch and then came the flight down
to the Ice. I was fortunate enough to fly again on
the Skytraders Airbus that is making trips courtesy
of USAP's agreement with the Australian Antarctic
Division. I sat in the exact same seat as my trip
down last year and got some fantastic photos of Mt.
Erebus and Ross Island on the approach to the brand
new Ice Runway. It was great to be reunited with Lynn
after six weeks and we settled into our cozy temporary
dorm room. We'll be making our permanent move in about
two weeks when our winter-over friend departs our
summer room. Until then...back to work!

Ten Years of Luggage Tags

I'm leaving in a couple of hours to start my journey to Antarctica.
it will be my 12th season overall and I'm looking forward to seeing Lynn,
old friends and getting to work.

Ten years ago, October 5th, we made it to the Ice for the first time It seems
like so long ago, yet it also seems to have gone by so quickly. Every year,
The United States Antarctic Program asks that each person place a luggage
tag on their bags that is provided by the program. We've kept at least one
of them from each year we've headed south. These luggage tags have
a lot of miles on them!

Fljúga frá Denver til Reykjavíkur

Beginning May 11, Icelandair will be making nonstop flights four days
a week from Denver to Reykjavik, Iceland. This is great news because
it offers a more economical way to get to Europe (Icelandair connects
to over 20 different cities in Europe) as well as an easier opportunity
to visit Iceland itself. This is one of the places (along with the rest of

Scandinavia) that we've always wanted to visit. We're looking forward

to the opportunity to use Icelandair!

The Big Peach

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson
New York City is known as "The Big Apple". Maybe Grand Junction should
now be known as "The Big Peach". Grower Robert Helmer is holding a peach
that was recently harvested in the Grand Valley that weighs a whopping
1.5 pounds! The size of a softball, he can barely hold it in his hands.
The average peach bought in grocery stores weighs just .5 pounds so, this
is a pretty big one! However, it fell just short of the record, as a peach once
harvested in Michigan grew to 1.6 pounds. Maybe next year...

My Neighbors are Number 1

For the last six weeks, the Grand Junction Tigers high school football
team has been practicing. Very long practices. I know this because
the high school is adjacent to our house and they are on the field all the
time. At least it seems like it. Now it appears that all their hard work
in the hot weather is paying off and they are ranked Number 1 in the
State of Colorado for 5A football teams. This is a big deal because rarely,

if ever, are teams from the Western Slope ranked Number 1. I hope they

continue to play well!

I Am An American

These were my favorite commercials that came out shortly after 9/11.

Like a Virgin

Grand Junction Regional Airport is served by six major

airlines. However, Virgin America is not one of them.

Well, not until today that is. Apparently a Virgin America

flight, traveling from San Francisco to New York with

117 people aboard had to make an emergency landing

very early this morning in Grand Junction after one

of its two engines failed. There weren't any injuries

and everyone was placed in hotels and fed before getting

back on a replacement plane this afternoon. I'm pretty

sure that Virgin America won't be adding GJT to it's

small list of North American airports served anytime in

the near future, so this was kind of a treat to see this

plane in our vicinity.

No Fortune in My Cookie!

I went out to dinner last night with Leslie and Gina and at the
end of the meal, we were given three fortune cookies. Gina
pointed out that the decision was made for us, whose cookie
was whose since the waitress placed one in front of each of us.

But...my cookie contained NO FORTUNE!

How will I know which direction my life will take?

What are my lucky numbers?

I don't know how I will cope without these answers. This is the
second time in my life this has happened to me. What does
this mean!?!?

Look What I Won!

When you're addicted to travel, but not a wealthy person, you have
to save money anywhere you can. That's one of the reasons I read
Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations Blog. He provides some great
insight about where to go if you don't have a lot of money, yet still
have a great experience in that destination. As a travel writer, I'm
sure Tim acquires quite a few travel gadgets in his travels and
occasionally, he gives some of them away. A few weeks ago, Tim
was giving away some items and I saw something that had my name
on it! It was a Laptop Sleeve made by Woolrich. Woolrich is kind
of the Pendleton Woolen Mills of the east and they've been famous
for making woolen goods for many years.

According to Tim:
"A PR person from Woolrich gave it to me at a trade show and it would
really make a statement to pull this wool laptop sleeve out in a coffee
shop in Burlington, Montreal, or Seattle. But for the foreseeable future
I’m living in warm and sunny places…You can’t buy this sleeve in a store.
It’s something they made special in the factory for a giveaway. It fits
13-inch laptops and netbooks."

Several days ago, I received an email from Tim that I had won the
laptop sleeve. Woo Hoo! Today I received it in the mail. Taking it
with me to Antarctica this season will definitely be putting it to good use!