It's How Far???

This morning, I received my itinerary for heading down to the Ice.
This will be my sixth summer season and in addition to my six winters,
I will be entering my twelfth season in Antarctica. I'll be leaving on
September 27th, with an on-Ice date of October 3rd. Often, I'll tell
people where I work and I'll get one of the two W's. People will say
"Wow" or more often than not, "Why?" Either way, most people can't
wrap their head around just how far McMurdo Station, Antarctica is
from the United States, let alone the logistics involved of getting there.
I found an excellent mapping program called "Great Circle Mapper"
that will actually let you connect dot-to-dot how far it is between
the world's airports (including those in Antarctica!) I used this to
illustrate just how far it is. I live in Colorado, so my trip is actually
shorter than flying from say, Maine. Several friends of mine have this
distance to fly so I feel their pain! As for me, it will be 10,426 miles of

flying. 8,041 of which I will get frequent flyer miles. Why not the

additional 2,385? Because these are flown from Christchurch, New

Zealand to McMurdo on a U.S. Air Force C-17 or an Airbus A319 CJ

operated by the Australian Antarctic Division. Unfortunately these

fine organizations don't give frequent flyer miles. This total

distance will take 23 hours of flying time. This doesn't include layovers,

delays, scheduled stops, etc. Just flying time! So there you go. It is

indeed a long, long trip, and I'll be making it in just over three weeks

from now.

You Can't Buy an Accurate Map

A few months ago, we purchased a really nice laminated copy of
National Geographic's Map of The World to place on our wall. Little
did we know then that it would be obsolete so quickly. At this
moment, you can't buy an accurate World Map...anywhere! Even
Google doesn't show South Sudan on either Google Maps or
the very popular Google Earth. Not yet at least. That's because
South Sudan gained their independence this weekend and map
makers haven't caught up yet. There are now (by most sources)
196 countries in the world. Too bad most maps still show only 195.

Catching Up With Chin

A few weeks ago, I re-connected with my good friend from
Purdue, Sungchin. It's pretty amazing how you can lose track
of friends over the years and with just a few emails, it's like
you just talked yesterday. It's a comfort thing I guess. Anyway,
Chin and his family are now living in Shanghai China where
Chin is an engineer with a joint venture automotive company
called Shanghai General Motors. He tells me that the language

barrier can sometimes be difficult, but most of the engineers

he works with speak English. Chin always made me laugh and

now is no exception. He said he was hesitant to go to China

because he had a vision of everyone wearing Chairman Mao

clothing and carrying little red books! It turns out, it couldn't

be further from the truth, as Shanghai is probably the most

capitalist place he has ever seen with everyone trying to become

wealthy, buying luxury clothes and cars. They also keep building

more and more new skyscrapers every year. I'm glad I re-connected

with Chin. I'm looking forward to chatting more in the future!

A Visit From Carrie

Our friend Carrie stopped by yesterday and spent the day
with us today. For the next several months, she's taking
classes and completing training at Solar Energy International
in Carbondale Colorado. It's only about 90 minutes from
our house, so we hope to see her several times this summer!
It sounds like an excellent program and she'll be learning
all about solar power units and installation. She'll even
be taking some additional classes with the program in
Costa Rica later in the summer.

Counties Visited Map

A few months ago, I came across a fun, yet slightly geeky way
to determine where you've been in the United States. It's called
Counties Visited Map. It's easy to say I've been to this state or I've
been to that state, but this really helps you see exactly where you've
been. I found it interesting that I've driven across many interstates
across the middle of the country and almost every county in several
states, but it's quite evident that I haven't visited any of the
Northeast. I also have three more states west of the
Mississippi to visit. These are places I will visit someday.

Back in the Desert

If you go north, south or west of Grand Junction, you will
find yourself in the Desert. For the most part, there is very
little vegetation and it's just plain dry. For some reason
though, I feel very comfortable in this environment. Lynn
and I took a drive today into the desert north of town near
the Bookcliffs and it was wonderful! I'm looking forward
to exploring more of the desert this summer!

The Powell Family Theatre

My friends, Christine and Antz, invited me over to their house
in Southshore (less than a block from the beach) for dinner
and a movie at the Powell Family Theatre (PFT). The PFT
actually rotates in location. I've visited it before on the Ice,
but this is my first time in NZ. The theatre basically just
consists of really comfy chairs, a projection screen and
great projection theatre and sound system. We watched
Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp. Of course, I forgot
my camera, so I didn't get any photos of their nice house,
but since they're both very tech savvy, I figured they would
enjoy a photo I made of their house using Google Maps
Streetview!

Transitions

Last "night" the South Pole closed for the season
and as a result, I am no longer needed in the Air
Services office from 6pm to 6am. All flight from
now on will be during the day. Day and Night are
still relative terms, since the first sunset
doesn't occur for another week or so. However,
it is definitely starting to feel like winter here
as my small red jacket has been abandoned for the
season and Big Red has made it's way into my
wardrobe. Over the next 24 hours I'll be moving
into "Day" mode and away from the "wandering the
station in the middle of the night" mode. Back
amongst the living.

Culverts

Way back in the day, the founding fathers of McMurdo
had a bit of foresight and built a series of culverts,
draining the mudhole that McMurdo can become. It would
be a far more mucky place than it is with the amount of
runoff that we experience each year. A GA named Steve
actually put together a guide this season to the 25 or
so culverts and I have him to thank for this information.


My favorite culvert (if someone can have a favorite
culvert) is Culvert #1. This is the one that runs
under the road to Hut Point and without it, a large
part of town near the fuel pumps would be a swamp.


I've seen huge amounts of water go through this thing.
This is a relative trickle.


This would be a great place for a kayaker to shoot the
rapids...and a great splashdown at the bottom as it
drops into Winter Quarters Bay!

