Well 132 days have gone by since I got on to the "Rock". What can I say other than it has been an incredible ride. I am glad that I took the chance to come down here and work for 4 months, I am glad that I met a whole lot of new people and made new friends out of this experience. I hope that you all have enjoyed it just as much as I have. If all goes well I will be flying out of here tomorrow on a C-17 or Christchurch. NZ around 3:00 pm and will get back into the real world after 8:30 pm. After that it is a few days to relax and take care of a few things and than head for Queenstown, NZ for a few than onto Wellington, NZ where I will see some friends from my time in Vail. After that I will go to Sydney, for 4 days than to Honolulu for 4 and will be back in Denver on March 20th. I hope to see everyone again after the 20th, over some good food and drinks again.
Oh Yeah and my surprise is looks like I will be working for the Colorado Rockies this summer on the grounds crew.
One more things, my hair has grown back so I will be looking normal and will be getting a haircut in Christchurch. Thank goodness for my genes, I didn't make that big of a mistake.
Tim
I will post more pictures from my vacation and of Antarctica when I get home,
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Last week! :(
So as I write this post for my blog I am spending my last night with my roommate Dale. I got here to McMurdo on October 21, 2011, 123 days ago with Dale. I met Dale and Mike one of my other roommates for the first time on October 16 back in Denver at our orientation. Since than it has been quite the ride of emotions for me, there have been highs and lows, happiness and sadness, excitement and being scared. Dale leaves here tomorrow and I will hopefully follow behind him in one week. I was originally scheduled to leave on February 22, but I chose to stay behind another week to help out. I realize now that maybe I shouldn’t have. Being a first year person down here the wave of emotions that I have been through over the past week since the mass exodus of personal from my department, my friends I have realized just how much I miss them and wish I was traveling with them right now.
The February 22 flight also has one of my best friends from this experience on it, I know that tomorrow when I say goodbye to Alysa that it will not be easy but I also know that I will see her again in Denver. When I leave on March 1st, I know that it will not be easy for my other friends Cindy and Grant who are staying behind and wintering down here. If it were not for Alysa and Cindy becoming such special friends of mine I know that I wouldn’t have had the great time that I did here. The three of us have shared many a laughs, stories about family and home, played games, danced, drank, cried and hiked together. I feel very lucky to have had them in my life down here.
My roommates what more could be said about them. I didn’t know that I would be rooming with Dale when we flew down together, I am glad that I did. Dale is the youngest of the three roommates and is from Virginia. Mike was the oldest and wasn’t even supposed to be in our room. When we got here, he was put into a room on the lower level of the main housing building, which is commonly called transient housing. He was in a room with 5 other individuals and didn’t even have place to put away his clothes. Alyx came to McMurdo from Pennsylvania. I was the first one to meet Alyx, and asked him if he would be okay if Mike moved in with us. He was okay with it along with Dale and that is how the four of us became roommates. The four of us were different in our characters that we worked out well enough we never had any form of problem with each other. I am truly glad that we were put together in our room so that we to could share stories, laugh and learn from each other the same way Alysa, Cindy and I did.
Others that I flew in with and had just as much of great time with them are Dacre, Monica and Dave, Chris, Kristen, Monica S, Raphael, Keith, Natalie, Rob and Cindy. I was told by a friend who had worked down here before that I would make new friends here and that we would have many great memories together and would be friends for a long time. It is weird how being isolated from the rest of the world how you become such great friends with others, you trust them with your life, and you share stories about your families, life experiences. We became our own little family. As I look back at our time here I wish that I had taken more group photos of us so I could remember everyone a little better.
I began this posting on Tuesday night, now as I finish it is Sunday morning here, My week has gotten better as the sadness of Wednesdays flight has worn off. I got a chance to see my first Adelie penguin up close and a chance to help out a friend from here by getting a picture of me holding a sign saying “Hi Nick” on it for a family friend child of his who just found out that he has cancer and probably will not make it. Mark left the ice the day of the diagnosis and wasn’t able to get it himself. I also assisted with line handling again for the icebreaker and I got to ride out on one of the causeway tugs to the ice pier to help untie. It was fun getting out onto the open water along side the big resupply vessel to untie the breaker. I was also able to help out with line handling the resupply vessel as well, but this time it was a cold one. We were stuck on the ice pier for over an hour waiting to tie the vessel up so that they could finish loading the rest of the causeway system onboard. With the vessel leaving it means that the store can sell alcohol again and the bars will open up again. It is sort of like Christmas for us down here when this happens.
Well I hope that you all have enjoyed my blog this season. I hope to make one more posting before I leave on Thursday with more information about my stay here and where I plan on going for a little vacation as well as a little announcement about my next adventure. So till than I hope this finds everyone well.
Tim
Some pictures of my Ice Family
This was taken on Alysa suprise birthday party. We all worked together on the same shift.
Working front to back left to right we have, Chuck, Kristen, Kristy, Lisa, Twan,Gift, Alysa, Craig, Ben, Ray, Myself, Dave and Dacre. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with.
Kristen and Myself, what a great friend to have. An excellent cook and a great personality to be around.
This was taken on our first day of work. This is most of everybody who flew in with us that were working in Cargo. Kristen and Dave were busy working. Today all the snow that is surrounding us has melted off, but it is just as cold.
Kristen and Myself, what a great friend to have. An excellent cook and a great personality to be around.
This is most of the cargo department on New Years.
Kristy and myself. Kristy was a shuttle driver that took us to work at the airfield, she is intersted in coming to work in cargo for next year.
Monica and Dave. I am glad that I got to know these two on our travels together. A great support crew on bad days to have.
