Another Month Passes by......

....... without a blog entry. Oh well, no excuses this time. I'll just get right into an update. It is going to be a general update again or it will take me days. I'm also pretty sure if you are interested in reading my blog you probably don't want to read a book.

Life on the ice is really really great. Already counting down to the end. I'll be leaving Feb 18 which is now just four weeks away. I remember this point last season and not really wanting to leave. I am ready to leave despite all the fun I am having again this year. I think I'm just so pumped to be traveling Southeast Asia after I'm done here that I am anxious to be done with the next four weeks. I know there are going to be great times left here so I'm trying my best to not think too far forward and live for these next four weeks.

So here are the best moments of the last month.

McMurdo Softball

- The below pictures were from the Softball game right before Christmas. In years past they used a wide open space in town aptly named the ballpark to host the game. Four teams signed up for play with the Shuttles Department as the definite underdog. We don't exactly have the most athletic group of people working in the Shuttles department. Some of our players had never played the game before. So we were not expected to do all that well. Game day weather turned out to be perfect, as almost every day in December was perfect. There was no wind and the temperature was above freezing. There were hotdogs on a grill, bear, and stands for the fans. It was a really good time. As the game started out we took an early lead and we couldn't believe it. Unfortunately we had some bad innings with some errors and gave up an 8 run inning that ultimately resulted in our defeat. However, in the top of the ninth down six runs we rallied and if it wasn't for a perfect throw to third to stop the triple we had a chance. We lost 14-13. Oh, and it would have been tied if it wasn't for a ridiculous call at home plate where the runner was tagged but the Ump missed it (they were roommates so a little conspiracy was hatched).

The Shuttles Softball team - We would could have been contenders

Playing Third Base

I think the above is right after I struck out at my first at bat. Pretty embarrassing but at least I redeemed myself later without getting out again.

Soccer at McMurdo

One of the greatest things about McMurdo are the recreational activities offered here. There is soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, basketball, a cardio gym, a weight room, yoga classes, guts and buts, body pump, boot camp, Spanish club, and four organized runs outside. I do a few of these with soccer as the most important of all of them. At the beginning of the year I decided to form a team since I lost Deb, Matt, and Jami from last year's team. I recruited Shuttle Brandon, the boyfriend of another Shuttle Driver Nick, and the brother of a former Shuttle Driver Whit. I asked without knowing how good they were. And they were all good. Before the season started we had a pick up game and also asked another Nick to play on our team because he was good too. Turned out we had a team that just dominated. Over the 10 games we played we scored into the 40's while our opponents were in the teems. Last week was tournament time and because we dominated so much the other players decided to break up our team and randomly draw teams. The pictures below are from the games I played at tournament time. Yeah, my hair is getting really long and shaggy. I kind of like it so I'm going to keep it until it gets too be too hot in Asia.

Scott's Hut Run

The first Sunday after New Year's was the Scott's Hut Run. It is a 5.25 mile run to the historic Scott's hut and then up the big hill towards Scott Base, back down the hill too the hut, and then back into McMurdo for the finish. It was a good weather day and I had a good run. It has been nice to be able to participate in the runs McMurdo has to offer. This year I was able to volunteer my time and help out with all four runs. I ran in only the Scott's Hut and the Turkey Trot.

This is obviously me running the race.

Broken Down Delta and the Worst Transition In Years

This year we have had to drive the Deltas a lot more than we did last year. The Deltas are alright to drive but not for a full six weeks straight. The weather this summer season was warm and sunny. For at least two straight weeks the weather was over the freezing point. The sun also does not help at all as it warms up the ice, especially the spots that got dirt from town dropped on them from the vehicles. As a result of the warm weather the transition turned into a swimming pool. The transition is the area between the land and the Ice Shelf. New holes were forming every day and nothing could stop it from deteriorating. A lot of drivers got stuck in the mess and it was almost a guarantee that the schedule would get messed up and shuttles would take much longer. Most of the old timers here said that it was the worst they had ever seen. It added a little bit of stress, grumpiness, and drama in the Shuttles office this year. Thankfully we have had a few days of colder weather and we are back to driving some light vehicles.

This is the Delta I was driving that broke down before getting to Willy Field to drop of a bunch of pole passengers.
This is a look at the transition puddles. I had to drive over or through these puddles sometimes as much as 8 times a day with the threat of getting stuck each time. Somehow I didn't not get stuck so far this season.

A stuck Delta driven by a another driver

Icestock New Years Eve

New Years at McMurdo was rung in with Icestock and Friends. This year was a little bit different and Icestock was actually a night concert as opposed to a day thing in previous years. I liked it much better this year as I was on nights at this time last year and didn't get a whole lot of time to enjoy all it has to offer. I think there were six different bands who played from 6pm on to midnight. It was great fun to sing and dance the year away. Not only was it a fun night with friends it was just a great end to a really good year for me. 2008 started with me here on ice and the first few months were outstanding as I hung out with a lot of the Shuttle crew in January and February. March, April and May I traveled New Zealand. June and part of July I was back home visiting with friends and family. July and August I was in Ecuador. September back home and was there for the birth of a niece. October - back to the ice and reconnecting with all my ice friends and meeting new friends. So a really great year with the last two months of 2008 being the best of all of it because of friends like Kris, Taryn, Audrey, and Gretchen.

Gretchen and me at Icestock

Audrey and me at Icestock

Kevin and me at Icestock

Audrey and me again before Icestock

The icestock stage

Room with a View or more appropriately Tent on a Hill

Can I get a boondoggle??? The program down here allows people to go on morale trips throughout the year. This year the morale trip that I got was to go to room with a view. This trip takes you away from town and on to some ski doos. You ride up along the ice shelf out toward the base of Mt Erebus, which is an active volcanoe with it's peak only 40 miles away from McMurdo. Some 9 miles away from town you reach the base and have a chance to see the Erebus glacial tongue, a closer look of Erebus, and the sea ice edge. The previous 35 days here at McMurdo were sunny and beautiful so I was expecting it to be the same for my day. Not the case and the trip was more of a ski doo ride to a tent on a hill than it was a room with a view. The cloudy skies and low ceiling resulted in some poor visibility. Nonetheless it was a great experience to be riding on the ski doos. It was my first time riding on one and I was able to drive most of the way there and all of the way back. I liked driving them a lot. Below are some of the better photos from the day.

This is the tent on the hill. I did get to play some Frisbee at the top. A white Frisbee probably wasn't the best one to bring this day.

This is the group photo at the tent.

One of the better photos from the day
Me on the Ski Doo

Annual Rugby Game

These pictures are from the Annual Rugby game. This is a big event for the station. It is the New Zealand base vs McMurdo station. We historically get crushed by the kiwis every year. This year we fielded our best team and lost 9 -0, but almost scored for the first time in years. It was a fun day to watch a game and I thought I'd include the photos below. I didn't play but am seriously thinking about playing next year.

Alright, so that is it for now. I swear there will be more soon. I can't seem to get any more photos uploaded right now so I will post another blog soon for a few more major events that have happened these last 5 weeks. Kris - this is for you since you bug me so much - I'm now #1 on the blogs you follow:)