Sunday morning the research vessel/ice breaker Nathanial B Palmer pulled into port at the ice pier. The vessel predominately conducts various kinds of scientific research in the Southern Ocean. (Our guide said they made one trip to the Arctic Ocean several years ago)

The tour was very interesting and our guide shared with us some of the harrowing events they had experienced like a recent serious onboard fire, a mini tidal wave they suffered when a dying ice shelf (global warming) they were close to calved and other less scary events.

The living quarters were nice but not quit as nice as the accommodations on the Oden. The bridge, as always, is a great place to visit and the view is awesome. I remember thinking as I disembarked that I have spent more time on ships in Antarctica than I did in four years in the Navy.

As a side note, earlier in the day at brunch I met a woman who had just arrived on station to winter over. She has been here for nineteen seasons but to me more interesting was that she graduated in 1968 from Hopkins High School, one of our cross town rivals. I graduated from Robbinsdale High School in 1969. One of the pleasures of getting old is occasionally finding someone older than you are.

One additional note I had a request for some panoramic pictures from the control tower at Williams Field. Check the Gallery for them.