3 Days and a Wake Up!

I will (hopefully) be leaving McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica in 3 days and a wake up...or Friday, February 27th. I say hopefully because we've had 4 scheduled C-17 flights and 3 of them have been delayed a day each because of weather. The weather is turning towards the winter-type with howling winds and blowing snow. Today's flight has a 24 hour delay because of the winds and the ice fog. The temp with the windchill is -7 right now at 1400 hours. Yesterday morning on my way to work it was actually dark enough with the clouds that I saw a light on for the parking area between buildings! Also yesterday evening I saw another minke whale but again, I didn't get any pictures. Rumour has it that there are 2 Adelie penguins melting down by the power plant so I'm thinking about putting my Big Red on and taking a walk down there.

I have had an amazing summer down here! It was so much better than my first summer here. I have made some wonderful friends that I will have for a lifetime. I have done and seen so many different things this time around that I will remember forever. I worked with a great group of people in dispatch as well as with the fire department. But I am missing my friends and family back home and can't wait to see them again!

Wednesday is my last day of work down here but more significantly, it is my last time dispatching on the radio. It's kind of surreal. By Saturday, I will officially be retired. YIKES!! Here's some photos of our dispatch group this summer.

In Our Job Shirts In Front of Engine 1

In Our Big Reds, L to Right Me, My Roommate, Tasha, My 2nd Work Husband, Wes, Danielle and our Supervisor, Lori

Me in Front of the Scott Base Sign Last Thursday Evening

Soon...Very Soon!

The Summer season is winding down here at McMurdo Station. All of the ships have completed their assignments and have departed our Ice Pier. Scientists, research students and workers are starting to head off the island via the C-17, Airbus or Kiwi 757. I have 2 weeks exactly before I get to leave.

The weather is also beginning to change towards Winter. We had a huge storm last weekend that closed both airfields down and trapped our firefighters at Williams Field for 3 days as it was Condition 1 out there on the ice. In town we had Condition 2 most of the time. The storm started on Friday and didn't leave our area until late Tuesday. We had winds well over 50 kts and snow. It ended up blowing all of the ice out and exposing the frigid waters of McMurdo Sound. We have seen some Minke, Beluga and Orca whales here but I haven't been able to get any pictures as they have been too far away. The sun is lower in the sky and our first sunset since October 18th will be February 20th at 01:48 AM. I will not see it as I'm still working dayshift and will be sleeping at that time. We have more cloudy days than sunny days.

There is a fishing vessel stuck in the ice down here about 900 miles from here. We had an EOC activation because of it. The Polar Star is on it's way to rescue them as well as a New Zealand fishing vessel. Read about it here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/66096627/us-icebreaker-talleys-ship-on-antarctic-rescue-mission

Below are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

During the storm Friday, February 6, 2015

The fuel tanker, Maersk Perry backing out from the Ice Pier on Tuesday, February 10, 2015
The Polar Star is waiting in the distance to escort the tanker.

SAUSAGEFEST at Lunch! My favorite meal here!

Myself and 3 Italians from Mario Zucchelli base.