January Update

Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long!

The end of 2008 was eventful and involved a lot of visits. Pennsylvania was wonderful. I got to see Abigail and Erin, all the aunts and uncles, and a big thank you to Annie and Ricky for letting me stay in their home. I was also able to go to Philadelphia and visit a friend who I met in my time in Alaska. While now in law enforcement up in Fairbanks, she visits her family in Philadelphia every Christmas, so I try to take advantage of the opportunity to see her without traveling 4000 miles!

I spent the New Year in Emerald Isle with a great group of people. Ashely and Donald Waugh and my friend Jason who is home visiting from his job in the peace corps in Nicaragua. We made dinner, drank wine, played on the beach, watched the ball drop, and played 'No te enojado'.. the south american version of 'Sorry'.

The start of this semester has been very busy but productive. Logistics are coming together. Making our lists, checking them twice, arranging plane tickets, planning our side trips. We are still trying out the finer details, but as best as I can guess this is my schedule:

January 31st: Flight leaves RDU, Arrive in Dallas
- Leave Dallas for Santiago

Feb 1st: Arrive in Santiago, trudge through customs, head to Punta Arenas
- Arrive in PA, drop 'science stuff' at the warehouse, find the Hawai'i group and stay the night in PA

Feb 2nd: Hop on a bus bound for Puerto Natales. Stay the night a Erratic Rock hostel.

Feb 3rd - 7th: Plans fluid. We are arranging a 3 day glacial sea kayaking trip around Patagonia and if we have time we will likely take a day to go to the park and do some hiking afterward.

Feb 8th: Arrive back in PA to meet the rest of the NCSU and Hawai'i gang. START WORK!

Feb 9th: Load up the ship, check supplies, order lab space

Feb 10th: Continue working.. move on board the Laurence M. Gould and have final meal on land

Feb 11th: Bon Voyage! Head for the Drake Passage.. keep track of where we are using the SailWx website



This trip will be filled with a lot of fun adventures. We will be making a lot of stops. We'll even be on the eastern side of the peninsula at the site of the Larsen Ice Shelf collapses in 2002. Here is an interesting article about some new breakthroughs in the science ice shelf disintegration.

I will update again as plans firm up and I begin my journey.

And as promised... A WHALE PICTURE!