Chris was a senior on the other shift. I didn't get to spend much time with him here, but I was glad to have travelled with him and got a chance to know him in Denver. Probably my first friend I had coming down here. Natalie was a sous chef at a field camp, we got many treats from her kitchen sent back here to enjoy. A talented young lady in the kitchen, I hope to some day go to a resturaunt that she is working in and enjoy her cooking again.
in this lovely group we have Dave, Kristen and Alysa. Monica in on the right, we flew in together, she worked on the same team as Cindy and Chris. A great person to know and share stories with. Danny was the Airfield supervisor, you could always count on Danny to make sure everyone was going to have a great time off shift.
Myself with Mike on the left and Dacre on the right. Dacre and I were both apprentices down here and learned a lot but also showed that we were hard workers and deserving of the Boondoggles that we got. Mike was one of my roommates and was also a shuttle bus driver, I know that all three of us will spend time together again in Colorado enjoying the best state to live in.
My Happy Camper Family. Grant is in the red jacket on the left next to Dacre.
A little ATO department hike to top of Castle Rock on New Years Eve. For 11 of us this was our first time to the top.
Myself with Natalie right before she flew out. The first of many goodbyes to come, came on this day.
Myself with Tricia, she was one of our Air Passenger Services represenatives. What a great person, fun, outgoing and someone who you could go to just to talk with if you were having a bad day. I hope to make it to Alaska this summer to see her again.
This was taken on our first day of work. This is most of everybody who flew in with us that were working in Cargo. Kristen and Dave were busy working. Today all the snow that is surrounding us has melted off, but it is just as cold.
The ATO Softball team. We may have only won 1 game, but we had a great time playing otherwise. Here is hoping we can play again next year.
Dale and I climbed OB Hill last week one last time. Dale and I were the last 2 of the 4 roommates to till be here. I couldn't have asked for a bette roommate. Thank you Dale for listening to me and supporting me those last few days you were here. I am truly indebted to you for it. I wish you the best of luck in your travels home and in your new adventures.
What can I say about these two lovely ladies. Cindy on the right and I flew in together and got to know each other real quick. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have gotten to know some other great individuals down here. Game night was a regular for us at the beginning of the season. Alysa, what can I say, this adventure wouldn't have been the same without her. Having her on the same cargo team and shift made the time fly by. I am glad that I have gotten the chance to know her and experince life here with her. I feel that I have a true friend for life now from our experiences.
Now for a few from the past few weeks.
The Green Wave, the resupply vessel. The small boat at the bottom is a support tug for the mobile causeway system. I got to ride on it to help untie the Ice Breaker from the ice pier.
I climb OB Hill one more time. This time I got the hero shot from the top.
We had quite the snow storm here last weekend. This is a little look outside my dorm room window looking out toward the water. The snow outside our window drifted to about 3 feet deep on the roof from the entry way right below us.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
22 days to go.
So as of today I have 22 days left here at McMurdo. This past week has been very busy for my team at the airfield. We had C-17 flights scheduled for every day that we worked along with a Boeing 757 on Thursday. It has been quite the learning experience for us and a fun one at that. I got the opportunity to run the loaded hooked up to the sled to download a 20' mil van loaded with explosives and a 40' freezer mil van. I also got to tour the Nathaniel B. Palmer a research ship for the NSF. It was a nice to see inside the ship and see where the research happens and what equipment that they use. I also got to see the ice pier get freed from its moorings by explosives so that the resupply vessel can come in.
Not much else has happened this week here. Till next time.
The 40' mil van
The 20' mil van with explosives
Waiting behind the plane for the 20' mil van
Ramp is opening
The sun is getting lower in the sky at night now.
The Nathaniel B. Palmer
Walking to the Palmer via the ice pier
Looking out to where the Ice Runway was when we got here
The bridge of the Palmer
How we get the luggage off the 757
The Kiwi 757
The Ice Pier in its new location
The 40' mil van being craned onto the Kress
The 40' mil van coming out of the plane
The C-17 and the mil- van
The ice pier explosion
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Nearing the end!
Wow where has the time gone? It is hard to believe that just a little over 3 ½ months ago I started this trip. October ended with me being in Antarctica, I have seen November, December and now January come and go under the sun light of 24 hours of sun. I know that I will see the sun set for the first time in 2012 here at McMurdo on February 21, and even a few more chances after that. I am currently scheduled to leave here now on March 5th. This date may change even later due to the resupply vessel problems, I will find out on Monday. Between now and when I leave, many new friends will leave here and begin their travels before heading back home. I am glad to know that I will be staying behind with a few good friends and coworkers to make the last few weeks more enjoyable knowing the good times that others are having before me. So as it stands now I hope to be back home around April 8th so that I can make it to the Rockies home opener. I think that everyone will understand if I don’t make it home by than knowing that I am still on vacation.
Now a little catching up to do, since it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post a lot has happened. I saw my first penguin up close an Emperor at that. I got a boondoggle to a fuel cache on the continent and off Ross Island. I helped tie up and un-tie the fuel resupply vessel. I worked my first C-17 flight, ate one heck of a Cheeseburger, and drank my fair share of Fat Tire now that it is out on station. So needless to say I have been very happy recently and realized just how lucky I am to be here now in this moment. My hair is growing back nicely, I no longer look like a freak and people are starting to recognize me again. So looking normal will be possible once I leave here. I also realized that when I get off the “Rock” that I may just have to find myself a nice little spa to hit up cause a nice massage and pampering after all this hard work here and leading up to coming here my body could use a little vacation itself.
The penguin at the airfield
A Condition 2 storm white out
Drifts that formed over about 20 minutes
A while in the warf
The fuel tanker being pulled out
The tanker tied up
The sun if starting to get lower
My hair is coming back
After tying up the tanker
A South Pole Traverse Challenger
Me and my first penguin
The fuel cache after dig out
The Basler that took us to Roadend, it is a DC-3
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