Turf in Antarctica?: 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 5^th. 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 8^th 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.

One of my roommates will be leaving here on Monday so chances are I will have a new roommate in the near future, which isn’t bad. I am glad that I have the 3 roommates that I do; we all get along great and haven’t had any problems as some of my other coworkers have. This has made living here great, I will miss Alyx and the fun times we have all had. Best of luck to you Alyx, it has been fun living and partying with you. Natalie flew in with us back in October and just flew out yesterday after spending 3 months working at the Bryd field camp. More friends will be flying out over the next 2 weeks, staying behind is going to be hard but I am glad that I have a few great friends hanging back with me to make things even better. It will be weird here with a small station population.