Pickings were kind of slim today so after dinner we headed over to the club for a geography bee. I know it sounds kind of hokey but what the heck it was a slow night. We started out with about 40 people and some very hard questions. I finished 5th but out of the money my eleventh grad geography teacher Ms. Vogland would have been proud.

On a weather note we have had fabulous weather recently. Yesterday the high was 48 (that’s above zero Fahrenheit) with no wind. I thought seriously about breaking out the swim suit to soak up a little sun before heading off to Tahiti.

The question on everyone’s lips is when are you leaving? The flight schedule, which dictates when everything ends, is becoming finalized. Where you going or what are are you doing when you leave come in second and third. It’s like musical chairs and the music has just started playing.

There is still some testiness in the air. I think of it as reverse cabin fever. The last big party is the Helo Hanger BBQ. That’s Saturday night and is the talk of the town. I find myself having happy/sad melancholy thoughts as the end nears….

Okay I know I’ve told you it’s a fairly eclectic group of people down here and I’ve been to some interesting presentations but this one may take the cake. I went to a “lecture” last night given by a professional hitchhiker. His name is Ben and he has a sponsor and a web site: www.digihitch.com. I haven’t checked the site out yet but I will. He had all kinds of rules for hitchhiking including planning before you start your trip, what to pack, what to wear, where to hitch, best places to get picked up, assessing the driver etc. Ben has an independent movie being made about him that will start traveling to film festivals in the spring of 2007. At the end of his presentation he showed the trailer for the movie. One part of the presentation was about women hitching. Ben talked some and gave some guidelines and then had a fellow hitchhiker named Lizzie talk about some of her adventures in over 4 yeas of hitchhiking. One of the things I thought was very funny was the hitchhiker who used a 5 gallon plastic gas can for a suitcase. It was cut down the middle and hinged with a latch on top. The whole evening was thoroughly entertaining and fit right in with everything that has happened to me here. Normally I wouldn’t pick up a hitchhiker but at least now I know what to look for in a “good” hitcher. I can also say I have never hitched in my life but who knows? By the way apparently this is becoming a sport (maybe for the next Olympics) it seems Sweden and Russia have hitchhiking teams. Amazing!

The Coast Guard Ice Breaker Polar Sea pulled into port at the ice pier tonight. The crew earned a trip into town and the Captain invited us (Mac Town folk) to visit the ship. We were assigned a young sailor to escort us through the ship. It was quit a tour. They let us go pretty much everywhere except “officer country” and the engine room. Life aboard the ship looks pretty good for the mixed male/female crew. The ship is based in Seattle and is used primarily for ice breaking in Antarctica. They stopped in Hawaii and Australia on the way here.

A few facts about the ship. The Polar Sea and her sister ship Polar Star are the largest ships in the Coast Guard fleet and the world’s most powerful non-nuclear icebreakers. The ship was built by Lockheed and commissioned in 1978. It has six diesel-electric engines and three gas turbines for breaking thick ice that power three propellers. The ships crew consists of 14 officers and 130 crew. Enough facts.

Although I spent 4 years in the Navy myself I managed to dodge being assigned to a ship. I wouldn’t go back and change anything but I think it would have been interesting to have been on one.

Just when I think I’m running out of new things to do something else pops up. Ever since I came here I’ve been seeing postings on the community bulletin board for meetings of the RIYCA. On close inspection I found out it is the Ross Island Yacht Club of Antarctica. I’ve been trying to get to a meeting but rotating shifts have kept me out. Finally tonight I was able to attend my first meeting. Shortly after I arrived and met the members of the club two members of the Oden crew walked in and speaking very good English tinged with a Swedish accent they told us about their boat and how it worked. Before they left they invited us to come down to the pier for a tour of the boat. Following a short business meeting we viewed a DVD advertising a sailing school and the real treat of the evening was an old National Geographic VHS taped movie titled “Irving Johnson High Seas Adventurer”. If you are a sailor or ever dreamed about sailing you MUST get this movie and watch it. Believe me you will love it and may find yourself running off to sail around the world. For my wife Deni the Commodore’s name of our Club is Deanny.

One other quick note while I’m recommending things. My wife sent me a book recently that I mentioned in a blog not long ago. I read it today and if you need a quick pick me up in your life get it and read it. (It’s a short read I read it while doing my laundry) It is written by the author of “Tuesdays with Morrie” Mitch Albom. The title of this book is “for one more day”. Try it you’ll like it.

The new pictures are in the gallery check them out. The picture on this page is a Skua with her chick.

Peace and Quiet
I took a 4 mile hike today from Hut Point up to Arrival Heights. The hike takes you from sea level up to about one thousand feet above sea level. I passed a Skua nest and clearly saw the chick walking around. Dad arrived while I was watching and brought a small fish (about 3 inches long) for the chick. He dropped it in front of and showed the chick how to peck at it to get inside for some good “innards”. Mom was squawking at me most of the time letting me know I was well inside her personal space and comfort zone. As I headed up the trail I found another Skua nest but it was at the top of a small hill so I elected not to bother them. Along the path I found a piece of petrified wood. It was interesting to look at with the bark and growth rings clearly visible. While you can pick up and examine these things we are strictly forbidden from removing them from their natural location. A good friend or ours, Robert, Bonsai’s plants and asked me to find a good “potting rock” for a plant. I found one today but again I wasn’t able to take it with me. I did photograph it so at least he can get a look at it.

When I arrived at the end of the trail, a place called “Arrival Heights”, I found a big piece of lava and sat down. The thing that impressed me most he besides the incredible view is the silence. There is absolute silence up here. The only sound is the sounds you make, your breathing, and the crash of your footsteps in the void of noise, amazing! Oddly before I left I heard a car horn honk from some where miles away on the ice. What an odd out of place noise to disturb the silence. There is a certain peace to be found in the silence here in this place that has never known war or conflict of any kind (other than that exhibited by some of the goobers in Mac Town).

As I walked back and looked over the desolate terrain I imagined I was walking on the moon. How must it have felt for those explorers to walk on that far away place? As I got near Mac Town it was easy to again hear the sounds of habitation. Sometimes familiar sounds can be comforting as well.

Pictures are coming. Hope to have them on this afternoon.