McMurdo 1967

Click on map to enlarge

I came across this map the other day, showing
McMurdo in 1967. It sure has changed quite a
bit! There are a few buildings that are still
here but most are not. Anyway, it makes for
an interesting view for Map nerds out there
like me.

Detail

Apparently there needs to be a floorplan
for every building. This is the floorplan
on station for Building 168, which holds
automotive parts. Probably not a problem
with running into walls or anything here...

Outdoor Safety

Tonight I attended Outdoor Safety Class. This
is the class/lecture/presentation you have to
attend if you want to do anything outside here.
By outside, I mean hike trails, etc. I really
want to hike the Ob Hill Loop this year and at
least part of the Hut Ridge Trail. I guess I
better start hitting the treadmill at the gym
if I want this to happen. Especially with the
holidays upon us!

The Lost Day

I have to write this entry after the fact. Why? you ask...
Because I didn't get it...I missed it. I was in a plane
crossing the International Date Line from East to West.
Or is that from West to East. I'll get this day back in
late February. One good thing about this September
day that I've missed? Our friends, Deb and Glenn had
a baby today. Welcome to the world little Laura!

DEN+LAX+SYD+CHC=UGH!

I'm sitting in Denver at the airport and I'm wishing that the
next 24 hours were over. That's how long I'll either be
flying or waiting in airports over the next day. 19 of those
in the air. After bidding Lynn goodbye at the curb, I started
this journey. A very long time from now, I will be in
Christchurch.

Unaweep-Tabeguache Byway

Today's schedule:
1. Breakfast at Lois' Place
2. Post Office to mail book I sold on Amazon.com
3. Fill the gas tank
4. Show Lynn where Salvation Army store is located
5. Start to pack for the Ice

Ok, numbers 1-4 went exactly as planned. No hitches.
However...we started to drive around Grand Junction,
looking at areas of town we hadn't seen before. We
found ourselves in the tiny town of Whitewater, just
south of Grand Junction and pulled out onto the highway.
Only it wasn't the highway going back the very short
distance to Grand Junction. It was the much longer
highway toward the even smaller town of Gateway on
the Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway.
Colorado has 24 Scenic and Historic Byways located
around the state and several of them are near Grand
Junction. Of course, since the trip was a spur of the
moment occasion, I didn't have my camera along (duh)
so you'll have to take my word for it that it's an
amazingly beautiful drive. We drove through hours
of stark sandstone canyons, river-carved valleys and
fantastic vistas. Lots of history too, as we saw remnants
of old mines and even the remnants of a whole town
that was dedicated to mining Uranium (some of which
was used in the Manhattan Project in World War II).
Even better, it was the first big test for our new little
car and it performed like a champ! Just over 35 mpg
and we didn't even use a half tank of gas! If you're
coming to Colorado, this is definitely an off the
beaten path roadtrip that is worth your time!

For more information, visit the official website for
Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway

http://www.utbw.org/

A Hazy Shade of Summer

Although the skies started to clear a bit today, it's been
horribly hazy here in Grand Junction. You get used to that
in places like Denver and Phoenix where the smog can get
out of hand. However, this isn't smog. It's smoke. Smoke
from the big forest fires in Southern California. On Tuesday,
you couldn't see The Bookcliffs from downtown and the
Monument was starting to disappear from our backyard
view.
Why would fires so far away be causing so much haze in
Grand Junction you ask? See that line on the map, leading
from Southern California all the way to Colorado?
That line represents strong southwest winds.
The smoke is rising to about 17,000 feet in elevation
and has yet to reach the jet stream so that it will clear
out. The fires are so big that the smoke is making it
all the way to Colorado. It actually decreases the amount
of sunshine reaching the ground and has lowered temperatures
by one degree. So now that the haze is starting to clear, we're
left with some pretty sunsets.

Wide World of Maps

After spending the morning at the pool, we went to one of
my favorite get my geek on places. Wide World of Maps!
I've been going here since the early 90's when I first started
visiting Arizona but I had never been to the Scottsdale store.
This place has everything for a cartography or geography nut!
I could have spend thousands of dollars here, but alas, left
with a new Phoenix highway map.

Home Again, Home Again

Jiggity Jig. A long day of flying and several airports later,
we are back in Grand Junction. At least for a few days.
You would think that our stay in Ecuador would have been
hot, but being at over 9000 feet, it was relatively cool.
When we landed at the airport here at home, it was
99 degrees!

¡Adiós Perú!

After a long day of traveling, first from
Cusco to Lima, where we´ll find ourselves in
the familiar (3 times now) situation of sleeping
in the airport, we´ll catch a flight at 3AM for
Quito. We´ve really enjoyed our stay in Peru
and maybe someday we´ll be back.

Xeriscaping

xeri·scape
Pronunciation: \ˈzir-ə-ˌskāp, ˈzer-\
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized
Date: 1985
: a landscaping method developed especially for
arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water-conserving techniques (the use of drought-tolerant plants,
mulch, and efficient irrigation)

OK...let's face it. Our yard doesn't look very good.
Grand Junction gets only eight inches of rain per year.
This is not an area that should have lush, green yards.
Good thing, because ours if failing miserably in this
category. Yes, it's only April and most yards here look
this badly, but ours unfortunately won't get much better
as the summer progresses. Mowing the green weeds
doesn't really produce the desired effect.


For the past couple of years, we've tossed about the idea
of xeriscaping our yard. Since we live in a desert, our yard should
look like it. We got together with a landscaper who's work we
liked, got an estimate (not as cheap as we hoped, but about
what we expected), and work will begin next week. It will not
only improve our curb appeal (along with the property value),
it's good for the earth since we're not wasting precious water.
I'll hopefully show photos when it's completed.