So excited for Antarctica!

I think, depening on internet availability and grad school application work, that I will be doing some blogging here and there, so if you're interested you can check back at www.travisjguy.blogspot.com Here's the first blog entry if you're interested.


I unfortunately never finished my blog from the India trip. But don't worry, I have it all written down in a Journal, so it may get put up at some point. It was just that in the end in India I was so busy on the computer applying for this current special opportunity that I didn't want to waste more time in internet cafes to write a blog. Much thanks to Lael, Holcomb, my Mom, and that angel, Ildi, for helping me with the process of getting this job.

I just got back from a 2 week trip to look at graduate schools. Yale School of Forestry (extremely impressed by it); Duke Nichols school of the Environment (also impressed), and the University of Florida's Zoology department (very, very impressed) specifically under the guidance of Dr. Todd Palmer (ecologist extraordinaire). I had a great time. Had fun in New Haven with JGT and Abby. They took me out and showed me a good time in New Haven and also attended a few lab happy hours. Cory Krediet was next up in Florida, who gave me the best campus tour ever including a sweet kayak trip where we paddled with dolphins, sea turtles, and sharks to different islands, watched a volleyball game, and enjoyed the night scene of gainesville. Hung out with cousin Greg, Jennie, and Salsa in Durham. So great to catch up with Greg and meet Jennie. Love those guys. Sarah Bighorn then picked me up and drove me to Charleston for a good time on the beaches (more dolphins) and a wild night in the Charleston establishments. She then took me onto Asheville where I went to some classes with her and then did a nice hike along the blue ridge parkway in the beginning of fall colors with a sky so beautiful you woulda though we were in Colorado. We also "climbed" to the top of icy mount mitchell, the highest point east of the mississippi (1000 feet lower than EP). Before leaving back to Colorado I played chili dawg 1 on 1 in some b-ball....and let her win...

The night before I left Stringbean, Danimal, and Philly took me out for a fun night at the Rock. The night I had a wonderful dinner with Lisa, lil squeaker, and chef Erin.

10-08-11 I got picked up from my house in Estes at 1pm in a raging blizzard. EP was trying to give me a little taste of Antarctica before I left and to make sure I didn't forget just how beautiful it is when it snows. It made me happy b/c I really wanted one good fall snowstorm before I left. By the time we were heading up out of the valley from the lake, there was 5ish inches of snow on the ground and the roads were a slushy mess. It took us nearly an hour to go from the lake to the top of pole hill. Our van got stuck 3 times (passengers had to push it out). On the way up we passed 11 total cars who had slid off the road, crashed, or slammed into the barrier. When we got to pinewood, they had closed the road going up (and presumably down from EP), so we had just made it! From pinewood down, it was much easier with only 3 cars having slid off the road.

I was taken to the airport where I caught a shuttle to the fancy Red Lion Inn. On the shuttle I met RE (goes by initials) from Minneapolis. Very nice guy. I settled into watch some college football (apparently you can watch football in Antarctica, but who knows at what time of the night, so I felt like it could be some of my last). I was relaxing on the huge fancy bed (remember, my last memories of sleeping on beds other than my own are the hard, lice infested beds of Lawn Lake cabin and well, the hard lice infested beds of India), when I got a knock and the door and was given a fancy plate of cookies, strawberries, and chocolate milk with a sweet note. Thank you Sarah Bighorn! Later in the night, sexy Tom Day stopped by and we went out to a nice Mexican restaurant and talked of powder skiing and wolverine research.

10-09-11

We had orientation today at Raytheon's headquarters in Centennial, CO. From the window of my 10th floor room, I got to witness a fantastic sunrise onto the snow blanketed Rockies. One last look at them tomorrow before I have to say goodbye for a while
Orientation was fun and got me super excited for Antarctica. The pictures and posters alone got me extremely excited! Such beauty in Antarctica. Such cool science. Such a cool place! And it got me thinking that I kind of want to go another year(!) My job (shuttle driver) is going to be sweet b/c I get 2 days off (compared to 1 for almost everyone else), and get to see a little bit around. Apparently it's the drivers who are the only ones at McMurdo station (my base) who get to see Penguins. But looking at all the pictures, I have been feeling myself tempted to go another year b/c this year I will get to meet people who I can introduce myself to and get other jobs for next year...like a job where I go to field camps deeper into the continent or a job at Palmer station (the warmer station close to S. America where there is a lot of wildlife like penguins, seals, and whales). And also hearing the stories how so many of these people here are returnees to the program (often more than 5 years) and just work in Antarctica and then spend their entire summer travelling or hanging out b/c they make enough in Antarctica to support them year round. That's pretty sweet! Also quite a few of them just do fun jobs over the summer...lots of backpacking, climbing, kayaking guides up in Alaska. And a few who work on a similar program for 3 months up near the north pole in Greenland. hmm...but then there is grad school and those expring GRE's.

I've already met some really cool people, and I think I will really meet lots of awesome people. I think they are all quite similar to me. An outdoorsy, travelling bunch. I have an impressive travel resume compared to most people I know, but here talking with these people, mine is average at best, but actually more like below average. Most of these people just travel for 5 months around the world every summer when they are finished on the Ice. Everyone I met today was either from Colorado (boulder, denver, evergreen), Idaho (sandpoint, moscow, garden valley, McCall), Montanta (9 from billings), Washington (Bro's old haunts of Bellingham) or Minneapolis (Antarctica's summer is warmer than their winter). Mom, I met two of the PT's. You would like them. They are from Denver, but spend a couple months in Alaska teaching yoga and doing PT work at fancy fishing lodges. Also met the South Pole doctor who spends his summers on cruise ships treating sun burns.

They take pretty good care of us for the travel to Antarctica. 1/4 of our group will get bumped into 1st class (I have my fingers crossed!) They gave us 215 bucks for food on the way to NZ and in NZ. Have nice hotels booked for us in Christchurch, and even gave us these waivers that give us a free year long visa for NZ and that waive currency exchange fees and even give us a better exchange rate (the same as the President would get) for the NZ dollar.

We are allowed to take 140 lbs in two bags, but my two bags only add up to 60. Hope I've got enough, but maybe I'm used to going light.

There are three main US bases: McMurdo (1100 people), The South Pole (200 people), and Palmer (50 people) as well as some camps set up in dry valleys here and there. I'll be living at McMurdo and driving shuttles and other large snow vehicles. So excited!